Lawrence Grey (March 23, 1895 – May 5, 1951) was an English magician known for his
card tricks
Card manipulation is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, parlor, and street magic. Some ...
. He also worked as an occasional actor and is known for voicing
Bill the Lizard in
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
''.
Biography
Larry Grey was born on March 23, 1895 in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
, England. In his youth, he emigrated to the United States, where he began practising magic. One of his earliest tricks included Jumbo Cards, which inspired many of his later card tricks.
Around 1918, Grey met
Dai Vernon
Dai Vernon (pronounced alternatively as "DIE" or as "DAY" as in David; June 11, 1894 – August 21, 1992), a.k.a. The Professor, was a Canadian magician. His sleight of hand technique and knowledge, particularly with card tricks and close- ...
in
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
. At the time, Grey had just begun his career in magic but with little success and was only just managing to make a living.
[The Magician and the Cardsharp: The Search for America's Greatest Sleight-Of-Hand Artist by Karl Johnson (2006)] Grey and Vernon decided to work together, initially setting up a booth along Kengsington Walk, in which Grey would sell small packs of cards and magic props while Vernon would cut silhouettes. During this time Vernon and Grey lived together in a room on Coney Island.
Vernon later taught him how to cut silhouettes and they both worked together cutting silhouettes at the
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
Exhibition
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
in 1919 and at a booth in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in the 1920s. In 1926 Grey and Vernon set up the Sleight-of-Hand Artists Club, their meetings were held in their Silhouette Studio on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
.
After meeting Vernon, Grey began to develop his performance style. His routines were often comedic and fast paced. He was best known under his stage name, "The Dizzy Wizard", due to his zany personality.
He eventually earned moderate success amongst magicians and was particularly noted for his card and sleight of hand magic. In 1940, he married Carlotta Dale Garrison, who performed alongside her husband as a singer.
In 1941, Grey appeared in the film, ''
Mr. Celebrity
''Mr. Celebrity'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine.
Cast
* Robert Henry as Danny Mason (as Buzzy Henry)
* James Seay as Jim Kane
* Doris Day as Carol Carter
* William Halligan as Daniel Mason
* Laura Treadwell as ...
'', as himself performing magic tricks with Jumbo Cards. The film was about
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
performers performing in a boarding house. He also appeared in a few other films during his lifetime.
Near the end of his life, Grey had his own magic theater.
on the boardwalk at
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...
, and did a comedy magic act with his wife. He also made his most famous film appearance in
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
’s ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'' in 1951 as the voice of
Bill the Lizard. The film was released two months after his death.
Death and legacy
On May 5, 1951, three hours before he was due to perform a magic show in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Grey died, aged 56, after shooting himself in the head with a
.38 caliber
.38 caliber is a frequently used name for the caliber of firearms and firearm cartridges.
The .38 is considered a large firearm cartridge; anything larger than .32 is considered a large caliber.Wright, James D.; Rossi, Peter H.; Daly, Kathleen ...
revolver three doors down from his home in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
. He left a series of suicide notes found in a suitcase near his body which explained that he "couldn't go on any longer". According to his wife Carlotta, Grey had been depressed because his career had declined and he felt "washed up" in show business.
His death was greatly mourned, especially by his good friend Dai Vernon, who said he was, "One of the greatest card performers who ever lived". Grey is mentioned frequently in columns written for the ''
Genii'' magazine by Vernon.
Filmography
*''
Mr. Celebrity
''Mr. Celebrity'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine.
Cast
* Robert Henry as Danny Mason (as Buzzy Henry)
* James Seay as Jim Kane
* Doris Day as Carol Carter
* William Halligan as Daniel Mason
* Laura Treadwell as ...
'' (1941) - Larry 'Gardo the Great' Grey
*''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'' (1951) -
Bill, The Lizard / Card Painter (voice)
References
External links
*
Larry Greyo
Magicpedia, an external wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Larry
Male actors from Leeds
English emigrants to the United States
English magicians
1951 deaths
1895 births
English male comedians
English male voice actors
Suicides by firearm in California
Card magic
Sleight of hand
20th-century English comedians
1951 suicides