A smiling young white woman with dark center-parted hair with a white scarf draped over her head
Talma, from a 1900 publication

Talma was the stage name of Mary Ann Ford (1861 – 13 July, 1944), the magician, who is best known for performing with her husband Servais Le Roy in the act "Le Roy, Talma & Bosco".[1]: 104 

Ford was born in England, while her husband was Belgian. As a performer, she adopted the name Mercedes Talma, but was generally known just as Talma. When Talma was an assistant to a mind reader in London, she met Servais Le Roy, who was a sleight-of-hand artist.[1]: 104  Talma and Le Roy were wed in 1890.[1]: 104  Talma became accomplished at performing sleight of hand and manipulation acts, especially coin manipulation, and she was often billed as "The Queen of Coins".[1]: 104 

In The Sketch, 6 September 1899

Talma formed a long-running stage partnership with her husband and their colleague Leon Bosco. They named their act "The Comedians de Mephisto Co" but they were much better known as Le Roy, Talma & Bosco. Le Roy is credited with devising the Asrah levitation illusion, which he and Talma first performed in London in 1914.[2][3] Talma performed sleight of hand for their show.[1]: 105 

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Randi, James (1992). Conjuring. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-08634-2. OCLC 26162991.
  2. ↑ "Brief Biographies of Magic Inventors". MagicNook.com. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
  3. ↑ Roy & Andrews (1985). Illusions: Secrets from the world of magic. Methuen. ISBN 0-423-01300-9.

Further reading


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