Carl Ballantine


He's listed as "Realtor in China" in this film.
Is this really the same Carl Ballantine that played Gruber in McHale's Navy?
83 and still acting.

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Yes, this is the same Ballantine. He became friends with director Richard Rossi through the famed Magic Castle in Hollywood. Gruber was director Rossi's favorite character as a kid. For more info on film, go to www.aimeesemplemcphersonmovie.com

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Thanks for the info. Must be a generational thing...I'm about the same age as Rossi and my favorite character has also always been Gruber.

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He's an old vaudevillian, isn't he? I remember him popping up in films doing magic as "The Great Ballantine". And does anyone remember a brief series of theatre cartoons called "The Ant and the Aardvaark" in the '70s? He was the voice of the Aardvaark, the only thing in the cartoon that was funny!

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He did sound a bit like Carl Ballantine, but John Byner dubbed the voices for that cartoon:

http://www.johnbyner.com/john_byner_biography.htm

Info twords bottom of page.

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[deleted]

Any idea of how large or small a role Mr. Ballantine has in the movie?

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Carl Ballantine is in a pivotal turning point scene when Sister Aimee and her first husband Robert Semple arrive in China. He's a worldly-wise realtor who sets them up with their house in China and connects them with a Chinese housekeeper. He plays the scene with his trademark cigar. Carl Ballantine and Richard Rossi both love cigars and are rumored to have smoked Cubans together from time to time since.

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Thank you for the info jbstein. Anicipating getting a copy to watch soon, from other posts here it seems it'll hit the retail shelves soon.

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Your welcome. I hope you enjoy it. From reading yor posts, I can tell you have the intelligence and openmindedness to appreciate and get the film.

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