Alexander F Victor.

(1878-1961)

Swedish-American magician, inventor. As soon as Lumières Frères sold him a Cinématographe, moving pictures were added to his magic show. Traveled through the Near East and India until 1900 then to the USA. In 1897, Victor opened a store in Newark, New Jersey, and showed films on an Edison Projecting Kinetoscope plus live music from Bowman's Military Band. 
 Invented amateur Motion Picture Camera and Projector called the Animatograph.

Albert Edward Smith.

(1875- 1958)

Film producer/director and co-founder of the American Vitagraph studio with J. Stuart Blackton. He and Blackton had formed a touring group previously to show magic tricks, and cinematic attractions. He has an honorary Academy Award.

Films of note:

The Humpty Dumpty Circus 1897

The Enchanted Drawing 1900

The Haunted Hotel 1907

Black Beauty 1921

Captain Blood 1924

Billy Bitzer.

(1872-1944)

Born Johann Gottlob Wilhelm in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He is the most celebrated cameraman of the earliest years of American cinema, through his association with D.W. Griffith. He worked as a silversmith before joining Elias Koopman's Magic Introduction Company in 1894.

Films of note:

The Avenging Conscience 1914

Birth of a Nation 1915

Broken Blossoms 1919

Way Down East 1920

David Devant.

(1868-1941)

A British Magician and film exhibitor. As a member of Maskelyne & Cook he performed regularly at the Egyptian Hall. He began a partnership with John Nevil Maskelyne and introduced Robert Paul's Theatrograph into the programs after acquiring one of the first projectors. 


Films of note:

The Great London Mysteries 1920

The Egg Laying Msn 1896

Carl Hertz.

(1859-1924)

Born Louis Morgenstein, was a magician who added films to his stage act. On March 28, 1896, he had sailed from England aboard the Royal Mail Steamer Norman and, during the voyage, had exhibited the Theatrograph to the passengers. He published his autobiography in 1924, Modern Mystery Merchant; The Trials, Tricks and Travels of Carl Hertz, the Famous American Illusionist.

John Nevil Maskelyne.

(1839-1917) He and George Alfred Cooke began a magic troop called 'Maskelyne & Cooke.' 

Films of Note:

Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee Procession 1897

Spinning Plates and Basins 1896

Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin.

(December 7, 1805 – June 13, 1871)

French watchmaker, theater owner, Illusionist, and the father of the modern conjuring style.  


Founded the Theatre Robert-Houdin in Paris, dedicated to the performance of stage magic.

J Stuart Blackton.

(1875-1941)

J. Stuart Blackton was born in Sheffield on January 5, 1875 Magician who partnered with Albert Edward Smith to found Vitagraph. 


Films of Note:

The Humpty Dumpty Circus 1898

The Enchanted Drawing 1900

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom 1905

Humorous Phases of Funny Faces 1906

The Automobile Thieves 1906

Romeo and Juliet 1908

John C Green "Belsaz".

(1866-1951)

Magician, exhibitor using the stage name 'Belsaz,' Green was a magician and touring showman. Green became a Vitascope lecturer and entertainer to Ahearn and Soper's Electric Railway Company

The Isola Brothers.

Emile (1860-1945) Vincent (1862-1947). Born in Blinda, Algeria, the Isola brothers were trained as mechanics, but their passion for magic brought them to Paris in 1880. Adding films to their theatre's presentations on April 8, 1896, their first projector was a Kinétographe de Bedts, which they renamed the Isolatographe, using the same name. They manufactured their projectors, called the Isolatographe, for use as far away as Vienna, Brussels, and Moscow.

George Melies.

(1861-1938) French Magician and Filmmaker. Father of Special Effects. Created over 200 films with his company Star Films.

Films of note:

The Conjuring of a Woman at the House of Robert Houdin 1896

A Nightmare 1896

The House of the Devil 1896

The Bewitched Inn 1897

The Magician 1898

Gaston Velle.

(1868–1948)

French silent film director and pioneer of special effects, prominent in early French and Italian cinema during the first two decades of the 20th century. Magician who created more than fifty films between 1903 and 1911. He worked under Auguste and Louis Lumière before serving as the production head for the Italian film studio Cines.

Films of note:

Burglars at Work 1904 

Les Invisibles 1906

Herrmann Family: Alexander Herrmann.

(February 10, 1844 – December 17, 1896),

French magician known as Herrmann the Great. He was married to Adelaide Herrmann, another magician known as the Queen of Magic. 


Prof. Philip Anderson “Signor Rubini".

(1844-1920) 

He was a touring magician under the name 'Signor Rubini' in the USA and Europe. He began incorporating moving pictures into his act when he traveled to India.  

Films of Note:

Poona Races 1898

 Train Arriving at the Churchgate station 1898

Walter Booth.

(1869-1938)

Cartoonist, conjurer, producer, director, screenwriter, animator. He joined J.N. Maskeleyne and David Devant as a magician at the Egyptian Hall in London. Booth directed short trick films.  

The Miser's Doom and Upside Down; or, the Human Flies (1899) in which, by turning the camera upside down, he made his actors perform on the ceiling.

Films of note:

Hindoo Jugglers 1900

Chinese Magic 1900

 The Devil in the Studio 1901

William Morton.

(January 24, 1838 – July 5, 1938)

British amusement caterer, theater, and cinema manager.

He became an illusionist at Maskelyne and Cooke.

William N. Selig.

(1864-1948)

American Magician, photographer, actor, filmmaker, producer.

Founder of the Selig Polyscope Company of Chicago.