43 Facts About Harry Kellar

Harry Kellar was often referred to as the "Dean of American Magicians" and performed extensively on five continents.

Harry Kellar was a longtime customer of the Martinka Magic Company, which built many of his illusions and sets, including the "Blue Room".

Harry Kellar's real name was Heinrich Keller and he was born to German immigrants in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Harry Kellar was sometimes called Henry, but later changed it to Harry.

Harry Kellar changed the spelling of his last name from Keller to Kellar, to avoid confusion with Robert Heller.

Harry Kellar apprenticed under a druggist and frequently experimented with various chemical mixtures.

On one occasion, Harry Kellar reportedly blew a hole in the floor of his employer's drugstore.

Rather than confront the wrath of his parents, Harry Kellar stowed away on a train and became a vagabond.

Harry Kellar was befriended by a British-born minister of religion from upstate New York.

Harry Kellar offered to adopt Kellar and pay for his education if he would study to become a minister.

One evening Harry Kellar saw the performance of a traveling magician, "The Fakir of Ava", the stage name of Isaiah Harris Hughes, and, after the show, Harry Kellar "immediately got the urge to go on the stage".

Harry Kellar later told Houdini that, "I became very restless, bought books on magic and finally left my friend and benefactor".

Harry Kellar was hired at the age of 12, and at the age of 16, he gave his first solo performance in Dunkirk, Michigan; it was a disaster and Harry Kellar went back to work with Hughes.

Two years later, Harry Kellar tried again with better results, but, as he was in poor financial condition, his early career often consisted of borrowing equipment for the show and avoiding creditors.

In 1869, Harry Kellar began working with "The Davenport Brothers and Fay", which was a group of stage spiritualists made up of Ira Erastus Davenport, William Henry Davenport and William Fay.

Harry Kellar spent several years working with them, until 1873, when he and Fay parted ways with the Davenports and embarked on a "world tour" through Central and South America.

Desperate for money, Harry Kellar sold his ring and parted ways with Fay, who left to rejoin the Davenports.

Harry Kellar was able to perform in Dutch, French, and English, and subsequently toured across the world.

In 1878, Harry Kellar returned to England and invested $12,000 into purchasing new equipment, including a version Maskelyne's whist-playing automaton "Psycho".

Shortly before arriving, Harry Kellar was told of the death of magician Robert Heller.

Harry Kellar pointed out that Heller had changed his name from William Henry Palmer.

Harry Kellar promised to send postcards and letters from his travels.

Harry Kellar started his version of Egyptian Hall in December 1884, after renting out an old Masonic temple on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Harry Kellar played the cornet in the show and started to learn about the magic business.

Harry Kellar returned to Philadelphia in October 1891 and opened his second Egyptian Hall at Concert Hall, located on Chestnut Street.

Harry Kellar retired in 1908, and allowed Howard Thurston to be his successor.

Harry Kellar had met Thurston, who was doing card tricks, while on vacation in Paris, France.

Harry Kellar did his final show at Ford's Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.

Harry Kellar eventually moved to his house in Los Angeles, California.

Houdini got Harry Kellar to come out of retirement to perform one more show.

The 125-piece Hippodrome orchestra played "Auld Lang Syne" while Harry Kellar was slowly taken away.

Harry Kellar lived in retirement, until he died on March 3,1922, from a pulmonary hemorrhage brought on by influenza.

Harry Kellar was interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Harry Kellar supposedly developed this trick by abruptly walking onto the stage during a show by Maskelyne, seeing what he needed to know, and leaving.

Unable to duplicate it, Harry Kellar hired another magician to help build another, but eventually designed a new trick with the help of the Otis Elevator Company.

Harry Kellar would claim the woman onstage, sleeping on a couch, was a Hindu princess, who he would levitate and then move a hoop back and forth through the woman's body to prove she was not being suspended.

The owner of the sixth ring wonders what happened to hers, with Harry Kellar pretending not to notice.

Harry Kellar continues with his next trick, which is a variation of Robert-Houdin's "Inexhaustible Bottle".

Once the bottle is empty, Harry Kellar takes it and breaks it open.

Ethel was the owner of the sixth ring and after Harry Kellar had returned her ring, he asked if she would like to have the guinea pig as a pet.

Harry Kellar told the audience that each evening, the lamp would be returned to its purported, original owner in India at a specific time.

Harry Kellar was known to have a short temper, and once, after an incident in which the "Vanishing Lamp" failed to vanish, he took an axe to the defective prop.

Later Harry Kellar built another one that would continue to work reliably long after his retirement.