Mark Wilson (magician)

Mark Wilson was the son of a salesman and he spent much of his youth traveling with his parents as his father moved about on business. He has said his interest in magic began when he was eight years old and saw a magician named Tommy Martin perform at a hotel in Indianapolis, where the Wilson family were staying at the time.{{cite web

|url = http://www.markwilsonmagic.com/MyMagicalLife1.htm

|title = My Magical Life

|publisher = Mark Wilson

|accessdate = 2008-12-01

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081228093525/http://markwilsonmagic.com/MyMagicalLife1.htm

|archivedate = 2008-12-28

}} The family later moved to Dallas, Texas, where, as a teenager, Wilson improved his magic knowledge by working for the Douglas Magicland shop as a clerk. As his skills improved he began performing magic shows at small functions.{{cite web

|url = http://www.magicwebchannel.com/hall_wilson.htm

|title = Magicians Hall of Fame: Mark Wilson

|publisher = magicwebchannel.com

|accessdate = 2008-12-01

}}

He attended the School of Business Administration at Southern Methodist University, where he majored in marketing, learning skills that were to help him in his future career.{{cite web

|url = http://magictricks.com/bios/whoswho-w.htm

|title = Magicians' Biographies - W

|publisher = magictricks.com

|accessdate = 2008-12-01

}}

When television began to grow, Wilson launched a show titled Time for Magic on a local station in Dallas in 1955. Calling on his marketing training he made this show possible by attracting sponsorship from the Dr Pepper Bottling Company. He then expanded to other shows in Houston and San Antonio.

When videotape was developed, Wilson created the first show to be videotaped and nationally syndicated.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} That was the original black and white Magic Land of Allakazam. It debuted on 1 October 1960 on CBS-TV and aired every Saturday morning on that network for four years. His wife, Nani Darnell, assisted him and they were joined by Bev Bergeron, who helped write the shows and played the character Rebo the Clown.{{cite web

|url = http://www.markwilsonmagic.com/

|title = The Magic Land of Allakazam

|publisher = Mark Wilson's official website

|accessdate = 2007-03-15

}} The show was sponsored by Kellogg's. Wilson, Darnell and Bergeron toured state fairs during the summer and made appearances on other network shows. The writing team grew at CBS to include Bobby "Torchy" Towner, Bobby Fenton, Leo Behnke, Lin Searles with Johnny Daniel and Carl Owen building the illusions for the first year of 39 shows. For the second year the existing creative team remained, but Frances Martineau was added along with a young John Gaughan. This group was the nucleus that brought a new look to magic illusions that are still being used today. Magic Land of Allakazam moved from CBS-TV to ABC-TV in 1962 without missing one week on air. That same year, Wilson appeared on the short-lived ABC western comedy and variety series The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show. In 1965, Magic Land of Allakazam left ABC and was internationally syndicated.

Wilson later created The Funny Face Magic Show and the Pillsbury Company sponsored Magic Circus in 1971. He also provided the Hall of Magic at the 1964/5 World's Fair in New York. He appeared on film at the Bell Telephone exhibit at the 1968 Hemisfair. He and his crew assisted in the technical production of the magic in many network shows, including The Magician, Circus of the Stars, Hollywood Palace, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk, Columbo and more.

Wilson's last regular television stint was The Magic Of Mark Wilson.{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series |date=1985 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1651-2 |pages=322–323}} The series was seen in national syndication in 1981, and Wilson was aided on this final series by his wife and longtime assistant Nani and their second son, Greg.{{cite web | url = http://www.wilsonmagic.com/bio/index.html | title = Greg Wilson Website | accessdate = 2008-01-10 | year = 2008 }} Mark and Nani made an appearance in 2015 in the second series of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, where they were part of the reveal of an act by their son Greg.

In 1975, he published his Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic, which is still in production in various forms around the world.{{cite book | title=Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic (5th printing) | publisher=Ottenheimer Publishing, Inc. | author=Wilson, Mark | year=1988 | location=Philadelphia | pages=2 | isbn=0-89471-623-9}}

Mark Wilson is the author of the following titles published by [http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/runningpress/author_detail.jsp?id=1000019936 Running Press]:

• Magic In A Box (Paperback Jun 1, 2004) {{ISBN|978-0-7624-1612-7}}
• Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic (Paperback May 18, 2003) {{ISBN|978-0-7624-1455-0}}
• Mark Wilson's Little Book Of Card Tricks (Hardcover Nov 16, 2000) {{ISBN|978-0-7624-0834-4}}
• Mark Wilson's Cyclopedia Of Magic (Paperback Jan 25, 1996) {{ISBN|978-1-56138-613-0}}

• The Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year (1972, 1974){{cite web|title=Hall of Fame|url=http://www.magiccastle.com/hall_of_fame/|website=The Academy of Magical Arts|date=2 July 2014 }}
• The Academy of Magical Arts Masters Fellowship (1987)

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.markwilsonmagic.com Mark Wilson Official Web Site]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090113204101/http://www.markwilsonmagicuniversity.com/ Mark Wilson Magic University]
• {{IMDb name|0933820}}

{{Magic and Illusion}}

{{Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year |state=autocollapse}}

{{Academy of Magical Arts Masters Fellowship}}

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Category:1929 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:Entertainers from Manhattan

Category:Writers from Manhattan

Category:Southern Methodist University alumni

Category:American magicians

Category:Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year winners

Category:Academy of Magical Arts Masters Fellowship winners