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Gary Ouellet

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Gary Ouellet

Cover of Genii (1988)
BornGary Quart Ouellet
January 9, 1945
Quebec, Canada
DiedJune 8, 2002 (age 57)
Lisbon, Portugal (heart attack)
Resting placeQuebec, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Known forMagic television specials
CategoriesBooks by Gary Ouellet

Gary Ouellet (b.1945-d.2002) was a French Canadian television producer and magician who lived and worked in the United States. He is probably best known as the driving force behind a number of network television specials that helped some of the top performers in modern magic gain a national and international profile.

Life and career

Born in Canada on January 9th, 1945, Ouellet became interested in magic as a boy after receiving a toy magic set as a present. As a teenager, he performed a magic act that was the opening for headliners at a prominent cabaret venue in Quebec City. One of his specialties at that time was a bird act. As an adult he initially pursued magic part-time while making a career as a lawyer and as a government lobbyist.

In 1978, he co-founded The Camirand Academy of Magic, a Canadian publishing house, with Guy Camirand.

Ouellet was a member of the successful and sometimes controversial Ottawa lobbying firm Government Consultants International, starting, in 1984 along with Frank Moores, Francis Fox, and Gerald Doucet.

After moving to the United States to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, he became a producer and was involved in founding several successful companies, including Area 52 Entertainment and his own firm Ouellet Entertainment Inc. In the 1990s he produced more than 50 hours of network television, including the five World's Greatest Magic shows and the two World's Most Dangerous Magic specials.

He settled in Los Angeles but also spent a considerable amount of time in |Las Vegas because of its importance as a venue for magic shows. He wrote and directed a number of big Las Vegas stage shows, including Melinda: First Lady of Magic starring Melinda Saxe, and a show with magician Steve Wyrick. He was also responsible for Saxe's 1997 television special.

As well as contributing to magic through his production work, he wrote a number of books and made instructional videos and DVDs, in which he taught magic skills. He was also a columnist for Genii magazine from the early to mid 1990s (the series was called Fulminations).

He died of a heart attack in Portugal where he was working on a television production. Writing after Ouellet's death, magician Jonathan Pendragon stated "Some producers create problems by toying with a performers act. The great producers know how to frame and place a performer so that their work is seen in the best light. Gary belonged to the second group. He loved magic, all magic, and cared deeply about every performer and the vast spectrum of styles that was paraded before the camera on what came to be known as the Gary specials. This is the affectionate nickname coined by those who were fortunate enough to be booked on the specials. We called them the Gary specials because Gary Ouellet worked for legendary producer Gary Pudney. It can honestly be said that these two men are responsible for proving to the world that there were other great magicians besides David Copperfield."

Books by Gary Ouellet

Other Marketed Products by Gary Ouellet

Major Illusions Created By Gary Ouellet

Last Illusions Offered on Ouellet Entertainment www.magictv.cc

  • Carnival Games
  • Nightmare at the Gallows
  • The Greased Lightning Stage Vanish
  • The Brett Daniels Appearing Aircraft
  • Shadowlands
  • Airtime
  • The Made in Japan Illusion
  • The Millenium Cabinet
  • Russian Roulette
  • Skewered

Illusions For Which Gary Ouellet Was a Major Contributor

Video Clips

  • Gary Ouellet performs his three-shell routine, Supershells

References

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