John Byner
| John Byner | |
|---|---|
Byner in 1976.
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| Born |
John Biener June 28, 1938 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, impressionist |
| Spouse(s) | Eleanor Belcher (m. 1960–1969; divorced) Sally Fisher (m. 1982–1983; divorced) Ksenia Prohaska (m. 1985–?; divorced) Anne Gaybis (m. 1992–present) |
| Children | four (with Eleanor Belcher) |
John Byner (born June 28, 1938) is an American actor, comedian, and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and movie career. His voice work includes the cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark, in which the title characters are voiced by Byner's impressions of Dean Martin and Jackie Mason, respectively.
Byner was born John Biener in New York City, the son of Christina, a mental hospital attendant, and Michael Biener, a truck mechanic.
On The Ed Sullivan Show, where he made his first early TV appearances, he mimicked Ed Sullivan as well as anyone, including the "master" Sullivan impersonator, Will Jordan (in fact, on his album FM & AM, comedian George Carlin used Byner's Sullivan impersonation for his own Sullivan impersonation). His other impressions included John Wayne and he sings as Dean Martin and Johnny Mathis. His ability to mimic "Toastmaster General" George Jessel came in handy during his appearances on panel programs such as celebrity "roasts" and other tributes.
On a 1967 episode of Get Smart, he played a KAOS agent who made a phone call to the Chief of CONTROL (played by Edward Platt), performed a perfect impression of President Lyndon B. Johnson, and told the Chief he was fired and replaced with agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams). Smart, the Chief and Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) foiled this plot to undermine CONTROL, and Byner's character was arrested.
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