Terri Rogers (4 May 1937 – 30 May 1999) was a

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

English

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

and magician. Rogers was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

and was a somewhat isolated youth but determined to build a career in

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

. Rogers developed a technically highly proficient ventriloquism act with her ventriloquist figure Shorty Harris, first appearing as a supporting act in

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

in the 1950s. She underwent

gender reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

on the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in the early 1960s. This brought her some short-lived notoriety but did not hamper her career. Rogers won acclaim for her appearance in the 1968 review '' Boys Will be Girls'' at the

Theatre Royal Stratford East Stratford East (formerly known as Theatre Royal Stratford East) is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with di ...

and went on to become a highly regarded performer on the UK

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

circuit. She was the only variety act ever to appear at

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sc ...

. From 1974 onwards she was a regular guest on TV on ''

The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club ''The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club'' was a British television variety show created and produced by Johnnie Hamp for Granada Television from 1974 to 1977. It was set in a fictional working men's club in the North of England and was hos ...

''. She also appeared on BBC TV's long running Music Hall variety show, ''The Good Old Days''. Her cabaret career eventually extended internationally including appearances at Las Vegas and

The Magic Castle The Magic Castle is a performance venue, restaurant, and clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts for magicians and magic enthusiasts in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, United States. The Academy was started in 1952 by W ...

in Hollywood, and on United States TV. Her work as a magician was always something of a sideline but she was an ingenious developer of

magic trick Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural me ...

s including illusions for

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

and

Paul Daniels Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series '' The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', whic ...

. She was an expert on "

topology Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformat ...

", the art of creating illusions with shapes, and wrote three standard texts on the subject. She was particularly known for illusions with

Borromean Rings In mathematics, the Borromean rings are three simple closed curves in three-dimensional space that are link (knot theory), topologically linked and cannot be separated from each other, but that break apart into two unknotted and unlinked loops wh ...

. Rogers died in London after a series of

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Publications

Rogers published a number of magic effects and books, predominantly through specialist magic publisher Martin Breese. These include: * ''The Little Book of Ventriloquism ''(c.1948) * ''Terri Rogers' Star Gate ''(1985) * ''Boromian Link ''(1986) * ''Wipe Out ''(1986) * ''Word of Mind ''(1986) * ''Secrets (1986)'' * ''More Secrets (1988)'' * ''Top Secrets ''(1998) In addition to these books, Rogers sold several manufactured tricks, including The Key and BlockBuster.

References

External links

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at

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* Retrieved 2007-04-03 *

Malcolm Hardee Malcolm Hardee (5 January 1950 – 31 January 2005) was an English comedian and comedy club proprietor. His high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous publicity stunts and on the help and advice he gave to successful British Alte ...

: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Terri 1937 births 1999 deaths Entertainers from Ipswich English transgender entertainers English transgender women Ventriloquists Transgender women entertainers LGBTQ magicians British magicians 20th-century English LGBTQ people