Shuster was born to a Jewish immigrant family[1] in Toronto, Ontario, and spent part of his childhood in Niagara Falls.

The two would soon be performing sketches and routines at school talent shows, continuing to do the same when they both attended the University of Toronto, majoring in English literature.

[3][2] Starting with entertaining scouts, he and Shuster wrote some original scores and performed at the university's Hart House Follies.

[2] By the early 1940s Wayne and Shuster began appearing on local radio station CFRB, and during World War II they joined the Canadian Army as performers, entertaining Canadian troops, and performed on the CBC Radio series The Army Show.

1950) was a comedy writer for Saturday Night Live and other television programs, and former wife of Lorne Michaels.