Description
Effect: For more than twenty years, millions of British television viewers tuned in to watch a true wizard at work. As a panelist on What’s My Line? or as the host of It’s Magic and many other shows, David Nixon was not just a magician, but a peerless performer whose warmth and wit made him a natural star.
David Nixon: Entertainer with the Magic Touch tells the story of a remarkable life: how David’s childhood fascination with conjuring tricks led to wartime adventures with ENSA, and how he rose from running concert parties to being the nation’s best-loved star.
David’s personal life was one touched by tragedy. Yet for all his mastery of illusion – the mind-reading Nap Hand card trick or the mysterious mid-air disappearance of a lady in the Dizzy Limit – the easygoing on-screen image that made him a friend to every viewer was no deception, but a true reflection of a hardworking optimist who lived to entertain.
For the first time, Edwin A. Dawes and Stephen Short have interviewed David’s many friends and loved ones to present a full portrait of his life. Lavishly illustrated using family photographs, publicity posters and television stills, David Nixon: Entertainer with the Magic Touch is a truly enchanting book.
Contents:
FOREWORD VI
SIR NORMAN WISDOM, O.B.E.
INTRODUCTION VII
EDWIN A. DAWES &, STEPHEN SHORT
CHAPTER ONE 1
THE EARLY YEARS
CHAPTER TWO 9
THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND ENSA
CHAPTER THREE 23
CAIRO, THE MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE
CHAPTER FOUR 33
THE IMMEDIATE POST-WAR YEARS
CHAPTER FIVE 51
WHAT’S MY LINE?
CHAPTER SIX 61
HOUSEWIVES DELIGHT AND FATHERHOOD
CHAPTER SEVEN 67
IT’S MAGIC!
CHAPTER EIGHT 73
1956: A YEAR OF TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY
CHAPTER NINE 91
1959 AND A WAY BACK TO HAPPINESS
CHAPTER TEN 115
THE MELLOTRON
CHAPTER ELEVEN 119
HOME LIFE AT INNISFREE
CHAPTER TWELVE 129
THE GAME SHOWS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN 133
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES: BOOKS, MAGIC SETS AND COOKING CARDS
CHAPTER FOURTEEN 139
THE BUSY YEARS OF THE LATE 1960s
CHAPTER FIFTEEN 151
GEORGE MARTIN AND IVAN OWEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN 157
CAMERA TRICKERY: ‘SWITCHCRAFT’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 1
THE WATER RATS AND DAVID NIXON’S MAGIC BOX
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 177
THE EARLY SEVENTIES
CHAPTER N1NETEEN 183
THIS IS YOUR LIFE!
CHAPTER TWENTY 193
AS IT WAS: THE VICTIM’S INSIDE STORY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE I97
ILLNESS AND REMISSION
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 215
KING RAT
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 229
L’ADIEU
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 239
GONE – BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
APPENDIX 245
BIBLIOGRAPHY 255
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 257
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 259
INDEX 261
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