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Hadji Ali
| Hadji Ali | |
| Born | ? |
|---|---|
| Died | ? |
| Flourished | l920s-30s |
Hadji Ali (fl. l920s-30s), known as the Egyptian Enigma, was a famous for his regurgitation act he performed during the 1920s and 1930s in the U.S. vaudeville circuit.[1]
Biography
A 1913 Friedlander poster showing a water-spouter billed as "Aly" from Egypt is probably of him.[2]
A short-subject color film of his act was shown in U.S. movie houses in the late 1930s.[3]
Ali, who acted with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in "Scarlet Dawn" (1932), performed in the Spanish film "Politiqueri" spouting kerosene on a flaming pyre and putting it out by then spouting gallons of water.[4]
The medical fraternity was interested to the point of investigation and several of the doctors from Johns Hopkins and Maryland University examined Ali to see if there was a possibility of fraud. The doctors also felt that it was necessary to have expert assistance and asked a the Society of Osiris for help. A committee was appointed and the examination took place with the final result finding that no trickery was discovered.[5]
He died in the United States some time in the 1940s. His wife tried unsuccessfully to sell his body to Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore.
References
- ↑ The Illustrated History of Magic by Milbourne Christopher (1973)
- ↑ Who's Who in Magic: An International Biographical Guide From Past to Present by Bart Whaley (1990)
- ↑ Magic a pictorial history of conjurers in the theater by David Price (1985)
- ↑ Magic magazine, December 1996, page 46
- ↑ THE SPHINX, February, 1926, page 454