Nate Leipzig (born Nathan Leipziger; May 31, 1873October 13, 1939) was an American

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

magician who performed in Europe and the United States.

Early years

Leipzig was born the third youngest of eight children—seven boys and one girl—in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. He grew up in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and at 12 years old started work as a lens-maker for L. Black & Co. He then joined Max Rudelsheimer's optical business, and worked there 17 years, but continued to accept performance engagements.

Magician career

In May 1938, Leipzig was elected president of the Society of American Magicians (SAM). Previous presidents of SAM include Howard Thurston and

Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

. His innovations of

sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' () comprises fine motor skills used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card fl ...

, particularly with card tricks and close-up magic, earned him respect among fellow magicians. Leipzig was the first magician to perform a stage act using playing cards and thimbles, and is credited with inventing the side steala technique for secretly removing a playing card from the middle of a deck of cards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leipzig, Nate Place of death missing 1873 births 1939 deaths 20th-century American people American magicians Entertainers from Michigan Entertainers from Stockholm Entertainers from Detroit Swedish emigrants to the United States

Early years

Magician career

See also

References