12 Facts About Adelaide Herrmann

Adelaide Herrmann was an English-American magician and vaudeville performer billed as "the Queen of Magic".

Adelaide Herrmann was born Adelaide Scarcez in 1853 in London.

Adelaide Herrmann's father, who was born in Belgium, helped establish the Egyptian Hall.

Adelaide Herrmann learned to ride the velocipede, a 19th-century bicycle, and traveled as a trick-rider with Professor Brown's velocipede troupe.

Adelaide Herrmann began her magic career as assistant to her future husband, magician Alexander Herrmann.

Together, Alexander and Adelaide entertained audiences with a variety of magic tricks, including escape tricks and the bullet catch trick.

Adelaide Herrmann initially worked with her husband's nephew, Leon Herrmann, but a clash of personalities led them to part ways after only three seasons.

Adelaide Herrmann performed often with other vaudeville acts and was frequently mentioned in the New York Times.

Adelaide Herrmann was one of the few magicians to perform the "bullet catch" trick, and possibly the only woman magician to perform the trick at the time.

Adelaide Herrmann continued performing into her 70s until 1926, when a warehouse fire at a theatrical warehouse on West 46th Street in Manhattan destroyed her props and killed most of the animals used in the "Noah's Ark" illusion.

Adelaide Herrmann rebounded briefly with a pared-down show called "Magic, Grace and Music," highlighting the three elements at which she'd excelled in her career.

Adelaide Herrmann is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery, New York.