Marshall Brodien

Brodien was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.{{cite news |last=Goldsborough |first=Bob |title=Marshall Brodien, magician and Wizzo the Wizard on 'Bozo's Circus,' dies |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-met-marshall-brodien-obituary-20190308-story.html/ |access-date=8 March 2019 |agency=Chicago Tribune |date=8 March 2019}} At age eight, he took an interest in magic after a magician came to perform at his school. He never graduated high school and began working at age 14, selling and demonstrating magic tricks and novelties at the Magic Center in downtown Chicago.

At age 16, Brodien worked at Chicago's Riverview Park, performing magic tricks.

Brodien served in the Army during the 1950s at Fort Carson in Colorado and performed more than 700 shows while in the Army at hospitals, non-commissioned officers clubs and private parties.

Brodien, who had been making semi-regular guest appearances performing magic tricks as himself on Bozo's Circus since 1962,{{cite web|url=http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1960s.htm|title=Bozo Timeline-1960s|publisher=WGN-TV|access-date=16 February 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010709002133/http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1960s.htm|archivedate=9 July 2001}} began appearing as a wizard character in an Arabian Nights-inspired costume in 1968 and evolved into Wizzo the Wizard by the early 1970s. He was billed as being from "Arobia" and possessed the magical Stone of Zanzabar. According to Brodien, the first time he touched Bozo (Bob Bell) with the stone, Bozo quipped: "I remember when you got stoned at the Zanzabar."

Oliver O. Oliver (Ray Rayner) left Bozo's Circus in 1971 and was briefly replaced by Pat Tobin as Oliver's cousin Elrod T. Potter, and then by magician John Thompson (an acquaintance of Brodien's) as Clod Hopper. By 1973, WGN gave up on Thompson and increased Brodien's appearances as Wizzo. Brodien left the program in 1994.{{cite web|url=http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1990s.htm|title=Bozo Timeline-1990s|publisher=WGN-TV|access-date=16 February 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010808014949/http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1990s.htm|archivedate=8 August 2001}}

In 1970, Brodien was the creator and spokesperson for a trick deck of cards called TV Magic Cards, a renamed Svengali deck that was heavily advertised on television. TV Magic Cards resembled an ordinary deck of playing cards, except that the cards could be shown as all the same card. Many other card tricks could be performed with the deck. Brodien demonstrated the cards in a well-known TV commercial which ran for several years. Over 17 million decks of the cards were sold.[http://ephemera.typepad.com/ephemera/2006/09/tv_magic_cards.html ephemera: Marshall Brodien TV Magic Cards]{{cite web|url=http://www.wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1970s.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001218093000/http://www.wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1970s.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 December 2000 |title=Bozo Timeline-1970s |publisher=WGN-TV |access-date=16 February 2011 }} Brodien sold his company in 1992.

Brodien had a car with vanity license plates reading "WIZ"{{cite news |last=O'Donnell |first=Maureen |date=8 March 2019 |title=Marshall Brodien, 'TV Magic' pitchman, Wizzo the Wizard on 'Bozo,' dead at 84 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/marshall-brodien-wizzo-wizard-bozo-tv-magic-magician-clown-infomercials-zanzibar-stone/ |access-date=8 March 2019 |agency=Chicago Sun-Times}} and custom pin-striping which contained a tiny "WIZ" within the striping.

Brodien designed magic trick sets for children through a company called Cadaco Toys. He occasionally made public appearances in the Chicago area, and a biography, The Magical Life Of Marshall Brodien, was published in 2007.{{Cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786431822|title=The Magical Life of Marshall Brodien: Creator of TV Magic Cards and Wizzo the Wizard Paperback – July 26, 2007|website=www.amazon.com|date=13 August 2007 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-3182-3 |access-date=2019-03-08}} One of his Wizzo costumes is in the WGN-TV Bozo's Circus exhibit at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.{{cite web|url=http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln2000s.htm|title=Bozo Timeline-2000|publisher=WGN-TV|access-date=16 February 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010808020050/http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln2000s.htm|archivedate=8 August 2001}}

Brodien was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2007.

In 2018, the mayor of Geneva, Illinois, announced that July 10 would be known as “Marshall Brodien Day” in the city of Geneva.

Brodien and his wife Mary had six children and stepchildren. Brodien died on March 8, 2019, from Alzheimer's disease in Geneva, Illinois at the age of 84.{{cite news |last=Richards |first=Dean |title=Marshall Brodien, who played 'Wizzo the Wizard' on The Bozo Show, has died |url=https://wgntv.com/2019/03/08/marshall-brodien-who-played-wizzo-the-wizard-on-the-bozo-show-has-died/ |access-date=8 March 2019 |agency=WGN News |date=8 March 2019}}

• [http://www.marshallbrodien.com Marshall Brodien website]
• {{IMDb title|qid=Q28859815|title=Bozo's Circus (1961-1980)}}
• {{IMDb title|qid=Q7719781|title=The Bozo Show (1980-1994)}}
• {{IMDb title|qid=Q7719782|title=The Bozo Super Sunday Show (1994-2001)}}
• {{IMDb title|qid=Q123517770|title=Bozo: 40 Years of Fun! (TV special)}}

{{Chicago Children's Television}}

{{Academy of Magical Arts Special Fellowship}}

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Category:1934 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:American clowns

Category:American magicians

Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Illinois

Category:People from Geneva, Illinois

Category:United States Army soldiers

Category:Academy of Magical Arts Special Fellowship winners