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| Enjoy the facts here, but please don't copy this information and post it on your own web site without getting our permission first. It took many hours of research to compile. If you are doing a paper or project for school, we will be happy to give you permission to use this material if you contact us first. |
| Mack,
Jack (1911-1971) Born James MacKenzie, he was noted for his incredible card and coin handling skills. In his later years, he was a private tutor, giving magic lessons to celebrity clients. |
| MacMillan,
Ron British magician whose specialty is sleight of hand and manipulative magic. Operator of London's International Magic Studio. |
| Mahendra,
M.S. (?-1970) Born Frank B. Sterling, his specialty was mentalism. He was both a performer and an author. |
| Majax,
Gerard French magician who specializes in pickpocket and gambling demonstrations routines. He wrote a book on pickpocketing techniques and another on gambling sleights; because they were written for the entertainment of the lay public, the methods "revealed" are greatly embellished. |
| Maldo,
Senor (1896-1960) Born Abel Maldonado, he had a very successful career touring the U.S. He was known for his "Buried Alive!" publicity stunt. He also invented a number of effects that were manufactured by Thayer. |
| Malini, Max (1873-1942) Polish-born American magician who gained popularity performing for the rich and powerful. He was well-known for his colorful personality and truly amazing magic. His signature effect was the production of a block of ice from under a borrowed hat. |
| Mandrake
(1911-1993)
(birthday April 11) American-born magician (full stage name Leon Mandrake, real name unknown) who began his career in a carnival. First touring as "Leon" and later as "Leon the Ventriloquist", he was billed as "Mandrake the Magician" by the mid-1940s. He toured extensively in the U.S. with his full-evening show, with great success. The title character in the comic strip, Mandrake the Magician, was said to be drawn to resemble him. In fact, his main female assistant's stage name was "Narda", and his main male assistant's name was "Lothar", like other characters in the strip. He continued his career into the 1970's, starring in several television shows. See more information on the official Mandrake web page. |
| Mandrake, Lon (b.1948) American-born son of Leon Mandrake, also a performing magician. See more information on the Mandrake family web page. |
| Mandrake, Ron (b.1949) American-born son of Leon Mandrake, also a performing magician. See more information on the Mandrake family web page. |
| Mandrake, Velvet
(b.?) Wife and assistant of Leon Mandrake, she was also a former assistant to Harry Blackstone Sr. Mother of Lon Mandrake and Ron Mandrake. See more information on the Mandrake family web page. |
| Mandez,
Prince
(?-?) Magician who appeared on the 9/18/49 broadcast of the TV program, Toast of the Town, the early version of the Ed Sullivan Show |
| Mandy
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Manfre
(?-?) French-born magician and water spouter who could drink twenty glasses of water, then spout the water high in the air like a fountain. Cardinal Richelieu was not amused, and forced him to reveal the secret of his illusion to the Church or face punishment. |
| Manfredo
(1899-1981) German magician (real name Bruno Manfred Gottschalt) who was originally a dentist with dreams of a stage career. Began performing in 1925, but by 1930 purchased the Basch-Mellini magic shop in Leipzig. |
| Mann, Al (1920-1999) American-born magician Gilbert Aleman, he specialized in mentalism and wrote over 100 books on the subject. |
| Manuel
(1886-1934) Born Manuel R. Thomas, he performed for many years in vaudeville as "The King of Koin Kings" and "Manuel, Master of the Mighty Dollar". His skill with coin manipulation rivaled that of T. Nelson Downs. |
| Marchand,
Floram (?-?) French magician and water spouter, performing around 1650. His famous trick was turning water into wine- in his stomach. He would swallow a great quantity of water, then spout it into glasses in the form of different kinds and colors of wine. |
| Marcelliee
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Marco
the Magi Character played by Dr. Cesareo Pelaez in the Le Grand David show. Dr. Pelaez is the founder of the troupe. |
| Marco
(?-1908) American-born illusionist in the later part of the 19th century (real name Edward Dooley), playing the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. Houdini was reputed to be employed as one of his assistants in 1896. See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Marcom, Dr. Ralph (b.1926) American magician who had some television success in the 1950's, then retired from magic to become a physician. In 1968, he married Gloria Jacobsen Palmer, a female magician who inspired him to return to performing. |
| Marcus,
Doc (?-?) American-born club magician, real name Oscar Rabinowitz. Worked as a table hopping magician at famous New York night spots; acted as advisor to actress Carroll Baker (who got her start as a magician's assistant) in 1961 for a film role in a movie about magic that was never released. He also appeared on the 10/17/48 episode of the TV program Talk of the Town, the early version of the Ed Sullivan Show. |
| Mardoni
(1904-1987) Born Clayton Hines, he performed a two-person mental act with his wife Louise, specializing in top nightclub bookings. |
| Margery
(1886-1941) Professional name of Mina Crandon, the most famous of the mediums investigated by Harry Houdini. The Margery séances were the subject of many books, either supporting or denouncing her. In a case against her, Houdini duplicated, by magician's means, the same strange phenomena that she claimed to produce through spiritual means. Nevertheless, Margery's claims were never completely disproved. |
| Margules, Sam (?-?) American-born magician and mentalist. Began as an assistant to Horace Goldin, and later performed as "Ramee Sami" or "Rami Sami", a turbanned mindreader. |
| Marlo
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. Real name Edward J. Wood. See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Marlo,
Ed (1913-1991) (birthday October 10) Born Edward Malkowski, he was one of the most influential innovators and card magicians in magic history. Author of countless books and private manuscripts, he developed many entirely new card effects and concepts. As if that wasn't enough, he was also the author of several respected works on coin magic and dice stacking. |
| Maro,
Edward (1869-1908) (birthday
September 25) American magician (born in Montpelier VT) whose real name was Walter Truman Best. The first successful headlining magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits, working from 1892 right up until his death. Married to Addie Mae. His student and protege was magician John Blackledge. Was also a photographer and a member of a professional saxophone quartet. See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Marquis
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum circuit. His manager, Henry Hudson Davis, also managed show tours for MacDonald Birch, S.S. Henry, Herman Homar, Wallace and Mel-Roy. |
| Marshall,
Frances Ireland (1910-2002) (birthday March 25) Wife and partner of L.L. Ireland and his Ireland Magic Co. in Chicago, she was an accomplished magician, specializing in children's magic. She authored a number of books on the subject. After L.L. Ireland's death, she operated the business for a number of years, then married Jay Marshall and renamed the company Magic, Inc. In 1938, she founded Magigals, an organization for women in magic. |
| Marshall,
Horace (1902-1976) American manufacturer of magical apparatus, specializing in very high quality feather flowers. He also created Blackstone Sr.'s famous "Garden of Flowers" sequence. |
| Marshall,
Jay (1919-2005) (birthday August 29) American magician, ventriloquist, author and co-owner of Magic Inc. in Chicago. Known for his witty style, his routines with his hand puppet "Lefty" were world famous. In his own words, he was "one of the better of the cheaper acts". Married to Frances Ireland Marshall. Eighth Dean of the Society of American Magicians, from 1992 to 2005. |
| Martin,
Esmeralda
(?-?) American mentalist and performer on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit in the 1920s with her husband, Carold Kringsberg. She was billed as "Miss Esmeralda Martin, the Girl With the Radio Mind". Their show was mainly an exposure of spirit mediums and their methods. See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Martin,
Jon (1882-1968) British maker of custom magic apparatus, well known for exceptionally high quality work. |
| Martin,
Matt
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Martin,
Tommy (1910-?) Magician who got his start in magic as a student of Max Malini. Specializing in club magic, he was noted for his presentation of Egg On Fan. |
| Martineau,
Francis B. (b. 1922) Canadian magician, magic illustrator and author. Best known for his amazing artistic contribution to the three-volume Encyclopedia of Silk Magic for which he drew thousands of illustrations and hand-lettered the entire text. Also a legendary nightclub performer in the '30s-'40s-'50s, as well as the creator of Mark Wilson's Train illusion and associate producer of The Magic Land of Alakazam TV program. Also designed the 1964 New York World's Fair Hall of Magic for General Cigar Co. |
| Martinka,
Francis J. (1843-1924) Founder of the Martinka Magic Shop (also known as the Magical Palace) in New York City in 1885. He ran the shop for over 30 years; Houdini also owned it for a short time. |
| Martyn,
Topper (b.1923) British-born (but now Swedish citizen) magician (real name Victor Martyn) who specializes in comedy magic, juggling and ice skating. He also is a noted collector of occult items. |
| Martz,
George (?-?) American mentalist. Partner of Eddie Fields. |
| Marvello,
Harry (1879-1967) Scotland-born magician (real name Harry Hutchinson) who began his career as apprentice to Ludwig Dobler. He soon became a popular society entertainer, performing for Queen Victoria, before becoming first a variety performer, then an illusionist, and finally a card manipulator before retiring from magic to become a journalist. |
| Maskelyne, Jasper (1902-1973)
(birthday September 29) British-born magician, grandson of John Nevil Maskelyne. During World War II, he became part of an elite military unit which utilized his magical knowledge of illusions in its Suez Canal campaign. He was able to devise ways to camouflage tanks and munitions storage from the air, and even "moved" an entire city several miles down the coast. Several books have been written about his wartime feats. |
| Maskelyne, John Nevil (1839-1917)
(birthday December 22) British-born magician who got his start exposing the spiritism performance of the Davenport brothers. His performing partner was George Cooke. He opened the Egyptian Hall in London, a showplace for magic and illusion performances, and operated it for thirty years. In partnership with David Devant, he then opened St. George's Hall, a similar venue. A feisty personality, he was involved in two nasty and noteworthy lawsuits. The first involved a claim that Maskelyne had not exactly duplicated the feats of a spirit medium and was therefore not entitled to the challenge money offered. The second suit involved his attempt to stop two other magicians from performing a box escape similar to the one in his show; this suit was dropped when Maskelyne refused to reveal the secret of the escape to the court. The secret of his Levitation effect, though, was reportedly sold by his stage technician, Paul Valadon, to Harry Kellar. Maskelyne also is credited with inventing the pay toilet! |
| Maskelyne,
Nevil (1863-1924) British-born magician, son of John Nevil Maskelyne and father of Jasper. He co-authored an important book on magic presentation with David Devant called Our Magic. |
| Maskelyne,
Noel (?-1976) British-born magician, son of Nevil Maskelyne and brother of Jasper. Originally an electrical engineer, he joined the Maskelyne company on the death of his father. |
| Masklyn
ye Mage See Tom Palmer |
| Mason,
Eric (1921-1986) British-born magician and commercial artist. Several of his effects, including Card in Picture, were in demand as much for the artwork as the effect. |
| Masoni
(?-1977) British-born magician (real name Eric Mason) who toured with a full evening show called Out of a Hat. He later acquired and toured with much of Jasper Maskelyne's show, billing it as Maskelyne's Mysteries. A major feature of his show was a memory demonstration by his wife Shan. |
| Massey,
Edward M. (1889-1984) (birthday
February 3) Magician, author and inventor of a number of magic effects, including Squeezaway Block, Silk Cabby, Finger Guillotine, Rod Thru Body and Chinese Flame Clock. |
| Matthews,
James (1820-1884) English stage illusionist and mentalist of the "Old School", using methods later copied by the fraudulent spiritualists of the late 19th Century. |
| Maurice,
Edward (1897-1964) British-born magician (real name John Edward Maurice) and author of Showmanship and Presentation. He is also credited with naming Abra magazine. |
| Maven,
Max (b. 1950) (birthday December 4) American magician (birth name Phil Goldstein), author and magic consultant who specializes in mentalism. He is known for an especially entertaining delivery. He has invented a number of popular effects, including B-Wave. |
| May,
E. Leslie (1901-1980) Scotland-born magician noted for inventing many effects in the field of mentalism. |
| Mayette,
Andre (1900-1978) French magic dealer, proprietor of one of the oldest shops in France, and publisher of Le Magicien during its 35-year run. |
| McDonald,
Jon (1895-1982) American magician who had great success despite the fact that he was missing a hand (and was thus nicknamed "One Arm"). Employed a young Louis Tannen as a magic assistant in the early 1920's. Popularized the effect McDonald Aces. |
| McEvoy,
Harry K.
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. Later billed himself as "The Society Necromancer". See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| McGee,
Debbie (b. 1958) English magician and dancer. Wife of Paul Daniels. Has made numerous appearances herself on TV, in theater and films since age 12. |
| McGill,
Ormond (1913-2005) (birthday June 15) American magician known as the Dean of American Hypnotists. Performed as a stage hypnotist for over 70 years, starting in 1927. Was extensively involved in developing hypnotherapy as a viable medical field. Author of more than 25 books on hypnotism. More info here. Purchase his autobiography here. |
| McKnight,
James (1900-1979) American amateur magician, holder of I.B.M. founding membership #9. Coincidentally died on Halloween, as did Houdini. |
| McManus, John (1890-1955) Magician and lawyer whose huge and important magic collection was donated to the Library of Congress. Combined with the collection of Dr. Morris N. Young, this invaluable resource is available to magic researchers on application. |
| McRae,
Campbell Real name James Lister Cook. Described as "Scotland's Finest Magician", he performed a manipulative act in full highland regalia. He is believed to be the first magician to turn this magnificent costume into a magic prop. Although his manipulative act (using doves, silks, coins, billiard balls and cards) was designed for cabaret, he also played the few theaters that remained in the 1960s. He was well known for his bare-hand vanish of a live dove. Also a career engineer and inventor, holder of fifteen patents. (see official website) |
| Méliès,
George (1861-1938) (birthday December 8) French-born magician who began his performing career after purchasing the Theatre Robert-Houdin. He began to show films at the theater, and became interested in combining magic and film techniques. Because of the processes he developed, he is considered to be the father of special effects cinematography. |
| Mellini,
Herrmann (1843-1923) German magician (real name Hermann Mehl) who founded the successful Mellini Theater in Hanover. Inherited the Basch magic shop from his father-in-law, Ernst Basch, in 1908. The shop, then Basch-Mellini Magic Shop, was sold to Reinhold Pfalz in 1918. |
| Mel-Roy
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum circuit. His manager, Henry Hudson Davis, also managed show tours for MacDonald Birch, S.S. Henry, Herman Homar, Wallace and Marquis. |
| Mentzer,
Jerry (b. ?) American magician; founder of Magic Methods, a magic manufacturer and publisher. Very talented and inventive in close-up magic, he has authored a number of books, including the excellent Counts, Cuts and Moves, a guide to card sleights. |
| Merton
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Meyer,
Orville (1911-?) American magician known as the "Wizard of Ah's". He is noted as the inventor of the Bullet Catch as used by Ted Annemann, and also the Think Ink routine. |
| Miaco
(1912-1949) American magician (real name Stephen Frisbie) who was successful in the top nightclub circuit with his smooth and sophisticated manipulation act, similar in style to Cardini. Miaco was one of a number of successful deaf magicians, including Theo Bamberg (Okito). |
| Milburn
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Miller,
Charles Earle (1909-?) American magician, author and renowned expert in pure sleight of hand magic. Known as Charlie Miller, he was particularly noted for his cups and balls routine. |
| Miller,
Jack (?-1962) American magician noted for his expert use of a holdout. His routines for the Egg Bag and the Linking Rings are still commercially marketed. |
| Miller,
Jack American magician and magic dealer, officer of the I.B.M., co-founder of All Magic Day, an Albany, NY magic convention. He performed as Mr. Twister. |
| Miller,
Welsh (1864-1936) Born Henry Miller, he was internationally famous for his coin manipulation act; he has been favorably compared to T. Nelson Downs. He was also an inventor and craftsman, constructing reels and other precision apparatus. |
| Milton, Herbert (1897-1960) To be added. |
| Mingus,
Leroy (1897-1979) American manufacturer, owner and operator of Mingus Magic Shop, he made feather flowers and botanias. |
| Moe
(1909-2003) Born Morris Seidenstein, he was very well known among magicians in the 1920's and 1930's for his baffling and unique card effects. His two most famous effects, Moe's "Look At a Card" and Moe's "Move A Card", were based on his extraordinary memory skills which made the incredible card locations seem like miracles, hence the name "Moe's Miracles". Moe's website |
| Montandon,
Roger (1918-?) American magic dealer (Montandon's Magic Co.) located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founder of the Inernational Juggling Association. Marketed Oom for Logan Wait, and worked as an engineer in Wait's manufacturing company. See more info here. |
| Moore,
Alonzo (?-?) American magician who began as "Theosis", an onstage assistant to Edward Maro, then joined the New South Jubilee Company minstrel show in 1903. Of course, he was billed as "the only colored magician in the world", an exaggeration. Though rare, there were other black magicians performing on the circuits. See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Moore,
E.J. (1881-1957) (birthday
October 10) Born Ernest Linebarger, he was a vaudeville performer whose specialty was the Tears of Buddha, a bizarre effect in which beans placed in his mouth would reappear in his eyes. He also invented Instanto Rope and Linking Ropes. |
| Moose,
Arthur J.
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Mora,
Silent (1884-1972) (birthday October 25) American magician (real name Louis McCord) who gained great success as a stage manipulator with his Ball and Net routine, in which small white balls appeared, vanished and exchanged places, finally falling into a net held by two spectators. Despite his stage name, only his Oriental routine was silent; he did speak on stage. See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Morgan,
Earl Inventor of the Multiplying Candles, which he marketed as Nesto Candles, and Match To Flower. |
| Morphet
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Morritt,
Charles (1861-1936)
(birthday June 13) British-born magician and inventor. Not only was he a successful stage performer, but he is also credited with inventing the Morritt Cage Illusion, Flyto, the Morritt Grip (a coin fingerpalming technique) as well as the false (or sixth) finger gimmick used today. |
| Mulholland,
John (1898-1970) (birthday June 9) American magician, author and magic historian. He wrote the "conjuring" entry for the Encyclopedia Britannica, and was the editor of The Sphinx magazine for 20 years; he was considered to be the leading authority on magic. His magic collection is one of the most important ever amassed; it now belongs to David Copperfield. |
| Mullins,
Thomas
(?-?) English actor who played the part of Bosco for a time in the LeRoy-Talma-Bosco act. |
| Mystic
Craig (1900-1987) Real name William Vagell. American magician and vaudevillian most known for recording many magicians on film. His film collection now belongs to the Magic Castle. He also created the Craig Trophy, awarded to outstanding female magicians. After he retired from performing, he opened a Lionel train shop. |
| Mystic
Mack (?-?) American magician on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit in the mid-1920s. See one of his publicity posters here. |
| Enjoy the facts here, but please don't copy this information and post it on your own web site without getting our permission first. It took many hours of research to compile. If you are doing a paper or project for school, we will be happy to give you permission to use this material if you contact us first. |
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