Bert Allerton

Bert Allerton
Cover of Genii (1941)
Born	Albert Allen Gustafson January 01, 1889 Lynn Center, Illinois
Died	February 22, 1958 (age 69) Veterans Hospital, Elgin, Illinois
Resting place	Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois

Bert Allerton (January 1, 1889 - February 22, 1958), born Albert Allen Gustafson, worked as a successful close-up magician in top nightclubs and hotels across the United States.

Biography

After a career as an oil salesman and the death of his wife, Allerton took up magic. He eventually started performing close-up magic in nightclubs. He worked for many years at the Ambassador East Hotel Pump Room in Chicago as well as the House of Murphy in Hollywood and the Hotel Pierre in New York City.

He was one of the few magicians at the time to work exclusively in the close-up arena. One of his features was performing the Vanishing Bird Cage close up.

Final resting place is at Memorial Park Cemetery, 9900 Gross Point Road, Skokie, IL.

Works

The Close-Up Magician

Published posthumously. Bert Allerton's The Close Up Magician by Robert Parrish (1958).

Stars of Magic

Series 3 of the Stars of Magic was published in 1947, and was devoted to Allerton.

• "Pump Room Phantasy" (Series 3, No. 1)
• "Bamboozle" (Series 3, No. 2)

Items in Books

Title	Book Title	Author	Year	Page(s)
"Magnetic Thought"	More Card Manipulations (Series 1)	Jean Hugard	1938	44-46
"Allerton Switch"	More Card Manipulations (Series 1)	Jean Hugard	1938	45
"Aces Up"	More Card Manipulations (Series 1)	Jean Hugard	1938	34
"The Allerton Top Palm"	Card Control	Arthur Buckley	1946	69
"Casual Nail Cutting" (with Frederick Braue)	Show Stoppers with Cards	Jean Hugard and Fred Braue	1948	9
"Allerton's Amazing Aces"	Show Stoppers with Cards	Jean Hugard and Fred Braue	1948	3
"Allerton Change"	Card Cavalcade	Jerry Mentzer	1972	22
"Allerton Move"	CardMagic	Richard Kaufman	1979	128
"The Bert Allerton Aspirin Tin Routine (with Eugene Burger)	The Performance of Close-Up Magic	Eugene Burger	1987	23
"The Allerton Change"	Card College, Volume 4	Roberto Giobbi	2000	815	} Items in Magazines Title Magazine Title Vol. No. Date Page(s) "Allerton Switch" The Hierophant 3 1970 117 References The Linking Ring, Vol. 23, No. 5, July 1943, BERT ALLERTON, by Will Davidson, page 31 The Conjurors' Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 5, June 1945, Modern Magicians – Bert ALLERTON by MAURICE ZOLOTOW, page 19 The Linking Ring, Vol. 26, No. 4, June 1946, Bert Allerton by John Braun, page 17 The Linking Ring, Vol. 29, No. 2, April 1949, Chicago Parade, by Eddie Clever, Bert Allerton, page 51 The Linking Ring, Vol. 38, No. 2, April 1958, Bert Allerton as Frances Ireland knew him, page 93 M-U-M, Vol. 47, No. 11, April 1958, Chicago Miscellany by Hermann Homar, page 487 Genii, Vol. 57, No. 8, June 1994, Spotlight, This Month: Bert Allerton by Eugene Burger, page 533 Genii, Vol.61, No. 4, August 1998, Remembering Bert Allerton, Reminiscences by Russell T. Barnhart, page 38