Debbie McGee
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| Debbie McGee | |
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| Born | October 31, 1958 Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England |
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| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | assistant to magician Paul Daniels |
| Website debbiemcgee.co.uk |
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Debbie McGee (born 31 October 1958) is a British television, radio and stage performer who is best known as the wife and assistant of magician Paul Daniels. McGee is a former ballet dancer and, for three years, she was artistic director of her own ballet company.
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[edit] Early life and magic career
McGee was born Debra A. McGee in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, to an English mother, Lillian, and an Irish father, Patrick McGee. She has a sister, who works for a bank, and a brother, who is an accountant. When McGee was young her parents ran a corner shop. Later her father worked for a large gold manufacturing firm making rings and other jewellery.[1]
Because, from an early age, McGee enjoyed music and dressing up, her mother enrolled her in a dance school when she was seven. At 16 McGee auditioned for and won a place at the Royal Ballet School. After graduating, she joined the Iranian National Ballet in Tehran. Aged 19, she became part of the Corps de Ballet and later a soloist, but her ballet career was brought to an abrupt halt by the Islamic Revolution. She was forced to flee the country and ended up returning to the UK with little in the way of money and possessions. Seeking new work she auditioned for the Bernard Delfont Organisation, which was responsible for a number of big summer resort shows and touring productions.[2][3]
Delfont found her a job performing on stage with magician Paul Daniels in his 1979 summer show in Great Yarmouth. She first met Daniels on 23 May 1979 at rehearsals for the show, which were held at a church hall in London.[1][4]
She later joined Dougie Squires' Second Generation troupe as a dancer, which involved touring Europe with acts including ABBA, Chris de Burgh and James Last. After winter work in pantomime, McGee joined Daniels again for his 1980 summer season in Bournemouth. She then went on to perform in his London stage show It's Magic, which opened on 10 December 1980 and which, by the time it closed 14 months later, had become one of the longest running magic shows ever to play in the West End.[2]
McGee achieved national and international fame through subsequent television appearances with Daniels. After seeing her on stage in the West End, BBC producer John Fisher asked Debbie to appear in the BBC One series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which had begun in 1979. That series continued until 1994 and regularly attracted audiences of 15 million in the UK as well as being sold to 43 countries.[5] Daniels regularly referred to McGee on his TV shows as "The lovely Debbie McGee", a phrase that entered popular culture as a metaphor or stereotype for magicians' assistants. Daniels and McGee were married in April 1988.[6]
In recent years, McGee has performed some magic herself, usually on the corporate cabaret circuit.
Daniels and McGee own a dog called 'Houdini'. McGee's pastimes include golf and she has played in celebrity charity events.[1]
[edit] Other work
[edit] Dance company
In 2000, McGee set up Ballet Imaginaire to produce ballet shows and tour them around the country. Ticket sales were reportedly poor, despite preparations being recorded by Louis Theroux and broadcast on television.
[edit] Radio
In 2004 McGee presented Box Jumpers, a two-part radio documentary about magician's assistants for BBC Radio 4.[7][8]
[edit] Television and film
In 2000 McGee and Daniels were the subjects of an episode of a "fly-on-the-wall" documentary series filmed by Louis Theroux. The episode, titled When Louis Met Paul and Debbie, was broadcast on BBC Two. It resulted in a boost in the pair's profile and has led to other TV work for the duo.
In October 2004, McGee appeared on The Farm, Five's version of the RTE show Celebrity Farm. In May 2006, she appeared on The X Factor: Battle of the Stars with her husband singing Let Me Entertain You by Robbie Williams. Debbie and Paul were knocked out in the first round of the talent show.
On April 1, 2007, McGee appeared along with husband Paul, Vanessa Feltz and her fiancé Ben Ofoedu in a celebrity edition of Channel 4's hit reality television show Wife Swap.
In 2008 McGee was part of Ant's team in the Ant v Dec segment of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, but was eliminated after the indoor bowls challenge in show 5 (of 6).
McGee was a guest on The Mrs Merton Show when she was famously asked, "So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"[9]
In addition to her television work, McGee was an extra in the Oscar-nominated 1981 film The French Lieutenant's Woman.
[edit] Other activities
McGee continues to work alongside husband Paul in venues around the world. Also, according to the biography on her personal website, she has been writing a book for a long time, although the subject matter remains a mystery.[3]
In 2006 she and a friend started a modelling and casting agency called Debbie McGee Models. In December 2007 a one-line statement appeared on the agency's website saying the firm had been taken over. The website closed down soon afterwards. McGee has said she left the business to concentrate on life with her husband.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Tyrrel, Rebecca (August 2000), “Deb's delight”, Telegraph.co.uk, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2000/08/28/tldeb28.xml>. Retrieved on 18 November 2007
- ^ a b Debbie McGee. Everything2. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ a b About Debbie McGee. Debbie McGee. Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
- ^ Debbie McGee Chats to Us about Her Celebrity Wedding to Paul Daniels. Weddingtv.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
- ^ Magicians' Biographies - D. magictricks.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ Paul Daniels out of hospital. BBC News (31 March 2003). Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ "Box Jumpers". Radiolistings.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Radio Choice". The Times online. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ Kay dishes up best TV one-liner. BBC News (13 August 2006).
