Wayne and Shuster as puppets and puppeteers, 1955, by Ken Bell

Inseparable since their days together as high school students, Johnny Wayne (1918-1990) and Frank Shuster (born 1916) became Canada’s best-known comedians.

Performing in The Army Show for Canadian soldiers in Europe during the Second World War, Wayne and Shuster returned to Canada after the war, appearing regularly on CBC radio and television. Despite their popularity in the United States, where they made a record number 46 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, they resisted pressure to pursue their careers there.

Wayne and Shuster were both writers and performers of their own comedy, a fact expressed by Ken Bell’s whimsical composite portrait of the duo.

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