15 Facts About Dai Vernon

David Frederick Wingfield Verner, better known by his stage names Dai Vernon or The Professor, was a Canadian magician.

Dai Vernon retired officially from performing in 1990 at the age of 96.

Dai Vernon was born in Ottawa, Canada, as David Frederick Wingfield Verner.

Dai Vernon's father was a government worker and an amateur magician.

Dai Vernon studied mechanical engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, but by World War I he had moved to New York City.

Dai Vernon first fell in love with magic when he was seven years old after his father took him to see a magic show.

Dai Vernon began to use the first name "Dai" after a newspaper used the abbreviation in place of "David"; the paper was using the Welsh nickname for David.

Dai Vernon then showed Houdini a trick where he removed the top card of the deck and placed it second from the top, then turned over the top card to again reveal the original card.

Dai Vernon sought out crooked gamblers and card cheaters for close-up magic ideas.

Dai Vernon occasionally performed magic at nightclubs or on cruise ships to South America and back, and toured the Philippines as an entertainer during World War II with the United Service Organizations.

Dai Vernon spent most of his early life traveling all over the United States looking for card cheats, and anyone who might know anything about sleight-of-hand with cards.

Dai Vernon was famously under-credited for much of the work published in Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue's Expert Card Technique, though a later edition included an extra chapter that acknowledges Vernon's contributions.

Dai Vernon spent the last 30 years of his life as Magician-in-Residence and the star attraction at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California.

Dai Vernon died on August 21,1992, in Ramona, County of San Diego, California.

In 1924, Dai Vernon married Eugenie "Jeanne" Hayes, a magician's assistant.