John Byner (né Biener; born June 28, 1938) is an American actor, comedian and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and film 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.
Career
On The Ed Sullivan Show, where he made his first early TV appearances, he mimicked Ed Sullivan among many others. Other impressions included John Wayne and singing like 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.[1]
In 1966, Byner released "Everybody Do The," a musical spoof of dance crazes, as a single on the Pop-Side label. Byner wrote the song with his manager Harry Colomby. The B side of the record was a cover of the blues/R&B/rock standard "Baby, Please Don't Go."[2]
In 1970-1971, he hosted 22 episodes of Something Else, a syndicated half-hour musical variety series. He then hosted his own show in 1972 called the John Byner Comedy Hour, where the character Super Dave Osborne, portrayed by Bob Einstein, was first introduced. The same year, he had a cameo in What's Up, Doc? In the mid-1970s, he guest-starred in two episodes of The Odd Couple.[3]
Byner played a comedian/impersonator aboard a cruise ship in season 6 of Hawaii Five-O. His character did impersonations of John Wayne and then got hit on the back of his head as a diversionary tactic by the bad guy.[4] He had a recurring role in the sitcom The Practice during its first season in 1976.
In the late 1970s, he had a featured role as Detective Donahue on the TV series Soap. He was cast in Happy Days as Mork from Ork but found the premise ridiculous, so he declined the role days before filming began. Robin Williams was called in at the last minute, and this substitution proved to be a career-making part for Williams.[5]
On the February 13th, 1997 episode of Judge Judy, Byner appeared as a plaintiff against the agent Dan Jordon and won a judgement of $3,500 as a kill fee for the cancellation of a stand up comedy performance. [7]
On May 26, 2017, it was reported that Byner had been cast in a supporting role in the horror anthology series Lore, based on the podcast of the same name. Byner portrays Patrick Boland, the father of Bridget Cleary (played by Holland Roden).[8]Lore premiered on October 13, 2017.[9]
In 2020, Byner released his autobiography Five Minutes, Mr. Byner!, co-written with Douglas Wellman.[10]
In 2022, he played an affable gangster named Majak in Kurt St. Thomas' D.O.A., a loose remake of the 1950 film noir of the same title. His performance earned him the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2023 Flagler Film Festival.[11]
Personal life
Byner was born John Biener in New York City on June 28, 1938, the son of Christina, a mental hospital attendant, and Michael Biener, a truck mechanic.[12][13]
Byner has been married four times, and he has four children with his first wife Eleanor Belcher. One of his children, Don (Donny) Byner, appeared for the first time on television dressed as him in a 1969 episode of Something Else on ABC.[14] He has been married to Anne Gaybis since 1992.[citation needed]
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