Name Adelaide Herrmann | ||
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Died 1932, New York, United States | ||
Magician Margaret Steele - Cornucopia Highlights
Adelaide Herrmann (1853–1932) was a well-known American magician and vaudeville performer billed as "the Queen of Magic." She was married to Alexander Herrmann, another magician.
Contents
- Magician Margaret Steele Cornucopia Highlights
- WhatsHerName Podcast Episode 8 THE DISAPPEARING WOMAN Adelaide Herrmann
- Career
- References
What'sHerName Podcast Episode 8: THE DISAPPEARING WOMAN Adelaide Herrmann
Career
Adelaide Herrmann was born Adelaide Scarcez (also spelled Scarsia) in 1853 in London. Her father, who was born in Belgium, helped establish the Egyptian Hall.
Herrmann herself came to New York City as a dancer for Imre Kiralfy. She began her magic career as assistant to her husband, magician Alexander Herrmann. They married in 1875 at City Hall, where New York City Mayor William H. Wickham performed their ceremony. Together, Alexander ("Professor Herrmann" or "Herrmann the Great") and Adelaide entertained audiences with a variety of magic tricks, including escape tricks and the bullet catch trick. In 1888, the Herrmanns put on a show wherein they revealed how the spiritualist Ann O'Delia Diss Debar was a fraudulent medium in front of journalists.
When Alexander died in 1896, Herrmann continued the show and later became a major star in her own right. Following Alexander's death, she initially worked with his nephew, Leon Herrmann, but a clash of personalities led them to part ways after three seasons, each continuing with their own show. Herrmann was one of the few magicians to perform the infamous "bullet catch" trick, and possibly the only woman magician to perform the trick at the time. Despite reports that she had disliked watching her husband perform the dangerous trick, on January 19, 1897, a month after his death, she stood in his place in front of a firing squad at the Metropolitan Opera House in Chicago. Surviving publicity material describes her as catching six bullets fired at her by local militiamen.
Herrmann became more well-known as a magician, earning the moniker "the Queen of Magic." She performed internationally, touring London and Paris to dance and perform her magic act. In 1903, she made her Broadway debut at the Circle Theater. She performed often with other vaudeville acts and was frequently mentioned in the New York Times.
Herrmann continued performing into her 70s until 1926, when a deadly warehouse fire in New York City destroyed her props and killed some of her animals. She died at the age of 79 and is buried, along with her husband, at the Woodlawn Cemetery, New York.