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{{Infobox person
[[File: JNHilliard.png|right|thumb|200px|[[ John Northern Hilliard]]]]
| name = John Giordmaine
| image                    = Genii_1964_May.jpg
| image_size                =
| alt                      =
| caption                  = Cover of Genii (May 1964)
| birth_name                = Giovanni Nicola Giordmaina
| birth_day                = September 26,   
| birth_year                = 1898   
| birth_place              = Malta
| death_day                = January 19, 
| death_year                = 1974 
| death_place              =
| resting_place            =
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality              = Canadian
| known_for                =
| notable works            =
| flourished                =
| awards                    =
| box_width                =
| misc                      =
}}
'''John Giordmaine''' (1898-1974) was born Giovanni Nicola Giordmaina in Malta but immigrated to Canada in 1919. He started as an electrician, but went onto a successful career as a professional magician after a serious injury in an electrical accident.


He became friends with [[Sid Lorraine]] who got him to join the [[International Brotherhood of Magicians]]. He changed his name to Giordmaine to rhyme with legerdemain.
'''John Northern Hilliard''' (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man  and clever amateur magician.


In the late 1930s, Giordmaine worked at [[The Arcade Magic and Novelty Shop]] and the T. Eaton Company of Toronto. While at Eaton's toy department during the 1940s, he developed and sold a magic kit.
== Biography ==
Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met [[Howard Thurston]] while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.


He became the first magician on television in 1933 and  appeared on the Howdy-Doody show, Captain Kangaroo, Paul Winchell's Circus Time. He had been described as "the world's greatest little magician artist" in an early television show for children.  
With the urging of [[Floyd G. Thayer]], John starting writing for [[Thayer's Magical Bulletin]] magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.


Giordmaine was a guest on [[The Ed Sullivan Show]] in 1957 and played the New York World's Fair.
[[John Northern Hilliard|Read more about John Northern Hilliard…]]
 
[[John Giordmaine|Read more about Giordmaine...]]

Latest revision as of 09:23, 20 February 2026

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John Northern Hilliard (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man and clever amateur magician.

Biography

Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met Howard Thurston while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.

With the urging of Floyd G. Thayer, John starting writing for Thayer's Magical Bulletin magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.

Read more about John Northern Hilliard…