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Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series '' The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', which ran on the

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from 1979 to 1994. Daniels was known for his catchphrase "You'll like this... not a lot, but you'll like it!", and for his marriage to his assistant,

Debbie McGee Debra Ann McGee (born 31 October 1958) is an English television, radio and stage performer who is best known as the assistant and widow of magician Paul Daniels. McGee is a former ballet dancer and for three years was artistic director of her ...

. He was awarded the "Magician of the Year" Award by the

Academy of Magical Arts The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in t ...

in 1982, the first magician from outside the United States to receive it. He also won the

Golden Rose of Montreux The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...

in 1985. He was a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star. He has been described as "The Godfather of Magic" and has been repeatedly credited with inspiring many top professional magicians to start in the profession. Daniels was outspoken on matters including politics, current affairs, magic, entertainment, and fellow celebrities. Towards the end of his life he also appeared in reality television shows. He was described by former BBC executive Lord Grade upon his death as "a genius", "a brilliant showman" and a "pillar of Saturday Night for the BBC in their golden era of ratings".

Early life

Newton Edward Daniels was born on 6 April 1938 in the South Bank area of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, the son of Handel Newton "Hughie" Daniels and Nancy (''née'' Lloyd). He was of Welsh descent. His father was a cinema projectionist at the Hippodrome Theatre and a worker for ICI in Wilton, North Riding of Yorkshire. After completing his education at Sir William Turners Grammar School on Coatham Road in Coatham, North Riding of Yorkshire and holding his first job as a junior clerk in the treasurer's office of

Eston Eston is a Village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The ward covering the area (as well as Lackenby, Lazenby and Wilton) had a population of 7,005 at the 2011 census. It is part of Greater Eston, which include ...

Council, Daniels served as a

conscript Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

in the 1st Battalion,

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

, during his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

. He was posted to the British garrison in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

before training as an accountant in local government. Even in his early age, Daniels had thinning hair, which he claimed to be an act of "magic". He later sported a wig for much of his television career. After working as a junior clerk and then as an auditor in local government, he joined his parents in their grocery business. He later set up his own shop, at one point a mobile shop, but eventually gave this up in favour of his growing career as a magician. In 2012 Daniels explained the origin of his stage name to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', saying: "I borrowed the name Paul from my first son, who was born in 1960. I was born Newton Edward Daniels, everyone called me Ted, but Paul worked better for showbusiness".

Showbusiness career

Daniels' interest in magic began at the age of 11 when, during a holiday, he read a book called ''How to Entertain at Parties''. He began performing magic as a hobby, occasionally entertaining at parties and youth clubs and later doing shows for fellow servicemen during his national service. After returning to civilian life he continued to develop his magic by performing in clubs in the evenings while working at his grocery business during the day. At one point he worked with his first wife Jackie under the name of "The Eldani's", an anagram of Daniels. It was while working the clubs that he developed what would become his long-running

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

, "You'll like this ... not a lot, but you'll like it." He stated that he first came up with the line at a club in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

as a way to deal with a heckler. A major turning point in Daniels' career came in 1969 when he was offered a summer season in

Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...

in Cornwall. He decided to sell his grocery business and try magic as a full-time career. He made his television debut on the long-running

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

'' Opportunity Knocks'' in 1970, and came second.

Television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

Johnnie Hamp Johnnie Hamp (sometimes referred to as John Hamp, or Johnny Hamp) is a British television producer, now retired. He is responsible for the early British television appearances of such acts as the Beatles, Burt Bacharach, Cannon and Ball, Paul Dan ...

saw Daniels in that show and later gave him a regular spot on a show compèred by Bernard Manning, ''

The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club ''The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club'' was a British television variety show produced by Granada Television from 1974 to 1977. It was set in a fictional working men's club in the North of England and was hosted by comedian Colin Crompton ...

'', for Granada Television. In 1978 ITV gave Daniels his own Sunday night show, ''Paul Daniels' Blackpool Bonanza''. His first series for the

...
was ''For My Next Trick'', where Daniels appeared with several other magicians and singer

Faith Brown Faith Brown (born Eunice Irene Carroll; 28 May 1944) is an English actress, singer, comedian and impressionist. She was a star of the ITV impressions show '' Who Do You Do?'', and was The Voice in the TV show '' Trapped!''. Brown was born in ...

. This led to Daniels presenting his own television series, '' The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 1979 until 1994. As well as featuring tricks and illusions for pure entertainment, he also included a regular segment (the "Bunco Booth") in which he exposed the confidence tricks of street charlatans. He also replicated the kind of results that have impressed researchers of the paranormal and parapsychologists in a segment called ''Under Laboratory Conditions'', thereby demonstrating his scepticism about claims made in these fields. Daniels starred in his own stage show, ''It's Magic'', at the

Prince of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

from 10 December 1980 until 6 February 1982. At that time, the show was one of the longest-running magic shows ever staged in London. By this point he was already working with his future wife,

, whose role as his assistant would become a major feature of his act. She had first worked with him on his summer season show in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

in 1979. In addition to his magic shows he hosted other television series during the 1980s and 1990s, including three BBC1 quiz shows: ''

Odd One Out ''Odd One Out'' is a British game show based on the American version entitled ''Knockout (game show), Knockout''. It aired on BBC One, BBC1 from 16 April 1982 to 19 April 1985 and was hosted by Paul Daniels. The show is based on a short-lived Am ...

'', '' Every Second Counts'' and '' Wipeout'' (all of which were based on short-lived American game shows), and the children's television programme '' Wizbit'' (also for the BBC), about a magician called Wizbit and a rabbit called Woolly, who lived in Puzzleopolis. In 1987, he was a timekeeper in the charity television special ''

The Grand Knockout Tournament ''The Grand Knockout Tournament'' (also known as ''It's a Royal Knockout'') was a one-off charity event which took place on 15 June 1987, and was shown on British television on 19 June 1987 (BBC1, repeated on 27 December 1987), in addition to a ...

''. Also in 1987, Daniels hosted a controversial

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

live special of his magic show where he replicated a

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 ...

escape from an

iron maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

. The trick was deliberately staged to give the illusion that the escape had gone tragically wrong and Daniels had been killed – it was later broadcast that he had successfully escaped from the device. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1988 when he was surprised by

Michael Aspel Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', '' Give Us a Clue'', ''This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''Antiques Ro ...

. Daniels and McGee were the focus of one of the episodes of the 2001 BBC documentary series '' When Louis Met...'', presented by

Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating fro ...

, with Daniels additionally appearing on ''

Da Ali G Show ''Da Ali G Show'' is a British Satire, satirical television series created by and starring English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. In the series, Baron Cohen plays three unorthodox journalists: faux-streetwise poseur Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat Sag ...

'' in an Ali G costume, and was interviewed by

Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host ''The Mrs Merton Show, Mrs Merton'', in various roles in ''The Fast Show'', and ...

in her guise as

Mrs Merton Mrs. (American English) or Mrs (British English; standard English pronunciation: ) is a commonly used English honorific for women, usually for those who are married and who do not instead use another title (or rank), such as ''Doctor'', ''Prof ...

. In 2004, Daniels and McGee appeared in the Channel 5 reality TV show, '' The Farm'', and in 2006, they appeared in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show '' The X Factor: Battle of the Stars''. They were the first act voted off the show, after singing " Let Me Entertain You" by

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

. Daniels and McGee also made a guest appearance in the '' Wife Swap'' series in early 2007, with McGee changing places with journalist and presenter

Vanessa Feltz Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster, and journalist. She has appeared on various television shows, including ''Vanessa'' (1994–1998), ''The Big Breakfast'' (1996–1998), ''The Vanessa Show'' (1999), ''Celebr ...

. In 2010, he competed in ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' with his partner

Ola Jordan Aleksandra "Ola" Jordan (''née'' Grabowska; born 30 September 1982) is a British-Polish professional ballroom dancer and model. She appeared as a professional on the British TV show ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2006 to 2015. After winning a ch ...

. They were consistently criticised by the judges and were the second couple to leave the competition. In August 2011, while filming a scene for ITV's ''

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

'', Daniels was struck by a flying pizza, thrown by the puppet

. He got a piece of pizza in his eye and called in to a cottage hospital for them to rinse it out. Later that month, he appeared with his son, Martin, on episode 9 of the first season of '' Penn & Teller: Fool Us''. On 10 October 2012, Daniels and McGee appeared on ''

All Star Mr & Mrs ''All Star Mr & Mrs'' is a British television show which first began airing on 12 April 2008 on ITV. It is a celebrity revival of the original '' Mr and Mrs'' that aired on ITV from 1968 to 1988 with two separate revivals in 1995–1996 and 1 ...

'' on

. In 2008 and 2010, Daniels toured with 'The Best of British Variety Tour', with acts including Cannon and Ball, Christopher Biggins,

Frank Carson Hugh Francis Carson KSG (6 November 1926 – 22 February 2012) was a Northern Irish comedian and actor from Belfast. He was best known for being a regular face on television for many years from the 1970s onwards, appearing in series su ...

and

The Krankies The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo who enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and making pop records. Since this period, they have also regularly appeared in pant ...

, where he closed the first half of the show. In 2013, Daniels and Debbie McGee toured their 'First Farewell Tour', followed by a tour 'comically' entitled 'Back Despite Popular Demand Tour' a year later. They toured 'The Intimate Tour' in 2015. They starred in the Pantomime 'Aladdin', at the Ipswich Regent Theatre from December 2015 until January 2016, completing the run a few days before Paul was taken ill.

Awards

Daniels was awarded the "Zina Bennett Trophy" from the British Ring of the

International Brotherhood of Magicians International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) is an organization for both professional and amateur close-up and stage magicians, with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Missouri. There are over 300 ...

in 1964 while he was known as "Ted Daniels" Daniels was awarded the "Magician of the Year’" Award by the

in 1982, becoming the first magician from outside the US to receive it. An

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

special of ''The Paul Daniels Magic Show'' won the

Award at the International TV Festival in Switzerland in 1985. Daniels was the recipient of ''The Maskelyne'', awarded for services to British Magic by The Magic Circle in 1988. He was awarded ''The Devant'', for services to International Magic by The Magic Circle in 2007 and was bestowed ''The Carlton Comedy Award'' in 2012 by the same organization. Daniels was also awarded the "Great Lafayette Award" by the

Edinburgh International Magic Festival Edinburgh International Magic Festival, also known as MagicFest, is an annual arts festival which takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland in the first week of July each year. MagicFest was founded in 2010 by Magician Kevin McMahon and events organise ...

in 2011.

Politics and other views

Daniels was a supporter of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He was reported to have considered leaving the UK with the election of a Labour Party government at the 1997 general election. Daniels later said that his views had been misrepresented, and he would only have considered leaving if they raised income tax. Daniels stated that he had limited sympathy with the homeless because he had come from a "very poor" background and "grafted" to achieve his success. In 2011, he tweeted that he did not consider the term " Paki" to be any more offensive than the word "Brit" and described those who held the opposite view of being excessively

politically correct ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

. Daniels was personally affected by the winter storms of 2013–2014 and described himself in an interview for ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'' as a

climate change sceptic Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...

, instead attributing flooding to changes in procedures of

The Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enh ...

, particularly with regard to

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

. He supported the hereditary system in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, expressing the view that the

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

had "genetic knowledge" that others didn't have. On the subject of

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

, he once publicly offered to help murderer

Ian Huntley The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a local resident an ...

end his own life. Daniels refused to attend magic conferences in the UK since they "...were ruined for me by bitchiness and jealousy...now I only go to foreign conventions where, to be honest, I am greeted with respect and civility AND I have tons of 'foreign' magician friends." He was dismissive of modern

illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...

s, once describing

David Blaine David Blaine (born April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records. Early life Blaine was born and r ...

as "not very original". He commented on other television personalities such as

Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was the host of BBC game show '' The Weakest Link'' (2000–2017). She presented the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'' from June 2021 to Jul ...

and Chris Morris, claiming that Robinson had hated him ever since his 1987

special

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

performance, while describing Morris as "just nasty." He was dismissive of the younger generation of

impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, saying: "Forget Alistair McGowan. There's been no-one good since

Mike Yarwood Michael Edward Yarwood, (born 14 June 1941) is an English impressionist, comedian and actor. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Early life Michael Edward Yarwood was ...

." Daniels was also critical of journalists, stating "I don't really understand why journalism has to be so nasty, so sarcastic and intrusive". Following the

Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal It emerged in late 2012 that Jimmy Savile, an English media personality who had died the previous year, sexually abused hundreds of people throughout his life, most of them children but some as old as 75, and most of them female. He had been w ...

in 2012, Daniels said that while he believed his fellow BBC broadcaster Savile was "undoubtedly a bad guy", he questioned whether some accusers were "for real". His comments were criticised by the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

and Mark Williams-Thomas, the former child protection officer who had exposed Savile's crimes. Williams-Thomas accused Daniels of "belittling" the victims of Jimmy Savile in one of his blog posts. The entry was later removed from the blog. Daniels was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Personal life

Daniels married his first wife, Jacqueline Skipworth (born 1942), in 1960; she was 17 and he was 21. They had three sons together: Gary, Paul, and magician

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

. All three sons occasionally appeared on ''The Paul Daniels Magic Show'' in varying capacities. Daniels's father often made props for the show, such as wooden boxes for the Selbit Sawing illusion, whilst his mother sewed the stage curtains for his theatre tours. Daniels married his second wife, long-time assistant

, on 2 April 1988 in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. The couple met in London in May 1979 during rehearsals for Daniels's summer season show in

that year. When they married, he was 50 and she was 29. McGee went on to work with Daniels in his 1980 summer show in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

and then his London stage show ''It's Magic'' before being offered the role of assistant in his long-running television series. Their relationship gradually became more established, and he proposed in 1987. Early in their marriage, they lived in a house in Denham that once belonged to Roger Moore. In 1998, they moved to a house on the banks of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

Wargrave Wargrave () is a historic village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is primarily on the River Thames but also along the confluence of the River Loddon and lies on the border with southern Oxfordshire. The village has many old ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. Daniels's autobiography, ''Under No Illusion'', includes descriptions of his and McGee's joking life: "I was writing and needed to concentrate, so I had a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on my back. Eventually I went to bed and Debbie was lying stark naked on the bed – eat your heart out fellas! She was wearing the sort of sleeping blindfold you get on long-haul flights. Printed on it was 'Do Not Disturb'. But further down her body she had a sign that said 'Disturb'!" Daniels also claimed in the book to have had, as of 2000,

sexual relations Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

with more than 300 women. He said that he had a "passionate" encounter with a schoolgirl hitch-hiker in 1969 when he was aged 30, though he ejected her from the car upon realising her age. Daniels maintained a website that included personal information, a detailed blog, and podcasts. In 2012, Daniels cut off his left index finger and the tip of his ring finger in an accident with a

circular saw A circular saw is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. ''Cir ...

, in the garden shed of his Wargrave home. He drove himself from his home to hospital in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

, where the index finger was reattached.

Health problems and death

On 20 February 2016, Daniels had a fall and was taken to hospital, where he was treated by medical staff for suspected

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a type of vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results from the lack or loss of intrinsic fa ...

. However it was later discovered that he had an incurable brain tumour. He died less than a month later, on 17 March, at the age of 77. Tributes included one from fellow magician

Dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

: “Paul was truly a giant of the entertainment world who really defined magic for over 20 years,” he said. “As a working-class magician from the North, he was personally a huge inspiration for me and I know that he has inspired countless magicians around the world and will forever be known as one of the all-time greats.”

References

Bibliography

* Paul Daniels, ''Under No Illusion'', Blake Publishing (May 2000),

External links

*
Paul Daniels' weblog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Paul 1938 births 2016 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel BBC television presenters British magicians Comedians from Yorkshire Conservative Party (UK) people Deaths from brain cancer in England English game show hosts English magicians English television presenters People educated at Sir William Turner's Grammar School, Redcar People from South Bank, Redcar and Cleveland People from Wargrave Television personalities from Yorkshire The X Factor (British TV series) contestants Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year winners Academy of Magical Arts Masters Fellowship winners