Julien J. Proskauer (June 14, 1893 – December 18, 1958) was an American
magician and author.
Proskauer was born June 14, 1893, to Joseph Proskauer and Bertha Richman Proskauer in New York City. He was a friend of
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 ...
and was well known for debunking fraud
mediums
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...
.
His book ''The Dead Do Not Talk'' (1946) exposed the fakes, frauds and tricks in
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 was the President of the
Society of American Magicians
The Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) is the oldest fraternal magic organization in the world. Its purpose is "to advance, elevate, and preserve magic as a performing art, to promote harmonious fellowship throughout the world of magic, and t ...
(1935–1936).
[Claudia De Lys. (1979). ''Giant Book of Superstitions''. Citadel Press. p. 436] He was a contributor to many magazines and journals on magic.
He died December 18, 1958, and is buried in New York.
Publications
*''The Dead Do Not Talk'' (1946)
*''Fun at Cocktail Time'' (1938)
*''Suckers All''! (1934)
*''How'd ja do That?'' (1934)
*''What'll You Have? A Not Too Dry Text Book About Cocktails'' (1933)
''Spook Crooks!''(1932)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proskauer, Julien
1893 births
1958 deaths
American male writers
American skeptics
Critics of parapsychology
Harry Houdini
American magicians
Critics of Spiritualism