Name:
Howard Thurston
Lifetime:
1869 - 1936
Biography:

Howard Thurston was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1869. He began his career after running away from home in a circus sideshow act. He soon became interested in magic after seeing the then reigning "King of Magic", Alexander Herrmann, and vowed to match the magical abilities of his idols, but not before briefly studying for the ministry.

Thurston started his magical career touring with a small European vaudeville act. His success in Europe eventually allowed him to build a more elaborate illusion that took him on a tour around the world. After returning to the United States, Thurston was invited to tour with the well-established Harry Kellar and, on May 16, 1908 after performing with the aging magician on his farewell tour, was passed Kellar's magician's wand.

Thurston kept only a few of the illusions that Kellar had pioneered, but received all of the fame that came from being his successor. Although Kellar had been known for giving his audiences a very formal show, Thurston introduced humor and beautiful assistants to the art of illusion in lavish stage shows, a practice that continues today. One of Thurston's most popular illusions was to make a Whippet automobile filled with his beautiful assistants disappear. At the height of his fame, the master magician had two shows touring the United States, one that required ten railroad box coaches to transport all of the stage pieces, illusions, performers, and stagehands to each of the performances. From his succession of Harry Kellar in 1908, through the years of the Great Depression, until his death in 1936, Howard Thurston was America's most popular illusionist and magician.