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[[File: DellODell1.png|right|thumb|200px|[[Dell O'Dell]]]]
[[File: JNHilliard.png|right|thumb|200px|[[ John Northern Hilliard]]]]


'''Dell O'Dell''' (b.1897-d.1962), born Nell Odella Newton, was an American magician regarded in her profession as a pioneer who provided a role model for modern female performers and noted for being one of the first magicians to appear on television.
'''John Northern Hilliard''' (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man  and clever amateur magician.


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met [[Howard Thurston]] while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.


At the height of her career she was billed as "The World's Leading Lady Magician" and "The Queen of Magic."
With the urging of [[Floyd G. Thayer]], John starting writing for [[Thayer's Magical Bulletin]] magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.
 
Nell Newton's father worked in carnivals and she began learning magic from him when she was young. She developed a style that featured snappy patter and cute rhymes, which became something of a trademark. Dell was known to hire writers for her special rhyming patter, with some being printed in [[Genii]] magazine.
 
She married [[Charles Carrer]], a famous juggler, who managed her show and constructed props for her.  She and Charles established homes in New York, Florida and California.  
Early on O'Dell bought the rights to the comedy magic act of [[Frank Van Hoven]] (1886-1929) and was successful with her own version.
 
She became a pioneer of television magic when The Dell O'Dell Show began transmission on a local station in the Los Angeles area in California on 14 September 1951. She thus pre-dated several other noted pioneers of television magic, such as [[Mark Wilson]], whose first television show began in 1955, and [[Richiardi Jr]] who made the first of his record run of appearances on the [[Ed Sullivan Show]] in 1956.
 
O'Dell wrote extensively on the subject of magic. She contributed a column titled "Dell-lightfully" for the magicians' magazine [[The Linking Ring]]. Her Stamp Album presentation was published in volume 4 of the [[Tarbell Course in Magic]].


[[Dell O'Dell|Read more about Dell O'Dell...]]
[[John Northern Hilliard|Read more about John Northern Hilliard…]]

Latest revision as of 10:23, 20 February 2026

Previous featured articles are located in Category:Featured Article

Proposed candidates are listed in Category:Featured Article Candidate

John Northern Hilliard (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man and clever amateur magician.

Biography

Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met Howard Thurston while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.

With the urging of Floyd G. Thayer, John starting writing for Thayer's Magical Bulletin magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.

Read more about John Northern Hilliard…