I nod. From the mid-70s to the early 80s, Toronto-raised master illusionist and escape artist Doug Henning was inescapable. He also dabbled in politics. I always hate reading that stuff.. There is a century-old magic trick that Jim Steinmeyer finds particularly fascinating. Magic is not about knowing how weve been deceived. He never has, its possible he never will, and this doesnt bother him in the least. United Archives via Getty Images / Getty Images Doug Henning is often credited with resurrecting magic as a theatrical art in the 1970s. Henning died Two other Steinmeyer illusions soon made a Henning TV special, and Henning eventually offered him a job helping launch Merlin on Broadway. It usually involves revision upon revision, sometimes over several years. Despite his absence from the scene, the monthly Magic Magazine reported last July that Mr. Henning had been sighted at several magic stores around the country. She was successful as a painter and graphic artist and also in the clothing design business. All Rights Reserved. Debby also married Mexican artist Jose Carcamo, whom she divorced in 1980. Dougy almost fell off his chair. I cannot imagine why.Sideshow Gathering 2010 I decide this is where Im going to make my stand and try to extract a secret. He is survived by his wife, Debbie. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution You can find books that lay out the mechanics of most illusions in sonorous detail, down to diagrams with measurements. Survivors include his wife, Debbie. Given the nature of his business, he said, he had to be proprietary about sharing the way magic is accomplished. Some of these tell-alls have existed for generations. Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. In a sense, Dougy forced me to overcome my natural shyness.". Beverly Hills [213]. But heres a list of everything inside.. People Magazine Interview: Part Three Copyright 1991-2023 Playbill Inc. All Rights Reserved. You know, in terms of explaining how things work, he told me, I cant get into too much of that.. This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. Doug Henning Doves became rabbits in Mr. Henning's hands, and horses took wing. Its become like, lets talk about magic as a puzzle. If you know of a past magician not listed in MagicPedia, start a New Biography for them or Email us your suggestion. Steinmeyer holds that feeling himself. DOUG Henning the hippie magician who wowed the world with his amazing illusions on TV and on Broadway has died at the age of 52. He died on 7 February 2000 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Magic plus theater equals art, the 20-year-old psychology major argued, convincing the government in his native Canada to give him a $4,000 study grant with the goal of reviving magic as a theatrical art. He was 52 years old when he died. People Magazine Interview: Part Two A native of Winnipeg, Canada, Mr. Henning made his American debut in ''The Magic Show,'' a rock musical that opened on Broadway in May 1974 and subsequently ran for more than four years. Doug and Debbie Houdini Plaza 1986 Performance, Close Encounters of the Doug Kind: Part Three, Nathan Lane Discussing "Merlin" on Playbill.com, Remodeled James Earl Jones (Cort) Theatre Interior, Follow THE DOUG HENNING PROJECT on WordPress.com. Each illusion involves close collaboration with the builder and the performerSteinmeyers client. When Steinmeyer was 13, his father died, leading to what he describes as a hell of a year. As the family wrestled with grief, his mother encouraged him to attend a magic convention in Michigan with his friends, to plug into something that might distract or excite him. He married Debby Douillard in 1981. Doug Henning, a Superstar Of Illusion, Is Dead at 52, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/09/arts/doug-henning-a-superstar-of-illusion-is-dead-at-52.html. He never lost interest in the magic world, says Nancy. He is engaged, insightful, and animated, and he speaks about his life and biography with depth, but he deflects other questions that remind me of the conversational rope-a-dope magicians use, suggesting one thingSee these rings? He was married to Debby Douillard and Barbara De Angelis. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free), Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Share the best GIFs now >>> Republication or distribution of this content is During the evening on my second day in Hollywood, Steinmeyer drives me to the Magic Castle. He conquered Broadway with his smash rock musical, The Magic Show, which ran for more than four years at the Cort Theater. In 1975, Mr. Henning broke through to an even larger audience when he performed Houdini's ''Water Torture Escape'' on a live television special. Built in 1909, the building is a shambling maze, a classic chateau-themed manor with narrow passages, branching wings, antique banisters and Tiffany stained glass windows. Sign up for reopening news, announcements, and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows! We say hello to Steinmeyers wife, television producer Frankie Glass, whose many documentary credits include Ancient Aliens and a series called History vs. Hollywood. Hes a large man, around six feet tall, sturdily built. No one is sneaking a look at their phone, and no one resists the timeless astonishment that has come from magic audiences for decades, from Charles Morritt to today. The truth of how magic works is that most of us dont know because we dont wantto know. Discover Doug Henning's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Steinmeyer uses the mind-reading trick as a launchpad into a disquisition on how magic tricks evolve, which is fascinating, but it temporarily walls me off from a question Im eager to ask about the trick, or, really, any trick: How does it work? He was previously married to Debby Douillard and Barbara De Angelis. Debbie Henning THE DOUG HENNING PROJECT Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Henning became intrigued by magic as a child when he saw a magician levitate a woman on televisions Ed Sullivan Show. His mother bought him a magic kit. The escape literally made him the worlds most famous magician (overnight). People Weekly. Doug is unique in that he didnt copy anyone before or after him, he says. What happens, he says, is that an idea branchesyou start working on something and you go, Oh, it would really be good if it was like this. And you pursue that for a little while and you go, Yeah, thats not right. And then you go back and you pursue this for a little while, and this starts working. It involves a burglar, a safe, and mind-reading, and it unfolds like this: A group of random audience members file on stage and each place a personal possession inside a sturdy, commercial-model safe, out of view of the magician, Charles Morritt. Henning returned to Broadway in 1983 for the Tony-nominated musical Merlin, and the following year Doug Henning and His World of Magic toured across North America. The people are so pure. Steinmeyer doesnt know how the safe illusion works. It earned monster ratings, and NBC made the Emmy-winning special an annual event. Henning left the magic business in 1986. ), Matthew Lawrence says his agency dropped him after he refused to strip for director, Ed Sheeran blasts music expert for criminal testimony in Marvin Gaye copyright trial, Roman Polanski and the woman he pleaded guilty to raping pose together 45 years later, Paul Stanley of KISS dives into debate over transgender acceptance versus kids transitioning, Has the Justin Timberlake Its Gonna Be May meme passed its expiration date? He was 52. He was a writer and actor, known for The Magic Show (1983), In the Close-Up Gallery, Tom Craven peppers his card, rope, and metal-ring tricks with a stream of old-world patter. Here is a miniature version of the cabinet used in the Disappearing Donkey illusion, a once-lost trick that Steinmeyerafter years of reconstruction via dusty tomes and informed intuitionunveiled to a roomful of confounded performers (Magicians are actually pretty easy to fool, he says). With his magic shows, he rejected the traditional tuxedo and top hat costume and prefered bright multi coloured casual clothing and tights. Debby Henning was the wife, assistant, business partner and muse to illusionist Doug Henning. After Falling Under the Spell of Wife Debby, Doug Henning Hopes to Charm Broadway Again (Part.2) My friends said there was practically a flash of light, says Henning, 35. Doug Henning & His World of Magic (Dec 11, 1984 - Jan 27, 1985) Performer: Debby Henning [Assistant] Ramon had never performed original tricks before, but in Steinmeyers studio he understood for the first time how they were birthed. May 1, 2023, By From Magicpedia, the free online encyclopedia for magicians by magicians. By December 20, 1982, pages 70-72. This clever prop allows the British nanny to pull gigantic items from her carpetbag, including a hat rack and full-length mirror. | | He honed his skills touring North America with veteran magicians, and with a bit of luck, he opened a magic-music show in a Toronto theater. Steinmeyer demonstrates a version of the sawing-in-half illusion. He abandoned his illusion magic for what he saw as real magic--the transcendental meditation and levitation ability of his friend and guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, with whom he began to study in the early 1970s. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled? We have estimated Henning was also a disciple of transcendental meditation and its leader, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Most illusion creators stay in a lane: big-stage illusions, escapes, mind reading, theater productions, or close-up magic. Then simultaneous with that, theres the script of what youre actually doing, so theres a divergent thing where youre saying one thing and youre doing something else. May 2, 2023, By Doug was a guest and entertainer and Debby was a volunteer worker. WebKristen Anne Bell (born 1980) is an American actress and singer. He also made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Muppet Show.. Lloyds of London would soon insure his hands for $3 million, or $300,000 per finger. Doug Henning - NNDB He vanished and gradually restored on stagefrom veins, to nervous system, to skinthe titular character of The Invisible Man. Doug Henning - IMDb Doug Henning was born on May 3, 1947 in Fort Garry, Manitoba, Canada as Douglas James Henning. Because Zig Zag was so fresh in the 70s, things that felt like that were attractive.. However, this married later ended in divorce. Will Virtual Reality Ever Live Up to the Hype? At one point derided as crazy and a has-been, Henning insisted to one Canadian political reporter in 1994: Im a visionary., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Hollywood writers strike over streaming pay after talks fail, Models and climate activists hit the streets to protest the star-studded 2023 Met Gala, Gordon Lightfoot, mournful Canadian singer-songwriter, dies at 84, Tim Bachman, founding guitarist of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, dies at 71. His answer, at first, is that he doesnt really like the question. Today, running his own business requires an astonishingly disparate set of skills. Steinmeyer immersed himself in Chicagos magic-shop subculture, popping in on Saturdays, hanging around, and talking to other magicians. is 5'5"(1.67m) . (Houdini traded places with a prisoner in a trunk in 20 seconds; Henning did it in one-third of a second. Mr. Henning was one of the supporters of a $1 billion theme park, Veda Land, proposed for the Niagara Falls area. May 1, 2023, By The family moved to Oakville when Henning was in his early teens, and in 1969, he lived in a third-floor apartment at 94 Winchester St. in Cabbagetown, where a plaque now commemorates his life as a magician, teacher and politician. Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors. Also, what I, After Falling Under the Spell of Wife Debby, Doug Henning Hopes to Charm Broadway Again (Part.3) He stuck with magic. Magic renews that wonder.. Rebecca Taylor Henning / AP. In 1973, he borrowed $5,000 from his mother and, with a friend, launched a rock musical-cum-magic show called Spellbound in Toronto. Among the judges are Olivier winner Amber Riley and Frozen star Samantha Barks. Scene from movie "Elf" comes to life as Buddy meets dad in Boston There are careful sketches of rotating, hinging mechanisms, drawings of altered cabinets and wardrobes enveloping phantom figures and annotated with measurements and enigmatic notations. rights reserved. And then theres the script of how youre maneuvering the audience through the act., The story should be both familiar and impossible. He is survived by his wife and former assistant, Debby. Audiences should recognize the magic about to be performed. TV magician and escape artist who brought Merlin to Broadway and became known for his groovy mustache and rainbow-colored clothes. Thats why we press for answers. If it didnt, it wouldnt be a trick, it would be reality.. If a magician cant conceal this secret, the trick is worthless. Its a mind-reading trick, but instead of the magician playing the part of the clairvoyant, its the third-party burglar. Superstar magician Doug Henning led a wild life | The Star Major General Dany Fortin, military officer acquitted of sexual assault, sues government, PM for $6M The god-tier highlight of his career is arguably designing David Copperfields televised vanishing of the Statue of Liberty, but over more than three decades, Steinmeyer has engineered an entire pantheon of physics-defying, brain-exploding, how-is-that-even-possible feats. Doug Henning's net worth As well, Debby starred in several summer theater musicals (including Fiddler on the Roof and Applause) and studied mime, jazz dance and singing. Logan Culwell-Block Andrew Gans Hes not going to let me flip over his mirrors or rifle through his drawers, and when I give him a straight-line question, he responds with misdirectionlabyrinthine tangents and looping alternate pathways. Soldering 101: How To Bond Wires, Cables, and More, How the Microwave Was Invented by Accident, How Noise-Cancelling Earbuds Actually Work. Before long, he developed what was known as a medicine pitch act, in which he played an old-timey snake-oil salesman and incorporated tricks into demonstrating his various cures. So whats the trick? Then we cross their yard to his studio followed by Albert, their doddering but ebullient 13-year-old dachshund. | Id approached Steinmeyer with this intent a few weeks earlier. Nobody else is working at this level. Was nominated for Broadway's 1975 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for "The Magic Show.". Which Celebrities Still Have Twitter Checkmarks? He begins a mesmerizing filibuster about the illusions evolution, citing his friend and mentor Alan Wakeling, who in the 1970s came up with an incredibly elegant design for the trick in which two audience members shackle the hands and feet of the woman, and instead of sawing the box in two, the magician stabs four blades through the sides. Steinmeyer allows that historically, the trick is that the woman pulls her knees up to her chest when the sawing happens. The members-only club for magicians and enthusiasts is both a laboratory for the craft and, by night, a place for guests to take in performances both large-scale and intimate. May 1, 2023. He died in Los Angeles on Feb. 7, 2000, from liver cancer. Magic, he says, is an opportunity to experience a deception without actually being threatened.. He was always pleasantly surprised by the reception, Nancy says. I think Rich Hall played the Doug Henning part in that skit. Here is all you want to know, and more! Theyve just saw the world together again and seem comfortable in their relationship. As we walk through his home, posters of great magicians past stand guard along the walls. ", They were engaged within a week. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. Doug Henning Steinmeyer shows them to no one. Its from the master thief. Inspired by Federico Garca Lorcas The House of Bernarda Alba, the play takes on gentrification and social strife in New York. WebHenning discovered TM while working on the Spellbound show in Toronto. He returned often to visit family and to do the occasional performance. In the studio with us are two of the trick tables. It still coaxes grasps from a crowd. Everyone idolized him, and the age of modern television and stage magic began then. Counting both sides of a page, thats 4,800 pages dating back to 1980 or 81. entertainment in the 1970s and popularizing it on television. Shut out of basketball by his size, Henning revived his interest in magic. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Twenty-two years after his death he would have turned 75 this May Henning is still regarded as one of the greats by his peers, having blazed a trail for the likes of Siegfried & Roy, David Copperfield and Penn & Teller. When Doug opened that show on Broadway, that was the starting point of a huge boom in magic that has continued to this day, Las Vegas magician Lance Burton said Tuesday. To order Henning went to India for a time to work with the maharishi, telling The Times by telephone in 1988: It was the fulfillment of my career to do this. Magicians of Our Time For example, the Mary Poppins illusion originated as an unrelated, sudden jolt of inspiration: a table that employs angled mirrors to conceal items within its folds. He was a writer and actor, known for The Magic Show (1983), World of Magic (1977) and Doug Henning's World of Magic (1976). He reveled in the intricacies of itthe different historical accounts, Charles Morritts possible motives, all the potential explanations. WebWife: Barbara DeAngelis (div. WebWife of. With Ivan Reitman, a university classmate, Henning conjured Spellbound, a musical magic show, written by David Cronenberg and with music by Howard Shore. to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about '', As a student at McMaster College in Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Henning studied psychology but planned all along to pursue magic as a career. Every magician thats out there working today owes Doug Henning a great debt.. Debby Henning - Magicpedia - Genii All of us wish them nothing but happiness and the joy that comes from a loving partnership. During the early days, he practised at home for hours, says his sister, Nancy Henning.
