Dean Gunnarson (born 27 January 1964) is a Canadian escapologist (escape artist). He was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is noted for a series of large scale spectacular stunts done for television. Gunnarson has appeared on television in over 165 countries around the world performing his escapes. Gunnarson has performed over 500 shows across

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and his TV escapes have been seen by millions of people there. In 2012 the Chinese Government presented him with "The World's Top Escape Artist" award after a successful escape on live TV. He has also performed across

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and the US on TV, fairs, shopping malls, sporting events, and for many of the countries top corporations.

Career

Gunnarson narrowly escaped death in October 1983 during a

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery sp ...

in which he was handcuffed and chained and nailed into a coffin which was then submerged into the Red River in Winnipeg. The stunt went wrong as the coffin was lowered into the water, leaving him unable to escape. He was eventually pulled from the river and freed by the support crew, at which point he was not breathing and had to be resuscitated by

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

s. The incident led

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six P ...

to refer to Gunnarson on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'' as "that crazy Canadian". Gunnarson has appeared in several television specials. In the 1987 special ''The Search for Houdini'', Gunnarson replicated two of

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 ...

's most famous escapes. In 1988, he appeared in the NBC special ''Magic in The Magic Kingdom'', filmed at

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

. He also appeared in ''The Spectacular World of Guinness Records'', hosted by

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

where Gunnarson set two world records for escaping. In 1998, Gunnarson appeared in NBC's specials ''

The World's Most Dangerous Magic The World's Most Dangerous Magic was the title of two American television specials showcasing illusion and escapology acts, which were made for the NBC network. The first was originally broadcast on 27 April 1998 and the second, titled ''The Wo ...

'', where he escaped from a

straitjacket A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with long sleeves that surpass the tips of the wearer's fingers. Its most typical use is restraining people who may cause harm to themselves or others. Once the wearer slides their arms into the ...

while hanging upside down 726 feet above the ground from a trapeze suspended from the

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on S ...

. He appeared again the following year in The ''World's Most Dangerous Magic II'', where he escaped suspended upside down over a swamp of 130 hungry alligators in the Florida Everglades covered in chicken meat and blood. Some of Dean's other television appearances include The Nashville Network's popular "Statler Brothers Show", the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

and Family Channel, where he is a favourite family entertainer. He also has appeared on many shows on

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

, TLC,

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

and even on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...

. One of Dean's personal career highlights was opening for

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues ...

at their CD Release Party of "Nine Lives" in New York City. In 2012 Gunnarson won the Merlin Award for "World's Best Escape Artist". Presented in Shenzhen, China by The International Society of Magicians, the world's largest magic organization with over 37,000 members. Founded in 1968 it was the first time ever that they have given the award to an escape artist. Past winners are

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

, Doug Henning, Penn & Teller, and

Criss Angel Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos ( el, Χριστόφορος Νικόλαος Σαραντάκος; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in Ne ...

. Gunnarson is widely considered the Greatest living escape artist in the world today because of his legendary escapes performed around the world over such a long career. In February 2013 Ripley's Believe It or Not presented Gunnarson with the Ripley's record "World's Most Daring Escape Artist" while in New York for the Anderson Cooper Live TV show with

Anderson Cooper Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show '' Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties a ...

and co-host Stacey London. Gunnarson performed a difficult escape on the TV show. He has also been featured in many Ripley's books including a two-page colour spread in "Ripley's-The Remarkable Revealed" pages 130–131, where he was buried alive in tons of wet cement and escaped. In 2016, Dean Gunnarson starred in the Canadian reality TV series '' Escape Or Die!''. The series was sold to numerous countries around the world. The series follows Dean and his team as he travels around the world attempting daring escapes. Gunnarson was also the first recipient and only escape artist to ever win the "Houdini Award" presented on the ''Magic Stars'' television show in Tokyo, Japan. He became the youngest person and first Canadian to be awarded the U.C.T. "Humanitarian of the Year" for his devotion to raising money for various charities after being chosen out of 185,000 people nominated in North America.

Major stunts

* Buried Alive, where he dug himself out of a grave after being buried for two days with no food or water on Friday 29 October 2010 and escaped on 31 October 2010 to coincide with

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

's date of death. * Cement Tomb Escape – Gunnarson was handcuffed, chained and buried alive under tons of wet cement on 31 October 2008. * Houdini's Milk Can Escape for the ''Search for Houdini'' television special on Halloween Night, 1987 – he was a last minute replacement for James "The Amazing" Randi, who was injured just before his scheduled live performance. * The Challenge at Hoover Dam straitjacket escape hanging by his toes from a trapeze 726 feet over Hoover dam on ''

'' – 30 August 1998 * Gator Bait on ''The World's Most Dangerous Magic 2'' – 2 May 1999 – escape from a straitjacket and chains while hung upside down by his toes from a trapeze above 130 hungry alligators at Gatorland in Florida. * Airplane Jump for the 500th episode of the Japanese television show ''Naruhudo! The World'' – Chained with handcuffs, locked in a straitjacket and thrown from an airplane 13,500 feet in the air Gunnarson had one minute of freefall in which to release himself and open his parachute. * Tractor Pull – Chained between two 450 horsepower tractors and had to escape before Gunnarson was pulled to pieces (9 June 2007). * Car Crusher Escape for the television show "The Spectacular World of Guinness Records", hosted by

. He was handcuffed and chained into a 1970 Cadillac, with his neck chained to the steering wheel, his legs to the brake pedal, and his arms to the doors. * Beer Can Escape – handcuffed and chained inside a 200-liter can of beer and escaped. The famous Trailer Park Boys from their TV show dumped beer and ice over Gunnarson as he was shoved into the over flowing beer can. Gunnarson received International media coverage for his crazy escape. * Roller Coaster Escape chained to the tracks of a Bullet Coaster in China. * Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Cell * Shark Cage Escape * Packing Crate Escape * Car Wash Escape * Under Water Coffin Escape * Hanging Upside Down Burning Rope Escape * Death Cage – Zhangjaijei, China * Burning Viking Ship Escape – Iceland * Snake Temple Escape – Malaysia * Russian Death Tank

Awards

*2013 Ripley's Record New York, N.Y. – Ripley's Believe It Or Not – World's Most Daring Escape Artist *2012 Merlin Award Shenzhen, China – International Magicians Society – World's Best Escape Artist *2004 Silver Cuffs Award Indianapolis, U.S. – Life Time Achievement Award for his many extreme and daring escapes over nearly three decades of performing *Guinness World Records Los Angeles, U.S. – Set two World records for escaping on the TV Show Spectacular World of Guinness Records *Humanitarian of the Year Chicago, U.S. – United Commercial Travelers presented the Award out of 185,000 Nominated in North America for Dean's devotion to help raise money for numerous charities *Houdini Award Tokyo, Japan – Magic Star TV Awards Show- Legendary movie actor Tony Curtis, who played Houdini in 1953 movie about Houdini, presented Houdini Award for " World's Greatest Escape Artist"

References

External links

* *
alwaysescaping.com

travelmanitoba.com
– Gunnarson's entry in a list of famous Manitobans * Listing for Magic of Canada #1, Volume 50 (*Video)

brainz.org
– Named the second Greatest Escape Artist in History. Houdini # 1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunnarson, Dean Escapologists Canadian magicians Living people People from Winnipeg 1964 births Canadian people of Icelandic descent

Career

Major stunts

Awards

Further reading

See also

References

External links