Carl Hertz (May 14, 1859 – March 20, 1924) was an American

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

Biography

He was born Louis or Leib Morgenstein in San Francisco. After becoming proficient in the art of magic, he toured America, Europe and Australia, which he had first visited in 1892. He was one of several famous magicians who added films to their repertoires during the early years of

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

. He sailed from England on 28 March 1896 aboard the

Royal Mail Ship Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. The designation dates back to 1840. Any vessel de ...

and on the voyage exhibited

Robert W. Paul Robert William Paul (3 October 1869 – 28 March 1943) was an English pioneer of film and scientific instrument maker. He made narrative films as early as April 1895. Those films were shown first in Edison Kinetoscope knockoffs. In 1896 he s ...

Theatrograph R. W. Paul presented Britain's second film projector, and the first commercially produced 35mm projector, the Theatrograph, on 20 February 1896. It was first demonstrated at Finsbury Technical College. The use of Paul's Theatrograph in music hal ...

to the passengers. He also showed films to his audiences in Australia and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa. After Australia he toured Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, China, Japan, the Fiji Islands and Hawaii. Hertz was a debunker of

mediumship Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or ghost, spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship o ...

and

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

. He appeared at the prosecution for the medium

Swami Laura Horos Ann O'Delia Diss Debar (probably born Ann O'Delia Salomon, Harry Houdini. (1924)A Magician Among the Spirits(via archive.org) c. 1849 – 1909 or later) was a late 19th- and early 20th-century supposed medium and criminal. She was convicted of ...

(also known as Mme. Diss Debar) trial in New York. Hertz helped send Horos to jail by duplicating in court the tricks she had used in her

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...

s. Hertz corresponded with the magician

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

about the tricks of spiritualist mediums. In 1923, Hertz had sent Houdini a letter revealing a trick he used to fool the jury at the court trial for Mme. Diss Debar. In his book ''A Magician Among the Spirits'' (1924), Houdini included a copy of this letter. He was known for his magical acts. His "Aerolithe" illusion involved a girl dancing on air

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

March 21, 1891, pg 14

/ref> - a court case was brought that accused him of stealing it from a German magician. "Phoenix" illusion. His wife entered a furnace and emerged unscathed. Known for the

vanishing bird cage The vanishing bird cage, also known as the flying birdcage, is a classic parlour magic effect that was invented by French magician Buatier De Kolta. The trick has also been used by magicians Carl Hertz, Harry Beardmore, Harry Blackstone ( Sr. and ...

act. He was actually summoned to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

on August 2, 1921 to prove that his act did not harm the birds. He performed the trick for them, then produced the unharmed bird. He married Emilie D'Alton, a vocalist and his assistant. They had children. He published his autobiography in 1924, ''Modern Mystery Merchant; The Trials, Tricks and Travels of Carl Hertz, the Famous American Illusionist''.

References

External links

Carl Hertz: A Modern Mystery Merchant 1859–1924

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertz, Carl 1859 births 1924 deaths American Jews American magicians American skeptics Critics of Spiritualism Harry Houdini Jews by occupation