Robert Nickle

Robert Nickle (May 2, 1842 - November 5, 1889), born John Newbanks in Troy, New York, began his career as a magician after purchasing Jim De Barr's show and went on to become one of the most successful magicians of his day.

He often told people that his real name was "Charles Robert Nicholls" and attributed his start in magic to Alexander Herrmann.

Nickle was known for performing and popularizing the Breakaway Fan.

He died at a relatively young age, collapsing after a show at the Globe Theater in Washington, D.C., from a combination of heart failure, tuberculosis and alcoholism. He was picked up unconscious in the streets of Washington and carried to a hospital where he died. Nickle was later buried in a potter's field somewhere near Washington.

references

• Robert Nickle Centennial by John Mulholland, Sphinx Vol 41 (1942), page 123.
• Magic A Pictorial History History of Conjurers in the Theater By David Price, (1985)