Howard Thurston (July 20, 1869 – April 13, 1936) was a world-famous stage magician from Columbus, Ohio.
Life
Thurston had the largest traveling Vaudeville magic show for the time, requiring more than eight entire train cars to transport his props across the country.He is still famous for his work with playing cards. He called himself the King of Cards. One of his most famous effects was the "Rising Card".
In 1908 he took over the Thurston-Kellar Show, following the retirement of Harry Kellar. It is said that Kellar considered only Thurston to be worthy of succeeding him. Thurston died 27 years later from a stroke. He is entombed at Green Lawn Abbey, a mausoleum in Columbus, Ohio.
Thurston is mentioned and appears briefly in Glen David Gold's novel "Carter Beats the Devil" (ISBN 0-7868-8632-3), concerning fellow stage magician Charles J. Carter and the Golden Age of magic in America.
Thurston is quoted as a subject matter expert in Dale Carnegie's book "How to Win Friends and Influence People (ISBN 0-743272-773)." He appears in Part Two, Chapter One ("Do This and You'll Be Welcome Anywhere").
See also
Notes
Further reading
- Grace Thurston, My Magic Husband: Howard Thurston Unmasked. (Muller, Wayne) Paperback ISBN 0745950124.
External links
- "ThurstonMasterMagician.com - The #1 Source For Howard Thurston Information."
- Youtube, Thurston performance.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday July 16, 2008 at 18:01:14 PDT (GMT -0700)
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