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 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, performed a perfect impression of President Lyndon B. Johnson, and told the Chief he was fired and replaced with agent Maxwell Smart. In 1970-71, 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 was first introduced. That same year, he had a cameo appearance in What's Up, Doc? In the mid-1970s, he guest starred in two episodes of The Odd Couple. Byner played a comedian/impersonator aboard a cruise ship in season 6 of Hawaii Five-O. His character, Duffy Malone, did impersonations of John Wayne and then got hit on the back of his head as a diversionary tactic by the bad guy. He had a recurring role in the situation comedyThe 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 that substitution proved to be a career-making part for the comedian who deeply impressed everyone with his talent. In the 1970s, Byner appeared several times on The Carol Burnett Show, where in one comedy sketch he wore a Donald Duck costume and mimicked the cartoon character's distinctive voice. He appeared several times on talk shows hosted by David Letterman. In the 1980s, he hosted Bizarre, which re-introduced many people to hapless daredevil Super Dave Osborne played by Bob Einstein. In 1983 he had a role as "Doc," who was Burt Reynolds's longtime childhood friend in the movie Stroker Ace. In 1985 The Walt Disney Company's animated feature The Black Cauldron was released, featuring Byner voicing the characters Gurgi and Doli. He was a regular celebrity guest on Hollywood Squares during the John Davidson years and later hosted the 1988-89 syndicated game show Relatively Speaking. He appeared in an episode of as a washed-up ventriloquist. On May 26, 2017, it was reported that Byner had been cast in a supporting role in the Amazon Video horror anthology series Lore, which is based on the podcast of the same name. Byner portrays Patrick Boland, the father ofBridget Cleary. Lore premiered on October 13, 2017.
Personal life
Byner was born John Biener in New York City, the son of Christina, a mental hospital attendant, and Michael Biener, a truck mechanic. Byner has been married four times, and has four children with his first wife Eleanor Belcher. One of his children, Don Byner, strongly resembles his father and appeared for the first time on TV dressed as a leprechaun on "Captain's Log with Captain Mark Gray". He has been married to Anne Gaybis since 1992.
