Terri Rogers (4 May 1937 – 30 May 1999) was a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

and magician. Rogers was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

and was a somewhat isolated youth but determined to build a career in

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

. Rogers developed a technically highly proficient ventriloquism act with her ventriloquist figure Shorty Harris, first appearing as a supporting act in music hall in the 1950s. She underwent

gender reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and all ...

on the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

in the early 1960s. This brought her some short-lived notoriety but did not hamper her career. Rogers won acclaim for her appearance in the 1968 review '' Boys Will be Girls'' at the

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...

and went on to become a highly regarded performer on the UK

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

circuit. She was the only variety act ever to appear at

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sc ...

. From 1974 onwards she was a regular guest on TV on ''

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 ...

''. She also appeared on BBC TV's long running Music Hall variety show, ''The Good Old Days''. Her cabaret career eventually extended internationally including appearances at

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and

The Magic Castle 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 Hollywood, and on

United States 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 territori ...

TV. Her work as a magician was always something of a sideline but she was an ingenious developer of

magic trick 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 including illusions for

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 ...

and

Paul Daniels 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 ...

. She was an expert on "

topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...

", the art of creating illusions with shapes, and wrote three standard texts on the subject. She was particularly known for illusions with

Borromean Rings In mathematics, the Borromean rings are three simple closed curves in three-dimensional space that are topologically linked and cannot be separated from each other, but that break apart into two unknotted and unlinked loops when any one of the t ...

. Rogers died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

after a series of strokes. She was survived by her life partner Val Andrews, also a magician.

Publications

Rogers published a number of magic effects and books, predominantly through specialist magic publisher Martin Breese. These include: * ''The Little Book of Ventriloquism ''(c.1948) * ''Terri Rogers' Star Gate ''(1985) * ''Boromian Link ''(1986) * ''Wipe Out ''(1986) * ''Word of Mind ''(1986) * ''Secrets (1986)'' * ''More Secrets (1988)'' * ''Top Secrets ''(1998) In addition to these books, Rogers sold several manufactured tricks, including The Key and BlockBuster.

References

External links

Page
at

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

* Retrieved 2007-04-03 *

Malcolm Hardee Malcolm Hardee (5 January 1950 – 31 January 2005) was an English comedian and comedy club proprietor. His high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous publicity stunts and on the help and advice he gave to successful British Altern ...

: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Terri 1937 births 1999 deaths Entertainers from Ipswich English LGBT entertainers English transgender people Ventriloquists Transgender women entertainers LGBT magicians British magicians 20th-century English LGBT people