Harry Kellar

Harry Kellar (1849–1922) was the leading stage magician in America at the turn of the twentieth century, often called the dean of American magicians. He is best remembered for the levitation of Princess Karnac and for passing his show, in a public ceremony, to Howard Thurston in 1908.

Early life and the long apprenticeship

He was born Heinrich Keller in Erie, Pennsylvania, on 11 July 1849, to German immigrant parents. He left home young and found work as an assistant to a travelling magician who performed as the Fakir of Ava, then spent several years with the Davenport Brothers, whose spirit-cabinet shows were a sensation in the 1860s.

In the early 1870s he set out on his own with a partner from that company. Over the next decade he toured South America, Africa, India, China and Australia. The work was hard and uncertain; at one point a shipwreck is said to have cost him almost everything he owned, and he rebuilt the show from scratch.

America's leading magician

By the 1880s Kellar had settled into touring the United States, where his great rival was Alexander Herrmann. Herrmann was the flamboyant one; Kellar was the solid, likeable showman with a polished, unhurried manner. After Herrmann died in 1896, Kellar was the undisputed head of American magic.

What his audiences remembered:

• the levitation of Princess Karnac, in which a woman rose from a couch and floated in mid-air while a hoop was passed around her
• spirit-cabinet effects that echoed his years with the Davenports, presented as entertainment rather than as proof of ghosts
• The Blue Room, in which figures appeared and vanished on stage

His levitation grew out of one he had seen at John Nevil Maskelyne's Egyptian Hall in London. Exactly how he came to have his own version is told in different ways and is part of magic's folklore.

Passing the mantle

In May 1908, at Ford's Theatre in Baltimore, Kellar ended a performance by naming Howard Thurston as his successor, and Thurston took over the show. It was the first time a major American magician had handed on his show in this way.

Kellar retired to Los Angeles. He came back once, in 1917, for a benefit performance at the New York Hippodrome arranged by his friend Harry Houdini. He died in Los Angeles on 10 March 1922.

Legacy

Kellar's posters, especially the striking lithographs printed for his tours, are among the most collected in magic. His look, with bald head and neat beard, is often said to have influenced the image of the Wizard in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, though that link is popular tradition rather than documented fact. Much of the grand touring style that Thurston and later Harry Blackstone carried on began with him. For more on the period, see the history of magic.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Harry Kellar?

An American stage magician (1849–1922) who led the profession in the United States from the 1890s to 1908 and is known as the dean of American magicians.

What was Kellar's most famous illusion?

The levitation of Princess Karnac, in which a woman floated in the air above the stage.

Who succeeded Harry Kellar?

Howard Thurston, whom Kellar named as his successor on stage in Baltimore in 1908.

Is the Wizard of Oz based on Harry Kellar?

It is often said that the film's Wizard was styled after Kellar, but no firm evidence for this has been published.