Magicians' Biographies - Letter E |
Read about the truly startling twin, the earliest psychic performer, the magician who turned people different colors, and more! |
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| Eagle, George Barnardo
(1806-1858) English magician billed as "The Royal Wizard of the South". Also toured as Barnardo and Na Barno. Rival and imitator of John Henry Anderson, he published Barnardo's Handbook of Magic in 1846. A copy of a Barnardo Eagle playbill can be seen on page 63 of Magic: A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theater. Father of magicienne Georgiana Eagle. |
| Eagle, Georgiana Elizabeth
English female magician, famous for her second-sight act, and psychic to Queen Victoria Read the biography of Georgiana Eagle - see image! |
| Easley, Bert
(1904-1987) American comedy magician, acrobat and magic dealer. His gift for specialty dancing led him to develop "The Lean", a trick in which the feet remain flat on the floor while the body leans forward until the performer is almost in a prone position, seemingly without natural support. Until 1975, he operated Bert Easley's Fun Shop in Phoenix, Arizona. Published Doing Magic for Youngsters in 1948. |
| Eck, Johnny
(1911-1991) American performer (real name John Eckhardt) who was born with a physical condition that made him appear as if his body had been cut off at the waist. He exhibited himself in freak shows as a Living Half-Man for many years, and appeared in the classic Tod Browning horror film Freaks (1932). With his twin brother Robert, who looked identical to Johnny except that his body was normal, he performed a strange but comical magic routine in which a man (Robert) would enter a cabinet and be sawed in two pieces by the magician. When the cabinet was opened, the legs jumped out of the cabinet and were chased around the stage by the top half of the man (Johnny), who would even run up the theater aisle propelled by his arms. The act was featured for six months in Rajah Raboid's "Mysteries of 1937" stage show. Johnny is buried alongside his twin brother. |
| Eckam, Elmer
(1891-1963)American magician and magic dealer, operated Art in Magic in Rochester, NY. |
| Edler, Karl
(1877-?) Austrian magician and ventriloquist. |
| Edmanson, Robert
(1890-1949) English magician and ventriloquist. |
| Edwards, Charlie
(1883-1958) English magician, specialist in street magic. |
| Ellis, Jardine
(1881-1923) Scottish magician, real name Duncan Lome Campbell. specialist in closeup magic. A talented performer known for his genius and wit, Ellis also authored a number of articles for the British magic peridical Magic Wand. He was also the subject of George Johnstone's 1925 book, A Few Jardine Ellis Secrets. He is most known for his invention of the JARDINE ELLIS RING, a metal ring that can be made to penetrate through a solid object like a rope or silk. The ring was such a clever effect that it is still used today. |
| Elliott, Dr. James William
(1874-1920) European magician who played the part of "Bosco" for a time in the LeRoy-Talma-Bosco act. He was, in fact, the only "Bosco" who was actually a magician. |
| Elliott, Mr.
(?-?) American magician, popular during the late 1700s, who was advertised as having the ability to turn members of his audience different colors. |
| Ellwood
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Elmsley, Alex
(1929-2006)(birthday March 2) Scottish amateur magician and author. Inventor of the Elmsley Count, also known as the Ghost Count. Gifted mathematics and computer scholar. |
| Elroy, Robert Henri
American vaudeville magician and talent agent Read the biography of Robert Elroy - see image! |
| Emmett
(?-?) American magician (last name) who sometimes starred with J.H. Durno on the Lyceum circuit around 1900. |
| Engle, Lilman
(1849-1910) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits whose act included making a live chicken vanish from a box onstage and reappear in the lap of an audience member. |
| Epstein, Adam
(1820-1869) Successful Polish magician who toured extensively throughout Europe in the mid-1800's. One of the first magicians to travel with his own independent show, rather than as a part of a larger circus or theatrical troupe. Died performing the dangerous Bullet Catching Act; his wand, used to ram home the balls in the rifle barrel, broke inside the gun and he was killed by wand shards. |
| Evanion, Henry
(1832-1905) British magician and major magic ephemera collector. Birth name was Henry Evans, but leagally changed his name to Henry Evanion in 1858. Though he had a career as a performing magician, appearing variously as "Mr. Evans" "Evan Ion" and "Evanion" between 1849 and 1880, he is most known for his enormous collection of magicians' playbills. He sold part of this collection to the British Museum in 1885 and the other part to Harry Houdini in 1905. This poster is circa 1860. |
| Evans, Celeste
(b.?) Glamorous Canadian-born female magician who had a successful stage and nightclub career from the 1950s into the 1980s. One of the first women to perform dove magic. |
| Evarts, Harry
(?-1889) American magician and minstrel actor in the later 1800s. Worked for a time as a talker at Barnum's museum |
| Everett, M.H.
(?-?) African-American stage assistant who played the part of "Boomskie" in the Leon Herrmann show after 1898. Prior to his stint with Herrmann, he had assisted Bancroft until Bancroft's sudden death in 1897. |
| Ewing, Billy
(?-?) African-American vaudeville singer and comedian who got his start as a stage assistant to Howard Thurston. |