Sir Julien Cahn

Sir Julien Cahn
Born	Julien Cahn October 21, 1882 Cardiff
Died	September 26, 1944 (age 61) Nottinghamshire
Resting place	Wilford Hill Cemetery, Nottingham

Sir Julien Cahn (1882-1944) was an entrepreneur, philanthropist and supporter of cricket and magic.

Biography

Cahn was famous in the cricketing world and he frequently married sport and magic interests on his overseas cricket tours during the 1930s. He once took a cricket team on a tour to Ceylon and Malaya in the Spring of 1937. During their stay Cahn was a guest at a dinner hosted by the Malayan Magic Circle at Circle House.

In 1936, Sir Charles Allom's son-in-law J E Redding, a constant visitor was put in charge of the project to create a theatre-cinema on the east side of the house. J.E. Redding & Smith and the noted cinema architect Cecil Aubrey Masey designed this and Cahn could perform in front of his guests and friends. Named Stanford Hall, an air-raid shelter was also built under the theatre and the project was reported in the architectural press and locally in the Loughborough Echo as "one of the most remarkable in this country. Its lighting, furnishing, and general appointments are delightful in every respect. The fittings are modern in the extreme". Among its features are a decorated safety curtain and a series of murals painted by Beatrice MacDermott. A self-playing Wurlitzer theatre organ was bought from the Madeleine Theatre in Paris and contributed to cahn's repertoire of magic. The theatre continues to be used to this day, for plays, operas, musicals and concerts by amateur and professional companies.

The theatre is described in the January 1944 issue of The Linking Ring. Cahn would perform in aid of deserving charities. Introduced in his two hours entertainment were no less than 16 illusions and 12 smaller effects.

Cahn was President of the Leicester Magic Circle and donated the "Sir Julien Cahn Cup" in 1935, given annually for the most original trick. He was also Chairman of the entertainment committee of the Magicians' Club.

Cahn was the first to introduce a wireless receiving set in connection with " thought transference" act in 1906.

For a period P. T. Selbit was engaged as a consultant and thus Cahn possessed all the Selbit illusions.

References

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