Paul Valadon

Paul Valadon
Born	Adolph Weber or Waber June 17, 1867 Cologne, Germany
Died	April 23, 1913 (age 45) Phönix, Arizona
Resting place	Greenwood Memorial Park, Phoenix, Arizona

Paul Valadon (1867 - 1913) was a contemporary in England with John Nevil Maskelyne.

Biography

Valadon started as a hairdresser working in London, who studied and practiced magic in his spare time. He obtained one or two small engagements, and thus encouraged determined to take up magic as a profession. He started as assistant to one of the Basch brothers and his first public performance in Central Hall in the Cologne. He eventually got an engagement at the Egyptian Hall.

He was an expert in sleights and misdirection, and invented an ingenious second-sight code which he worked very successfully with his English wife

Valadon's big chance came when Harry Kellar was searching for successor to carry on his show. Kellar saw Valadon perform in London and proposed a partnership. Unfortunately, Kellar dispensed with Valadon over conflicts in personalities and appointed Howard Thurston to his place. From that time, Valadon gradually declined in popularity and wealth. He died in Phoenix, Arizona, leaving his son, Paul Valadon, Jr. a penniless orphan at 13. Valadon, before his death, requested his son not to spend any money for a gravestone because he knew that the boy would have enough responsibilities in just taking care of himself.

Carl Rosini, then vice president of the Magicians Guild, suggested they make an effort to discover the location of his Paul Valadon's grave. Bert Easley, while in Phoenix, Arizona for business, checked cemetery records and found the unmarked grave in Greenwood Memorial Park Cemetery. The Magicians Guild arranged for the grave marker; a stone with the name "Paul Valadon", the dates 1867 and 1913 separated by a high hat crossed by a wand.

On Sunday, June 27, 1948, a dedication services were held at the grave by the Mystic 13, I. B. M. Ring No. 55. 

Family

His son, Paul A. Valadon, remained in Phoenix. Around 1920, he went to work for the city engineering department. He had remained with that department and worked his way up to chief paving inspector. He died in 1954 at the age of 55 in Phoenix, Arizona was buried in Greenwood Memorial Park with his father. He was survived by his widow, Helen, and a son, Paul H. Valadon.

References

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• The Sphinx, Vol. 3, No. 9, November 1904, Kellar and Valadon, by John N. Hilliard, page 113
• The Sphinx, Vol. 12, No. 3, May 1913, Paul Valadon died - THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN MAGICIANS, by Francis J. Werner, page 46; The Editor’s Page, page 56
• The Annals of Conjuring, by Sydney W. Clarke (1929, reprint 2001), Valadon, page 326
• The Sphinx, Vol. 41, No. 8, October 1942, Paul Valadon, page 163
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 25, No. 3, May 1945, INCONSEQUENTIALITIES, by Stanley Collins, Paul Valadon, page 25
• The Conjurors' Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 6, August 1948, The Magicians Guild Honors Valadon, page 11
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 28, No. 6, August 1948, Ring No. 55 – Phoenix, Arizona, Paul Valadon, page 113
• The Sphinx, Vol. 48, No. 5, July 1949, Valadon, by John N. Hilliard, page 135
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 32, No. 2, April 1952, Picture, page 14; Paul Valadon Grave Found, by E. J. Peake, page 18
• The World's Fair, Saturday, June 1, 1968, About Magicians, by Bayard Grimshaw – The Valadon Family, page 7
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 88, No. 10, October 2008, PICTURES FROM THE PAST, page 26; Answer to Pictures from The Past (from Page 26), by Gary Frank, page 9
• Bio-bibliographisches Lexikon der Zauberkünstler Edition Volker Huber, April 2002, Waber, Adolph = Paul Valadon, dt. Zauberkünstler (*1867 Köln; †23.04.1913 Phönix, USA), page 360