|
You could say the recent death of Canadian comic legend Frank Shuster hit
me where I live. Emotionally and literally.
You see, the place I call home was built for Shuster in 1951 and he lived
here for 19 years — during the heyday of his world-famous television show.
So, as a devout fan of Frank Shuster and his partner Johnny Wayne, starting
from the time their CBC TV shows were broadcast in black and white, I feel
lucky to be surrounded by the magical Shuster aura.
The study where these New in Homes columns are written every week was the
workroom where the two comedians created so many of the television scripts
that are now entertainment classics.
Back in July, 1955, a magazine called Canadian Homes and Gardens ran a
photo feature entitled "Wayne and Shuster at Home." It's apparent, when
comparing the photographs of the 1,800-square-foot Shuster house back then,
with how it is today, that not much has changed. The furniture is different,
of course, but the living room, dining room, centre hall and main staircase
look today just as they did in 1955. Even our living room piano is in the
same position as Shuster's was back then.
Although the built-in bookshelves in the Shuster study have remained the
same, the comedian and his partner might not recognize the room, which is
now crammed with computers, printer, fax machine, desks, file cabinets, and
a lot of books on real estate and coins (my other life interest). The
position of honour occupied by the Shuster typewriter is long gone, and our
old electric typewriter sits on the floor in a case now used for a footrest.
Writing for Canadian Homes almost a half century ago, Stanley Fillmore
said that radio and TV comedians Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster, like other
people in the public eye, were determined that their professional lives
would not spoil their private lives.
"Frank Shuster's home," wrote Fillmore, "only a few doors away from his
partner's, is where the two men write their broadcast scripts. Their
`writing factory' is a second-storey study where the team put in a regular
9-to-5 workday.
"But the house, designed by Ruth Shuster's brother, architect Harry D.
Burston, keeps separate this workplace and the Shuster family life. The
office-study is private, quiet and business-like, filled with books,
comfortable chairs and couches. There are plenty of pencils lying about and
a typewriter stands ready."
Shuster was quoted as saying that the pair kept regular office hours and
reserved the evenings for their families and friends.
"On the other hand," the feature continues, "the rest of the Shuster
house is subdued and luxurious. Colours are soft, muted and relaxing. The
furniture is comfortable."
My wife, Dorothy, and I have lived in this brick, two-storey, north
Toronto house for 27 years, but many people still call it "the Shuster
house." From this house, Saturday Night Live TV producer Lorne Michaels
courted, and then married, Rosie Shuster, the elder of the Shuster children.
A Shuster family friend once told us a story about the use of the
second-floor study during the days when the TV show was created here. Little
Stevie Shuster was home from school one day with a minor ailment. His mother
cautioned him to be very quiet because his father and Johnny Wayne were hard
at work in the study across the hall from Stevie's bedroom.
Some time later, Stevie tiptoed downstairs to complain to his mother.
"They're not working," he said, "they're laughing."
The joy of laughter is certainly a nice aura to have in your home.
But what's the big deal about owning a celebrity home?
It's certainly a term rarely used in the local marketing of real estate.
When we bought this house we didn't know it had belonged to the Shusters. We
just liked it. Coincidentally, later we came to know the Shusters socially.
In her book Sex and Real Estate — Why We Love Houses (see
Erotic affair with the home), author Marjorie Garber, a Harvard
professor, devotes a section to celebrity homes. For some purchasers, she
argues, the pride of place normally occupied by the house itself has been
overtaken by the aura of the former owner. In the U.S., she says, there is a
thriving market in celebrity homes — houses that belong, or once belonged,
to members of America's "other royalty," the stars of film and
entertainment.
Some people call the purchasers of celebrity homes "house groupies." Says
Garber, "The house becomes quite literally a dream or fantasy house for
those buyers, who hobnob with the famous ex-residents, harmlessly at
second-hand, by walking the same floors and flushing the same toilets that
were once used by their idols."
Although I don't buy that argument, I can agree with Garber when she says
the buyers of celebrity homes forge a relationship with the aura of the
previous owner.
Certainly, it feels different to watch an old Wayne and Shuster video or
TV rerun in the home where the scripts were written than it would be to
watch them anywhere else.
And it seemed even more poignant earlier this week to listen to Shuster's
voice on old CBC radio interviews and TV show clips as it echoed in the same
rooms where the Shuster family lived, worked and played. Wherever I live,
I'll always treasure the hours of joy and laughter that Wayne and Shuster
brought to the Aaron house, formerly the Shuster house.
Thanks for the memories, Frank.
Bob Aaron is a leading Toronto real
estate lawyer.
Please send your inquiries and questions to
bob@aaron.ca or call 416-364-9366. | 
