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Edward J. Dooley

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Edward J. Dooley
BornEdward James Dooley
circa 1853
Halifax, Nova Scotia
DiedApril 13, 1908 (age 54)
Hartford, Connecticut.

Prof. Edward J. Dooley (c.1853-1908), an organist, choirmaster, lecturer, theatre producer, and orchestra leader, performed briefly as Marco, the magician and traveled throughout Nova Scotia in 1896 with Harry Houdini and Bert Kilby as his assistants.

Biography

For four years he occupied the position as organist and choir masterof St. Joseph's Cathedral at Hartford, Conn.

For years he had planned to have a show on the style of the one presented by Alexander Herrmann, and had invested quite a sum of money to get together a show. By some mischance he was booked to open in the summer of 1895 and failed to appear; so the management of one of the Halifax theatres engaged a bogus magician whose name was Skinner, whom they called Markos. His mediocre show left so bad an impression in the Canadian provinces that when the real Marco arrived in 1896 his business amounted to nothing and he disbanded the company and left all his paraphernalia in Halifax. [1]

Dooley returned to Connecticut and his regular job as a church organist and choirmaster. He would eventually settle in Albany to be a teacher in “voice, culture and piano.” He did continue performing magic at local clubs. [2][3]

References

  1. Obit, Conjurers' Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2 No. 9, May 1908
  2. The metamorphosis : the apprenticeship of Harry Houdini by Bruce MacNab (2012)
  3. Houdini The Untold Story by Milbourne Christopher (1969)