Help us get to over 8,749 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
Henry Hay
Henry Hay (March 30, 1910 - July 27, 1985), born June Barrows Mussey in New York City. He started performing when he was only 13 as "Hadji Baba - The Boy Magician." At one point, he toured with his lifelong friend T. Nelson Downs. He graduated from Columbia University when he was only 19.
He translated Ottokar Fischer's Illustrated Magic from German to English in 1931
He worked for a time as editor of The Sphinx and also helped John Mulholland ghostwrite portions of his book, Beware Familiar Spirits (1938).
He spent World War II in the U.S. Marine Corps air intelligence unit and returned to civilian life as a freelance translator. Mussey traveled to Germany in 1950 to work as a foreign corespondent. He ended up moving to Dusseldorf in 1952, where he spent the remainder of his life.
As Henry Hay (Hay is believed to be a family name from his mother's side) he authored many classic books on magic for beginners including his most well known The Amateur Magician's Handbook.
Books
- Magic (1942) as Barrows Mussey
- Learn Magic (David McKay Co. 1947)
- Cyclopedia of Magic (Garden City Publishing 1949)
- The Amateur Magician's Handbook (1950)
