
Bruce Elliott
(New York City, NY: 30th May 1914 - 22nd March 1973)
Inspired watching Thurston show. Learned at age 9 from Mysto Magic set. Debut in early 1920s at tennis clubs. Freelance writer-editor in New York City by profession. Amateur magician. Assisted Annemann in editing Jinx until 1941. Demonstrator for Stuart Robson's magic shop. This convivial fat man edited The Phoenix 1942-54. Helped on many of his magic projects by his wife, "Bunny", before she separated. His home in Manhattan at 284 West 70th was a weekly gathering place for magi. Died in New York hospital of injuries after being hit by an automobile.
Wrote 4 often reprinted books: Magic as a Hobby (1948, 240pp, with Foreword by Orson Welles), Classic Secrets of Magic (1953, 226pp), The Best in Magic (1956, 235pp; British ed as Magic: 100 New Tricks), and Professional Magic Made Easy (1959, 231pp). Editor of Volume 6 (1954, 409pp) of the revised edition of the famous Tarbell Course in Magic. Tricks in Jinx, Phoenix, and New Phoenix. Under Walter Gibson's "Maxwell Grant" pen name wrote 15 of the last novels about The Shadow.