David Nixon

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This article is about the magician. For the choreographer, see David Nixon (choreographer). For the footballer, see David Nixon (footballer).
David Nixon

Born David Porter Nixon
December 29, 1919(1919-12-29)
Muswell Hill, London, UK
Died 1 December 1978 (aged 58)
Surrey, England
Occupation Magician and television presenter

David Nixon (b. 29 December 1919 in Muswell Hill, London [1] - d. 1 December 1978 Surrey [2]) was an English magician and television personality. [3] At the height of his career, the balding Nixon was the best-known magician in the UK, but he had several other strings to his bow.

Nixon's father was a lawyer whose hobby was magic and who took David to watch performers such as Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant. One magician who made an early impression on the young boy was Stanley Collins, who had a gentlemanly image which influenced Nixon's later performing style. Nixon started performing magic himself after an aunt bought him an Ernest Sewell Magic Box one Christmas. On leaving school he got a job with the Henley Telegraph, the in-house magazine of the W. T. Henley Telegraph company, a publication which had been founded by Alfred Hitchcock.[4] In 1938 he joined the Magic Circle. He also became an accomplished double bass player and performed with a local band.[3]

With the advent of the Second World War Nixon joined ENSA, the organisation that was set up to provide entertaiment for British troops. He had been prevented from serving in a front line role as a result of suffering from pneumonia when he was a teenager. After the war he joined the Fol de Rols, a variety troupe based in Scarborough. In addition to his magic act, he sang, danced and worked front of house. In 1949 he married a singer named Margaret Burton. The same year he got his first break into television in a show called Café Continental. Margaret died in 1952 and later the same year Nixon married his second wife Paula Marshall who had worked with him in his act.[3]

Nixon's big break came in 1954 when he was invited to be a panelist on the British version of the highly successful television quiz show What's My Line?. He went on to present series on various subjects, including the British version of Candid Camera, Comedy Bandbox (1962) (later David Nixon's Comedy Bandbox (1966), and was Basil Brush's first partner.[5] His magic shows included Tonight with David Nixon (1969), David Nixon's Magic Box (1970), and The David Nixon Show (1972). He also appeared as a panelist on TV and radio game shows, most notably on the UK TV version of What's My Line?. He famously presented one episode of This is Your Life in which the subject was none other than the series' own host, Eamonn Andrews. Nixon also hosted a TV series on chess.

David Nixon has been recognised as an influence on future UK magicians as diverse as Wayne Dobson[6] and Jerry Sadowitz.[7]

Among his lesser known activities was his involvement in backing the development and manufacture of the Mellotron, with the company Mellotronics.[8] He even appeared in a Pathe news reel feature to demonstrate the instrument.[9]

Nixon died of lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker and was first diagnosed with cancer in 1976. He underwent treatment which appeared to have been successful but the disease returned a couple of years later and he died just short of his 59th birthday.[3]

[edit] Family

Nixon lost two wives to tragically early deaths. Paula Marshall died aged 28 in a car crash in 1956, the year after the birth of the couple's son Nicholas. Nixon remarried in 1961 to Vivienne Robinson, the daughter of a well known bandleader. They had a daughter, Mandy, in 1961.[3]

Nixon and actor Patrick Macnee were cousins.[10]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1920 3a 1125 EDMONTON - David P. Nixon
  2. ^ GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1978 17 1052 SURREY SE - David Porter Nixon, DoB = 29 Dec 1919
  3. ^ a b c d e Pickles, Keith. The Life and Career of David Nixon. Bradford Magic Circle.
  4. ^ Henley Telegraph. hitchcockwiki.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-1.
  5. ^ UK Game Shows (2007-10-03).
  6. ^ Wayne Dobson profile (2007-09-03).
  7. ^ Joking Apart - Interview with Jerry Sadowitz (2007-09-03).
  8. ^ History of The Mellotron (2007-10-03).
  9. ^ Mellotron Demo Pathe News reel (2007-09-03).
  10. ^ UK Game Shows (2007-09-03).