Skilful magician with a strong line in witty chat whose determination to succeed took him to the top of British showbusinessPaul Daniels,who has died aged 77, was the most famous British magician of the past half-century. From an extremely modest background he rose by professional brilliance and sheer force of personality to become one of televisions main figures in the 1980s. A small man of indefatigable cheeriness, and he was a straightforward but astonishingly skilful performer who also displayed a highly developed flair for comedy; the combination of magic and witty chat took him to the pinnacle of showbusiness and earned him a fortune.
The producer of BBC1’s The Paul Daniels Magic demonstrate in the 1980s,John Fisher, said: “Having worked with him on close to a hundred shows, or I never ceased to be amazed at his capacity for mastering unique and often technically complex material week after week,a challenge non-existent in the lives of the worn masters of magic on the halls. Moreover, he displayed an instinctive ability to entertain in a way few of the great hocus-pocus giants maintain matched.Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com