Harry Kellar was born July 11, 1849 in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was an American Magician who presented large stage shows during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kellar was a predecessor of Harry Houdini and a successor of Robert Heller. He was often referred to as the “Dean Of American Magicians” and performed extensively on five continents. One of his most memorable stage illusions was the levitation of a girl advertised as the ” Levitation Of Princess Karmack”.
Early Life
His real name was Heinrich Keller (with a “e”), the son of German Immigrants who settled in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was sometimes called Henry, but later changed it to Harry. As a child, Kellar loved to play dangerous games and was known to play chicken with passing trains. Kellar apprenticed under a druggist and frequently experimented with various chemical mixtures. On one occasion, Kellar reportedly blew a hole in the floor of his employer’s drugstore. Rather than confront the wrath of his parents, Kellar stowed away on a train and became a vagabond. He was only ten years old at the time. Kellar was befriended by a British-born Minister of religion from upstate New York. He offered to adopt Kellar and pay for his education if he would study to also become a Minister. One evening Kellar saw the performance of a traveling magician, The Fakir of Ava (the stage name of Isaiah Harris Hughes), and after the show, Kellar “immediately got the urge to go on the stage”. He later told Houdini that, “I became very restless, bought books on magic and finally left my friend and benefactor”. While working on a farm in Buffalo, New York, Kellar answered an ad in the newspaper that was placed by Hughes, who was looking for an assistant. Kellar was hired and, at the age of sixteen, gave his first solo performance in Dunkirk, Michigan. It was a disaster and Kellar went back to work with Hughes. Two years later, Kellar tried again with better results, but, as he was in poor financial condition, often had to leave town during intermission to avoid creditors.
Career
In 1869, 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. 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. In Mexico, they were able to make $10,000 ($205 thousand in today’s figures). In 1875, the tour ended in Rio de Janeiro and with an appearance before Emperor Dom Pedro II. Then, on their way to a tour in England, the ship Kellar and Fay were sailing on, the Boyne, sank in the Bay of Biscay. Lost in the wreckage were Kellar’s equipment and clothing, along with the ship’s cargo of gold, silver and uncut diamonds. After the shipwreck, Kellar was left with only the clothes on his back and a diamond ring he was wearing. Afterwards, his bankers in New York cabled him telling him that his bank had failed. Desperate for money, Kellar sold his ring and parted ways with Fay, who left to rejoin the Davenports.
After another World Tour in 1882, Kellar was preforming again in Melbourne, Australia and met a fan, Eva Lydia Medley, who came backstage to get his autograph. Kellar promised to send postcards and letters from his travels. They exchanged letters for the next five years. Kellar and Medley were married on November 1, 1887 at a church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She played an important role in Kellar’s shows in the coming years.
Later Life
Kellar retired in 1908, and allowed Howard Thurston to be his successor. Kellar had met Thurston, who was doing card tricks, while on vacation in Paris, France. Kellar did his final show at Ford’s Theatre. Kellar eventually moved to Los Angeles, California. Kellar’s wife died two years later. On November 11, 1917, Houdini put together a show for the Society Of American Magicians to benefit the families of those who died in the sinking of the USS Antillies by a German U-boat. (considered to be the first American casualities of World War I). Houdini got Kellar to come out of retirement to perform one more show. The show took place on the largest stage at the time, the Hippodrome. After Kellar’s performance, Kellar started to leave, but Houdini stopped him, saying that ” America’s greatest magician should be carried off in triumph after his final public performance”. The members of the Society Of American Magicians helped Kellar into the seat of a sedan chair, and lifted it up. The 125 piece Hippodrome Orchestra played “Auld Lang Syne” while Kellar was slowly taken away. Kellar died on March 3, 1922 from a pulmonary hemorrhage brought on by influenza. He was interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Margee and I traveled to Los Angeles and took a side trip out to the cemetery to find Harry Kellar’s grave. After a time, we located it in a group of stones around a circle.
I remember the story from my mother when she lived with Uncle Harry in Los Angeles. His wife, Eva, was doing a séance in the front pallor for an elderly lady. When she called up the lady’s dead husband, a deep voice was heard in reply. My mother, perhaps about age 12, who happened by watched in fascination, then replied. “Aunt Eva, I know how you do that. Uncle Harry is down in the basement talking thru that tube.”
A true story. PWK
