16 Facts About Horace Goldin

Horace Goldin was a stage magician who was noted for his rapid presentation style and who achieved international fame with his versions of the sawing a woman in half illusion.

Horace Goldin began performing magic on a part-time basis around 1894, combining tricks and jokes and billing himself as "The Humorous Conjurer".

Horace Goldin did tricks quickly one after another without speaking and became known as "The Whirlwind Illusionist".

Worse still, Horace Goldin distrusted banks and carried his money with him and that went to the bottom along with his props.

Horace Goldin presented his own version of the trick a matter of months later.

Horace Goldin later devised a version that dispensed with a box entirely and used a large buzzsaw.

Horace Goldin's success owed a great deal to presentation and promotion skills and a certain amount to his persistence in suing other magicians.

The Keith theatre firm hired Horace Goldin and took on six additional sets of performers to take versions of his show on tour around the United States.

Horace Goldin was involved in many lawsuits during this phase of his career.

In other cases Horace Goldin took on the makers of films that exposed methods behind illusions.

Horace Goldin applied for a patent in September 1921 and was awarded US patent number 1,458,575 on 12 June 1923.

Horace Goldin sued but the case was eventually dismissed by a federal court in 1938.

Horace Goldin claimed the cost of his lawsuits ate up any proceeds he made from his inventions in spite of seeming financially successful.

Horace Goldin performed for King Edward VII of Britain on four occasions, earning the billing "Royal Illusionist", and appeared before American presidents Harding and Wilson.

Horace Goldin died on 21 August 1939 following a show at the Wood Green Empire Theatre in London.

Horace Goldin performed the same trick successfully but died in his sleep later.