Lesley Piddington

Lesley Piddington
Born	Lesley Elizabeth Pope c. 1924 Australia
Died	August 2, 2016 (age 91) Australia

Lesley (Piddington) Hazlitt (c.1924-d.2016) performed with her husband, Sydney Piddington (1918-1991), as the mentalism team called The Piddingtons.

Biography

Possibly born in Paddington, Queensland, she married Sydney in Australia while she was a radio-actress. They put together a telepathy act based on Sydney's experience and as The Piddingtons became a successful in Sydney and Melbourne on the radio and with live stage shows.

In 1949 they went to England where they became a success on BBC radio programs.

When she turned 47, Lesley meet Cecil John "Jack" Hazlitt (1897-1993), who was 74 years old and they would spend more than twenty-one years together. She authored Jack's life story in her book "Just Call Me Jack" (2004).

In 2003, a taped interview with her by Jim Steinmeyer was presented at the Conference on Magic History.

References

• Goodliffe's Abracadabra, Vol. 8, No. 186, August 1949, Hands off The Piddingtons, by George Blake, page 54-55
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 29, No. 9, November 1949, Britain Raves Over The Piddingtons, by Frances Ireland, page 46
• The Magic Circular, Vol. 81, No. 881, December 1987, The Piddingtons, by Fergus Anckorn, page 243
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 78, No. 12, December 1988, You Are the Judge - The Piddingtons!, by Barry H. Wiley, page 58
• The Magic Circular, Vol. 83, No. 894, April 1989, The Piddingtons: A Preliminary Bibliography, by Barry H. Wiley, page 70
• The Magic Circular, Vol. 87, No. 935, May 1993, The writing of "The Piddingtons", by Barry H. Wiley, page 72
• Genii Magazine, Vol. 68, No. 8, August 2005, "I never knew a so-called ‘Mechanical’ Mind-Reading Act that didn't wind up doing genuine mental telepathy before they were through" - Joseph Dunninger, Detroit Free-Press. 1943, page 85
• http://www.thepiddingtons.com/lesley.html LESLEY POPE
• http://www.thetreeofus.net/5/132749.htm Lesley Elizabeth Pope
• http://www.thepiddingtons.com/gallery.html Photo Gallery “The Piddingtons”
• http://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/smh-au/obituary.aspx?n=lesley-hazlitt&pid=181010354 Obituary Lesley Hazlitt
• http://cardopolis.blogspot.ch/2016/08/lesley-hazlitt-and-piddingtons.html Lesley Hazlitt and The Piddingtons, by David Britland
• The Piddingtons by Russell Braddon. London: T. Werner Laurie, 1950.
• Radio National, Australia http://www.abc.net.au/rn/history/hindsight/stories/s98346.htm
• http://www.answers.com/topic/sydney-and-lesley-piddingtons
• http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/4157208
• http://forums.geniimagazine.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=48635