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| Enjoy the facts below, but please don't copy this information and post it on your own web site without our permission. |
| Raboid,
Rajah (1896-1962)
(birthday January 22) American magician born Maurice Kitchen. Began as a carnival illusionist billed as "Ray Boyd", but changed his stage name to the more exotic "Rajah Raboid" when he revamped his act from magic to mindreading, using many methods learned in his youth in New Orleans. He is credited with being the first blindfolded magician to pilot a plane. His was the show that featured half man Johnny Eck and his full sized twin in a truly inspired version of the Sawing in Half illusion. His mentalism skills, performed both on pirate radio out of Mexico, and for private clients, helped him amass quite a fortune. |
| Rami Sami See Sam Margules. |
| Randi,
James (b.1928)
(birthday August 7) official
website Canadian-born magician, escape artist, lecturer and professional skeptic, specializing in the exposure of fraudulent mediums, psychics and faith healers. Birth name James Hamilton Randall Zwinge. Began his career working sideshows as "Prince Ibis" with a mentalism act. Gained international fame by the 1960s as a bold escape artist. Retired as an escape artist in 1989, naming Dean Gunnarson as his successor. Featured in a number of television shows, first as an escape artist/magician, later as a debunker. Long-running professional "feud" with psychic performer Uri Geller; Randi even wrote a book exposing Geller's methods. Operates the James Randi Educational Foundation, "an educational resource on the paranormal, pseudoscientific and the supernatural", which offers a $1 million prize to any individual who can satisfactorily demonstrate supernatural abilities. Author of a number of excellent books exposing frauds. |
| Ranni,
John (c1780's-1810) Scottish magician and ventriloquist who is credited with introducing the trick Card On Ceiling. Also employed a young Richard Potter. |
| Ransom,
Elmer
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Ray,
Del (1925-2003) American magician born Delbert Raymond Petrosky. Met Harry Blackstone, Sr. when he joined the Army at age 17, and later toured with Blackstone as his assistant for two years. Following that, he had a successful career as a night club magician, especially with his innovative electronic magic effects. He appeared on the 6/24/51 broadcast of the TV program Toast of the Town, the early version of the Ed Sullivan Show. |
| Razoux,
Paul H.
(?-?) American magician on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit around 1910. Performed as half of the Razoux-Berg Company magic act with partner Russell O. Berg. See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Reno,
Ed (1861-1949)
(birthday August 23) click here for
official website American magician (born Edward Munn Burdick) famous for his long career as a Chatauqua magician. His first wife Emma worked with him as Madame Reno, Empress of Magic. Well respected by his fellow performers, Ed Reno was also known to take time for impromptu performances on the street whenever he met his young fans. Two of their children, as well as a son-in-law, became a part of the Reno Funmakers act in the 1920s. His daughter Emily's husband Arthur Gilbert performed as Argus, and their children Harry ("Prince Hari") and Auline Myra Burden ("Princess Noni") performed as well. Though both Emma and Auline Myra died in 1927, Ed Reno continued to perform professionally into his 80s. |
| Reno,
Madame
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. See one of her publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Ritchie
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Robsen,
Stuart New York City magic shop owner in the 1930's who employed a young Robert Orben. |
| Robert-Houdin,
Jean (1805-1871) (birthday
December 7) To be added. |
| Robertson,
E.G. (1763-1837) Belgian illusionist who created special effects with the magic lantern, known as "phantasmagoria". This was the precursor to the cinema arts developed in the decades after his death. Real name Etienne-Gaspard Robert. Visit his grave. |
| Robinson (?-?) American magician on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit from the late 1800s into at least 1926. Promoted himself as "Greatest Living Sleight of Hand Artist" and "the only man in the History of Magic to use regular Ivory Billiard Balls for Sleight-of-hand effects, featuring his Phanton [sic] Billiard Ball, Magic's Most Baffling Effect". See one of his publicity pamphlets in entirety here. |
| Roltaire
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Rosani American magician and juggler who played the Lyceum and vaudeville circuits with his partner, E. A. Hendrickson, from the late 1800's into the early 1900s. |
| Rosini,
Carl See biography, Carl Rosini by Rev. Robert Olson (1966). More to come. |
| Rucker,
Benjamin (1892-1934) American magician of the 1930's (real name Benjamin Herman Rucker) who combined magic with a strong separatist political message. His mission was to promote his view of Black power by attracting attention and support using stage magic, occult magic and superstition. He was best known for his "Buried Alive" trick where he would hypnotize women and then place them in the ground for six hours. Eventually he would perform the trick on himself and sell tickets for the public to view his "private graveyard" prior to his theater performance. The trick was so effective and Black Herman's mystical message was so strong that when he died onstage in 1934, The famous jazz musician Sun Ra (Herman Blount) was named after him. Black Herman was an ethnic nationalist, a contemporary of activists Marcus Garvey and Booker T. Washington. Garvey, Washington and Black Herman all offered talismans to ward off racism. Black Herman claimed that he was immortal and descended from Moses. He suggested that blacks could elude Klansmen and their descendants by escaping the limitations of mortality and simply outliving them. He published a book, ghosted by a man named Young, called Secrets of Magic, Mystery, and Legerdemain in 1925. Read more here. Visit Black Herman's grave. |
| Rush Ling Toy See George LaFollette. |
| Russell,
Van See Tom Bowyer. |
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