William Holden Maxwell (professionally known as Max Holden; August 20, 1884 – July 3, 1949) was a Scottish-born American vaudeville performance artist and magician.

Early life

The son of a

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...

, William Holden Maxwell was born on the twentieth of August, 1884 at

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Maxwell had an early interest in magic and while still in his teens placed a classified ad as Max Holden in the publication ''Magic: The Magicians Monthly Magazine'', asking for information on magic tricks and juggling. Around this time Maxwell was learning his craft as an apprentice to British

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 ...

David Devant David Devant (22 February 1868 – 13 October 1941) was an English magician, shadowgraphist and film exhibitor. He was born David Wighton in Holloway, London. He is regarded by magicians as a consummate exponent of suave and witty presentation ...

before striking out on his own as a magician and juggler touring the

Moss Empires Moss Empires was a company formed in Edinburgh in 1899, from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir Edward Moss, Richard Thornton and Sir Oswald Stoll. This created the largest chain of variety theatres and music halls in the United K ...

circuit in

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. In 1905 Maxwell chose to immigrate to

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he took up residence in Boston, Massachusetts. The following year he was joined by his parents, Samuel and Mary along with his brother John May Maxwell (1889–1967). In America Samuel Maxwell was able to apply his trade as a cabinetmaker at a furniture factory in nearby Revere while John eventually became a patternmaker for Hunt-Spiller manufacturing in Boston. In 1915 William Maxwell became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.

Career

In time Maxwell (as Max Holden) became successful performing his magic act in America on the

Keith-Albee-Orpheum The Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation was the owner of a chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres. It was formed by the merger of the holdings of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II and Martin Beck's Orpheum Circuit. Histo ...

and

Marcus Loew Marcus Loew (May 7, 1870 - September 5, 1927) was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loew's Theatres and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio (MGM). Life and career Loew was born in New York City, ...

circuits. He was known for his Shadowgraphy shows that he improved in 1914 with an invention of his own that added an array of colors onto the shadowgraph screen. Maxwell would go on to spend a number of years touring abroad and was said to have crossed the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

some eighty-six times over his near quarter century career. In 1929 Maxwell retired from the stage and with the help of fellow magician,

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, opened a magic shop in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

with later branches in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and Boston. The Max Holden's Magic Shop on 42nd Street soon became a Mecca for professional and amateur magicians interested in honing their art and exchanging new ideas. The magic community was outraged when in 1933

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ran a series of magazine advertisements with the tag line "It's Fun to be Fooled, But It's More Fun to Know", that revealed to the public how magicians performed certain illusions. Maxwell's involvement in the ad campaign did not become known until sometime after his death in 1949.

Marriage

Maxwell wed Clotilda (Cora) Amaral in 1913 in Rutland, Vermont. They had a daughter, Madeline (Mary). Clotilda died of childbirth complications in 1913. Before her death she had worked as his assistant. Maxwell later married Elizabeth Morrison on May 3, 1921, at

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

, and the following year they had a son, William Jr., who was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

during their tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Over the early years of their marriage Elizabeth (nicknamed "Tess") performed onstage with Maxwell as half of the team of ''Holden and Graham''.

Death

William Holden Maxwell died on July 3, 1949, after a long illness at South Nassau Communities Hospital in

Oceanside, New York Oceanside is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 32,109 at the 2010 census. History Originally known as South Bay, the Eng ...

. He was survived by his wife and son. William Holden Maxwell Jr. died in Massachusetts on January 9, 2011.Boston Globe January, 2011

Published works

''Card Tricks That Anyone Can Do''
(1934)
''Modern Hand Shadows''
(1935)
''Programmes of Famous Magicians''
(1937)
''Manual of Juggling''
(1947)

References

External links

*
Max Holden Quote

Max Holden Magic catalog photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Max 1884 births 1949 deaths American magicians Jugglers Scottish magicians Scottish expatriates in the United States Vaudeville performers