Magicians' Biographies - Letter F |
Read about a popular comedy magician, the magician who used electricity in the 1700s, the "Queen of Magic", and more! |
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| Fabian
(1912-1965) British magician who was the first assistant editor of Abracadabra magazine. |
| Falconi
(?-?) British magician who toured America during the late 1800s. Favorite trick- the Ghost Glass, a spiritualism effect. |
| Falconi, Signior
(?-?) Italian magician who toured the East Coast of America during the late 1700s. Gave displays of electricity and used a number of automatons and mechanical marvels. |
| Fatma
(? - ?) Yugoslavian femal magician and assistant to her husband, Retta, in their grand illusion show. Her big contribution was as a mindreader and spiritist in the show. |
| Fawkes, Isaac
(? - 1731) Early English magician. Known to have performed the Egg Bag trick and Blooming Bush, effects still performed today. |
| Fay, Anna Eva
(1851-1927) America's most famous female stage psychic, and Harry Houdini's partner in the exposure of fraudulent mediums in the 1920s. |
| Fechter, Eddie
(1916-1979) American closeup magician, owner of the Forks Hotel in Buffalo, New York, and co-founder of the 4F Convention (Fechter's Finger-Flinging Frolic). |
| Ferrante
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Fetsch, "Hen"
(1912-1961) Inventor of Mental Epic. |
| Fields, Eddie
(1915-1994) Inventor of Invisible Deck. American mentalist (with partner George Martz), card handling expert, former Coney Island sideshow magician. |
| Fischbacher, Siegfried
(1939-2021)(birthday June 13) German-born international star of magic. Half of the duo of Siegfried & Roy. |
| Fleming, Paul
(1889-1976) American magician who worked as both "Paul Gemmill" and "Paul Fleming". Assistant first to Eugene Laurant (from 1909 to 1910) and then to Karl Germain (from 1910 to 1914). |
| Fleming, Walker
(1887-1971) Older brother of Paul Fleming. Onstage assistant to his brother, and also owner of The Fleming Book Co. in York, Pennsylvania. |
| Flosso, Al
(1895-1976)(birthday October 10) American comedy magician and owner of Flosso-Hornmann Magic Shop. Real name Albert Levinson. Son-in-law of Louis Krieger. He made appearances on early TV shows including "Toast of the Town", "The Ed Sullivan Show", "The Steve Allen Show" and "Wonderama", among many others. Billed as "The Coney Island Fakir", a nickname given to him by comedian and fellow vaudeville performer Milton Berle. His stage name was reportedly taken from his childhood nickname of "The Floss", short for his mother's maiden name of Floserstein. One of his routines was a two-person midreading act with his wife, Lillian Krieger, as "Madame Xenia". |
| Flosso, Jack
(1926-2003)(birthday February 11) Son of Al Flosso and grandson of Louis Krieger. Real name Jack Levinson. Owner of Flosso-Hornmann Magic Shop from 1976 until 2000. Also a comedy magician, getting his start while touring with the USO, and featuring an act called "Mr. Billionaire" where he produced lots and lots of money. |
| Floyd, Mary
(?-?) Wife of Walter Floyd (maiden name Mary Robinson) and one half of The Floyds magic act. Performed as the psychic "Mohala" in their two-person mind-reading act. Billed as "Mohala, the Radio Mystic". |
| Floyd, Walter E.
(1861-1940) American magician who achieved stardom on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit. Started his career as a student of Harrington, then as "Al Nickle", assisting Robert Nickle in 1879. Developed his own magic act, with a strong emphasis on the two-person mindreading segment he performed with his wife, Mary. Died while performing onstage. |
| Foley, Jean
(1903-1994) American magician, he was the first performer on the first program at the first American magic convention |
| Follmer, Bob
(?-?) American magician who purchased Ken Allen Products magic manufacturing company in 1965 |
| Foster, Beatrice
(?-?) Second wife of Howard Thurston, from 1910 to 1914. Maiden name Beatrice Fleming. Performed with him onstage for ten years as the "Queen of Magic". |
| Foster, Neil
(1922-1988) American magician noted for his beautifully artistic manipulation technique, especially with the Zombie Floating Ball and fan work. Closely associated with Abbott's Magic Company, he served as vice president of the company briefly, and was responsible for reviving its TOPS magic publication. He was also a revered instructor for (and most famous student of) the Chavez School of Magic. |
| Fox, Imro
(1862-1910)(birthday May 21) German-born magician (real name Isidor Fuchs) who is credited with being the first to perform a comedy magic act as a single. His whirlwind performing style inspired Horace Goldin, who adopted it as the signature of his act. Fox began his career as a restaurant worker, then advanced to chef before becoming an entertainer. His biggest success came when he toured with Servais LeRoy and Frederick Eugene Powell as part of The Great Triple Alliance, the famous three-act touring magic show (1898-1900). Also an accomplished hand shadow artist, he wrote a book, Hand Shadows and How To Make Them, which can still be found in print today. |
| Fox, Karrell
(?-1998) American comedy magician. Has a star dedicated to him on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame. In 1993, he hosted a segment on the Abbott's Get-Together video, giving a tour of Colon's Lakeside Cemetery graves of famous magicians. Karrell Fox is now buried in the Lakeside Cemetery himself. |
| France, Edwin D.
(1906-1992) American magician from the Baltimore area who billed himself as the "Del-Mar-Va Magician" and "France the Magician". He performed some spectacular stunts such as driving a car blindfolded. Also ran a mailorder magic shop, specializing in inexpensive tricks, jokes and novelties. An energetic and enthusiastic self-promoter, France took one of Howard Thurston's scaling cards, pasted his own photo over the face of Thurston, and reprinted the cards with his own name on them. |
| Fran-Klint
(1887-1950) Cuban magician ( real name Francisco di Paula Lucas Aranaz Bergado), who started his career doing hand shadows, but gained fame and success for his gloved cigarette and card manipulation act. Billed as "The Man With the Gloved Hands". |
| Franklin, Ben IV
(1914-1986) American magician who performed on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits, sometimes partnering with Logan Wait. Claimed to be great-great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin. Skilled at card scaling. |
| Fredrik, Alexander
(1878-?) Perhaps just a legend, this performer appeared as "Fredrik the Great" on the American stage until a lawsuit forced him to abandon the name. Apparently, he had a large stock of playbills left over, which he sold to Willard the Wizard and Dante, both of whom occasionally appeared as "Fredrik the Great" until they used up the posters. |
| Fregoli, Leopoldo
(1867-1936) Italian magician and quick change artist. In 1899, he made several pioneering film shorts of his quick-change act and his comedy magic routines, which he would show during live performances. |
| Freund, Al
(?-?) Partner of a young Karl Germain for several years when they started their careers as stage magicians in Ohio. Billed as "Freund and Mattmeuller", the two toured between 1893 and 1898, mainly in Ohio. |
| Friedell, William
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Frikl, Wilhelm
(?-1912) German magician who perished on the Titanic. |
| Frye, John W.
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Frye, William Eugene
(?-?) American magician on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. |
| Fulves, Karl
(b.?) Published Epilogue magazine starting in 1967, focusing on advanced card magic. Author of a number of excellent books on "self working" or foolproof magic tricks for beginners. |
| Fu Manchu
(1904-1974)(birthday February 19) David Bamberg. Seventh generation magician. Son of Theo (Okito). Born in Great Britain, raised in the U.S. Gained much of his experience touring with the Raymond show, doing a Shadowgraphy act. Later toured with his own show, as Fu Manchu, with most of his work in South America. |
| Furst, Arnold
(1918-2002)(birthday June 21) American magician (real name Arnold Furstenberg) and hypnotist. His magic shows were mainly for children, though he toured with the USO during WWII, accompanied by his white rabbit, Oscar. His hypnotism was related to therapy rather than showmanship, and he wrote a number of authoritative books on the subject. He also wrote several books on magic, including Famous Magicians of the World. Inventor of the Fresh Fish torn and restored paper routine. |