Help us get to over 8,745 articles in 2024.

If you know of a magician not listed in MagicPedia, start a New Biography for them. Contact us at magicpediahelp@gmail.com

Dante

From Magicpedia, the free online encyclopedia for magicians by magicians.
Jump to: navigation, search
For the performer in the 1920s, see Dante, The Mormon Wizard.
Dante

c.1940
BornHarry August Jansen
October 3, 1883
Copenhagen, Denmark
DiedJune 16, 1955 (age 71)
Northridge, California
Resting placeColumbarium 1 Loraine Ct. San Francisco, California

Dante (1883-1955) was born Harry August Jansen in Denmark. He emigrated to the U.S. as a small boy. He started out in magic as an illusion builder. He co-owned a magic manufacturing company in Chicago called, Halton, Jansen and LeRoy.

Biography

After becoming a performer and touring as the "Great Jansen", he was chosen by Howard Thurston to run the Thurston Number Two show, who gave him the name "Dante". He built many of Thurston's illusions including the improved Horace Goldin "Sawing a Woman in Half". "The Un-Sevilled Barber", "Backstage", "The Magician's Rehearsal" and "Black and White".
Cover of Genii (1955)

Dante toured the world with his show "Sim-Sala-Bim", including on Broadway. Sim Sala Bim was Dante's trademark which he used as his magic words. He was often billed as the "King of Magicians."

He performed on TV shows such as "You Asked for It" and in films.

Dante made his last public appearance a week before his death at the combined convention of the Society of American Magicians and the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians in Santa Barbara where he gave a lecture about his tours. He died at his Northridge ranch in San Fernando Valley (near Los Angeles) of a heart attack on June 16, 1955.[1]

References

  1. Thurston & Dante: The Written Word… Book Two By Temple, Phil ed. (2006)
Wikipedia-logo.png This page incorporated content from Dante (Harry August Jansen),

a page hosted on Wikipedia. Please consult the history of the original page to see a list of its authors. Therefor, this article is also available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License