James Mark Wilson (April 11, 1929 – January 19, 2021), known professionally as Mark Wilson , was an American magician and author. He was widely credited as the first major television magician, and in the process established the viability of illusion shows as a television format.
19-791: Wakeling is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: Alan Wakeling (1926–2004), American magician and inventor Brandon Wakeling (born 1994), Australian weightlifter Dave Wakeling (born 1956), English singer-songwriter and musician Denis Wakeling (1918–2004), Anglican bishop Gwen Wakeling (1901–1982), American costume designer Jacob Wakeling (born 2001), English footballer Jason Wakeling (born 1968), New Zealand sport shooter John Wakeling (born 1979), English cricketer Mark Wakeling (born 1971), English actor Nick Wakeling (born 1971), Australian politician Steve Wakeling (born 1983), English kickboxer [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
38-486: A performing magician until 1966 when he began a behind-the-scenes job with Mark Wilson , who had recently become famous across America for transforming magic into a successful format for network television. He was Wilson's creative director for many years, contributing to Wilson's television shows, including Magic Circus , as well as to live productions in Las Vegas and major venues around the world. He also contributed to
57-613: A routine with billiard balls, which later became something of a signature piece for him. For a while he did an act with long-time friend Marvyn Roy , who later went on to be known as "Mr Electric". Wakeling gradually became a regular performer at clubs in the Los Angeles area, doing a range of acts with titles such as "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Hollywood Cowboy" as well as the "Fan Act", which he began performing with his soon-to-be wife Helen shortly before they were married. Wakeling worked as
76-407: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Alan Wakeling Alan Robert Wakeling (1926–2004) was an American magician and inventor who is known in the magic world for devising classic illusions and routines used by some of the top performers in the business. Some of his most successful work was done in association with leading television magician Mark Wilson . They worked on
95-503: Is fully attributed to Wakeling is the " Double sawing in half " routine for Channing Pollock. Among the illusions he devised for Mark Wilson were Backstage , Girl Through Glass , The Spiker , and Excalibur . He was also responsible for Wilson's " Circus Act " routine, which involved the Gorilla crush illusion. Wakeling died peacefully on 10 November 2004 in hospital in his hometown of Westlake Village , California and his memorial
114-544: The Sawing a woman in half effect. One version of this illusion, which bears his name , takes certain elements of the first ever sawing trick performed by P.T. Selbit and incorporates them into a new and very effective illusion. However, while Wakeling performed and perfected that variant of the effect, the origins of the so-called "Wakeling Sawing" have been attributed to another magician Virgil Harris Mulkey (aka The Great Virgil), who first performed it in 1942. A version that
133-618: The University of Southern California . Following university, Wakeling did some acting but continued to seek a career in magic. He worked as a demonstrator at two magic shops in Los Angeles, the Thayer Magic Company and the Magic House of Charles. He was also employed by magic inventor and manufacturer Merv Taylor. A chance meeting with magician Roy Benson in the early 1940s gave Wakeling the beginnings on an idea for
152-446: The surname Wakeling . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wakeling&oldid=1178685555 " Categories : Surnames English-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
171-680: The Douglas Magicland shop as a clerk. As his skills improved he began performing magic shows at small functions. He attended the School of Business Administration at Southern Methodist University , where he majored in marketing, learning skills that were to help him in his future career. When television began to grow, Wilson launched a show titled Time for Magic on a local station in Dallas in 1955. Calling on his marketing training he made this show possible by attracting sponsorship from
190-603: The Dr Pepper Bottling Company. He then expanded to other shows in Houston and San Antonio. When videotape was developed, Wilson created the first show to be videotaped and nationally syndicated. That was the original black and white Magic Land of Allakazam . It debuted on 1 October 1960 on CBS -TV and aired every Saturday morning on that network for four years. His wife, Nani Darnell , assisted him and they were joined by Bev Bergeron, who helped write
209-526: The Stars , Hollywood Palace , The Six Million Dollar Man , The Incredible Hulk , Columbo and more. Wilson's last regular television stint was The Magic Of Mark Wilson . The series was seen in national syndication in 1981, and Wilson was aided on this final series by his wife and longtime assistant Nani and their second son, Greg . Mark and Nani made an appearance in 2015 in the second series of Penn & Teller: Fool Us , where they were part of
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#1732772496200228-480: The existing creative team remained, but Frances Martineau was added along with a young John Gaughan. This group was the nucleus that brought a new look to magic illusions that are still being used today. Magic Land of Allakazam moved from CBS-TV to ABC -TV in 1962 without missing one week on air. That same year, Wilson appeared on the short-lived ABC western comedy and variety series The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show . In 1965, Magic Land of Allakazam left ABC and
247-420: The result of seeing travelling magicians who passed through the small town. One that left a particular impression was J. B. Bobo , who performed at his school. In addition he was inspired by finding the work of 19th century magic expert Professor Hoffmann in his local library. Wakeling then began performing magic with improvised props. His family returned to Los Angeles in 1938 and Wakeling later studied drama at
266-517: The shows and played the character Rebo the Clown. The show was sponsored by Kellogg's . Wilson, Darnell and Bergeron toured state fairs during the summer and made appearances on other network shows. The writing team grew at CBS to include Bobby "Torchy" Towner, Bobby Fenton, Leo Behnke, Lin Searles with Johnny Daniel and Carl Owen building the illusions for the first year of 39 shows. For the second year
285-575: The television show The Magic Land of Allakazam , which was sponsored by Kellogg's cereal, and aired on CBS every Saturday from October 1, 1960 then moved to ABC in 1962. Wakeling was born in Hollywood , California, but at an early age went to live with his grandparents in Winslow, Arizona , where he grew up during the Great Depression . He took an interest in magic at an early age as
304-430: The work of other famous magicians including Channing Pollock , John Daniel, Marvyn Roy , Norm Nielsen , Dick Zimmerman , Peter Reveen and Earl Nelson. Channing Pollock said of him: "Alan is a one-of-a-kind genius. I see him as one of the best kept secrets in magic, someone who was so good at what he accomplished that you’d want to keep him a secret". Among Wakeling's inventions is at least one distinctive version of
323-435: Was held at The Magic Castle in Hollywood , California. |1975 - Academy of Magical Art's Creative Fellowship Award |1995 - Academy of Magical Art's Lifetime Achievement Award The Magic of Alan Wakeling by Jim Steinmeyer March 1952 - Genii Magazine [REDACTED] December 1992 - Magic Magazine [REDACTED] September 2007 - Genii Magazine [REDACTED] Mark Wilson (magician) Mark Wilson
342-659: Was internationally syndicated. Wilson later created The Funny Face Magic Show and the Pillsbury Company sponsored Magic Circus in 1971. He also provided the Hall of Magic at the 1964/5 World's Fair in New York. He appeared on film at the Bell Telephone exhibit at the 1968 Hemisfair. He and his crew assisted in the technical production of the magic in many network shows, including The Magician , Circus of
361-546: Was the son of a salesman and he spent much of his youth traveling with his parents as his father moved about on business. He has said his interest in magic began when he was eight years old and saw a magician named Tommy Martin perform at a hotel in Indianapolis , where the Wilson family were staying at the time. The family later moved to Dallas, Texas , where, as a teenager, Wilson improved his magic knowledge by working for
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