Canada has long been known as a hot bed for comedic talent. This well-deserved reputation can be attributed in no small part to the pioneering efforts of the comedy team Wayne and Shuster. Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster first teamed in high school and developed into one of Canada’s most influential comedy teams. They worked together for 56 years until Wayne’s death in 1990.

Wayne and Shuster’s influences could be found in sketch comedy from SCTV and Royal Canadian Air Farce to Saturday Night Live. Shuster was SNL founding producer Lorne Michael’s father-in-law. Wayne and Shuster appeared a record 67 times on The Ed Sullivan Show.

On Jan. 13, Shuster died of pneumonia in a Toronto hospital. He was 85.