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Morris Osborn

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Morris Osborn
BornMorris Arden Osborn
January 7, 1899
Florida
DiedSeptember 24, 1953 (age 54)
Silver Springs, Florida
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery, Ocala, Florida

Morris Osborn (1899-1953) built one of the first theaters expressly for magic performances in the United States.

Biography

With his wife, Katherine Marie Osborn (1917-2004), they toured Florida performing magic for local audiences as "Osborn and the Mystic Maids."[1]

He operated an amusement park in St. Petersburg, Florida in the 1940s. He also ran the Wild Animal Concession of Ross Allen Reptile Institute, Silver Springs, Florida. Several of the monkeys and exotic birds were part of the Magic Act.

Osborn died a few months after he completed building his theater, The Morris Osborn After-Dinner Theater in Ocala, Florida when he was taken seriously ill after the second performance.

At the time of his death he was also operating a massive monkey show at Ross Allen's Reptile Institute in Silver Springs,Florida. [2]

After his death, his wife continued to perform for local audiences and charity shows.

Created such effects on the market as "Acrobatic Thimbles" and "The Third Hand".[3]

May have also performed as "Sohmer the Mystical".[4]

References

  1. Katherine Marie Osborn, Obit, MUM, JULY 2005
  2. Broken Wand, Linking Ring, Nov 1953
  3. The Sphinx, August 1933
  4. The Society of American Magicians Official List of Assemblies and Members (1946)