Harry August Jansen
Born
Harry August Jensen

(1883 -10-03)October 3, 1883
Copenhagen, Denmark
DiedJune 15, 1955(1955-06-15) (aged 71)
Northridge, California, U.S.
Other names
  • Dante the Magician
  • The Great Jansen
OccupationMagician
Spouse
Edna Herr
​
(m. 1905)​

Harry August Jansen (born Jensen; October 3, 1883 – June 15, 1955)[1] was a Danish-born American entertainer who traveled the world as a professional magician under the name Dante the Magician.[2][3]

Biography

Harry August Jensen was born on October 3, 1883, in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the age of 6, Jansen came to St. Paul, Minnesota, with his family.[4]

At the age of 16, Jansen made his stage debut under Charles Wagner.[5] He then set off on a world tour for five years as The Great Jansen. In 1922, magician Howard Thurston, realizing Jansen's talent and possible competition to him, engaged Jansen to star in the #2 Thurston show. Thurston gave Jansen the stage name of Dante.[6][7] The name came from the original Dante, Oscar Eliason (1869–1899),[8] who had been killed in a tragic hunting accident in Australia years earlier.[9] In 1925, Dante the Magician Inc. came into being with Thurston as co-owner.[10] The 2nd unit Thurston show was built and co-produced by Jansen.

Dante was known throughout the world under the name Dante the Magician, working in vaudeville, burlesque, legitimate theatre, films, and in later years, television.[11] Dante and his troupe, consisting of between 25 and 40 performers, made several global trips and appeared in many U.S. theaters. His stage trademark was to utter three nonsense words, "Sim Sala Bim"[12] (taken from the lyrics of a Danish children's song),[13][14][15][16] during his performances to acknowledge applause.[17] He can be seen using these words in the Swedish 1931 feature Dantes mysterier[18] (Dante's Mysteries)[19] and in the 1942 Laurel and Hardy comedy A-Haunting We Will Go.[20]

Dante also appeared as himself in Racket Busters (1938), A-Haunting We Will Go (1942), and Bunco Squad (1950),[21]: 126  and played a character role in Jean Renoir's The Golden Coach (1952).

In 1940 he produced and starred the Broadway[22] revue Sim Sala Bim[23] on the Morosco Theatre.[24][25][26] With television, the public stayed home more often, and the world of variety theatre suffered drastically.[27] As a result, Dante retired to Southern California in the late 1940s.

He died at his ranch in Northridge, California, of a heart attack, at the age of 71.[2][3] He was alone at the time of his death.

Legacy

With Dante's death, what historically has been known as the "Golden Age of Magic" came to an end. Gone were the variety theaters of the world, and with it were the large traveling magic productions that had thrilled and mystified millions for generations. In prior decades, the magical lineage created by the American public had elevated magicians Alexander Herrmann, Harry Kellar, Thurston and Dante to the position of the #1 magician in the country.

Shortly before Dante's death, he approached a young magician, Lee Grabel, to be his successor in the lineage of great magicians.[28] Plans were underway at the time of Dante's death. However, because Dante died before making a public announcement, some magical historians believe the lineage ended with Dante. This magician has since chosen a Las Vegas headliner magician, Lance Burton to be his successor, therefore carrying on the tradition of the magical lineage to another generation. Despite this, its authenticity is still questioned by some.

In 1991, magic historian Phil Temple published the definitive biography of Dante the Magician, Dante - The Devil Himself, based largely on Dante's personal records, and Temple's friendship with surviving family members who had toured with the show decades earlier.

Years later, a memoir about life on the road with the Dante show was written by Marion Trikosko, who spent two years with Dante as an assistant. His book, Trouping with Dante, was published in 2006.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Evelyn Mack Truitt (July 1977). Who was who on screen. Bowker. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-8352-0914-4. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Dante, 'King of Magicians,' Dies at Home". Los Angeles Times. June 17, 1955. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  3. 1 2 "Harry Jansen, Protege of Thurston Dies. Veteran Entertainer Used Stage Name of Dante". The New York Times. June 18, 1955. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  4. ↑ Milbourne Christopher (23 September 1991). Magic: A Picture History. Courier Dover Publications. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-486-26373-1. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  5. ↑ David Price (1985). Magic: a pictorial history of conjurers in the theater. Cornwall Books. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8453-4738-6. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  6. ↑ Adrian Room (2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins. McFarland. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-7864-4373-4. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  7. ↑ M. Thomas Inge (1989). Handbook of American popular culture. Greenwood Press. p. 680. ISBN 978-0-313-25406-2. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "OSCAR ELIASON - After Dante". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  9. ↑ David Price (May 1985). Magic: a pictorial history of conjurers in the theater. Cornwall Books. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-8453-4738-6. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  10. ↑ Briton Hadden; Henry Robinson Luce (July 1, 1940). "Time". Time Inc. p. 41. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  11. ↑ Evelyn Mack Truitt (1974). Who was who on screen. R. R. Bowker Co. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-8352-0719-5. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  12. ↑ Craig Conley (1 October 2008). Magic Words: A Dictionary. Weiser. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-57863-434-7. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  13. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (28 August 1943). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 18. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 1 October 2010. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  14. ↑ "YouTube - Højt På En Gren En Krage - Danish Children's song". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  15. ↑ "YouTube - KRAUKA - Højt på en gren en krage (2010)". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  16. ↑ "YouTube - Hoejt paa en gren en Krage". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  17. ↑ New York theatre critics' reviews. Critics' Theatre Reviews, inc. 1940. p. 249. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  18. ↑ "Dantes mysterier (1931) - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  19. ↑ "YouTube - Dante's Mysteries". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  20. ↑ American Film Institute (1971). The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States. University of California Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-520-21521-4. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  21. ↑ Randi, James (1992). Conjuring. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-08634-2. OCLC 26162991.
  22. ↑ "Sim Sala Bim / IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  23. ↑ "YouTube - Dante - Sim Sala Bim". YouTube. 1940-09-09. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  24. ↑ Burns Mantle; John Arthur Chapman; Garrison P. Sherwood; Louis Kronenberger (1941). Burns Mantle Yearbook. Dodd, Mead. p. 378. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  25. ↑ New York theatre critics' reviews. Critics' Theatre Reviews, inc. 1940. p. 284. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  26. ↑ Time Inc (14 October 1940). LIFE. Time Inc. p. 116. ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  27. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (21 August 1943). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 22. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2 October 2010. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  28. ↑ Psy D Ph D James Charles Bouffard (6 March 2008). The Magician's Fight!. Lulu.com. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-615-19358-8. Retrieved 1 October 2010.

Further reading

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