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Wilfrid The Wizard

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Wilfrid The Wizard
BornWilfrid Rutherford
January 22, 1883
Lancashire, England
DiedJune 1, 1979 (age 96)

Wilfrid The Wizard (1883-1979) was a Lyceum and Chautauqua performer who created a "Rising Cigarette" effect.

Biography

Wilfrid move to the United States at just 10 weeks old. He became interested in magic after in 1898 after seeing a performance by the Alexander Herrmann at the Academy of Music in Richmond, Virginia.

One of his early acts was "Wilfrid and Black Sambo" consisting of a ventriloquist dummy he painted black.

Eventually, he married and settled down in Richmond, Virginia, where he became skilled in the field of commercial art. He designed and photo engraved the first letterhead and membership certificate for the International Brotherhood of Magicians. [1]

In the 1950s, he opened a magic shop in Richmond and was very involved in the local IBM Ring No. 45. He was later honored as "Virginia's Dean of Magicians".

According to IBM Ring Reports, he was still performing at times for his club in 1969, well into his 80s.[2]

Bibliography

  • Magic Bug's Bite Proves Fatal, Linking Ring, February 1951

References

  1. WILFRID THE WIZARD by William E. Andrews Linking Ring, September, 1948
  2. http://www.faqs.org/people-search/rutherford-born-in-1883/