Valentine Augustus Walker (15 February 1890 – 17 March 1969) (also known as Val A Walker and Val Enson) was an
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 ...
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 ...
,
escape artist
Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and oth ...
and illusion designer. He was born in Moseley,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
to Joseph Walker, a landscape gardener, and his wife Emma. Val Walker worked as an electrical apparatus maker, later serving in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
and was billed as the "Wizard of the Navy". Walker is credited as the designer of the ''
Radium Girl'' illusion. His most famous escape was "The Tank in the Thames" where he was bolted into a steel tank lowered into the river Thames from the Sea-Scout Training Ship, Northampton on 20 August 1920. He escaped in 20 seconds. He was married in 1913 to Ethel Dora Harris, the daughter of Thomas Daniel Harris and his wife Emma Ellson. He retired from the stage in 1924, returning briefly in 1939, under the name of 'Val Enson', with an illusion called "The Aquamarine Girl".
References
Further reading
*Tad Ware, "The Radium Girl", in ''Magicol'' Magazine, pub by Magic Collectors' Association, 2004
*Val Walker, written recollections published in ''Abracadabra'' magazine in 1968 (full details unavailable)
External links
A picturefrom the State Library of Victoria, Australia, showing Val Walker in naval uniform.
Discussions about Val Walkeron the ''Genii forum'' website
Val Walker sitededicated to his illusions and escapes.
Val Walker archiveon the Flickr site.
1890 births
1969 deaths
English magicians
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