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Paul Valadon

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Paul Valadon
BornAdolph Weber or Waber
June 17, 1867
Cologne, Germany
DiedApril 23, 1913 (age 45)
Phönix, Arizona
Resting placeGreenwood Memorial Park, Phoenix, Arizona

Paul Valadon (1867 - 1913) was a contemporary in England with John Nevil Maskelyne.

Biography

Valadon started as a hairdresser working in London, who studied and practiced magic in his spare time. He obtained one or two small engagements, and thus encouraged determined to take up magic as a profession. He started as assistant to one of the Basch brothers and his first public performance in Central Hall in the Cologne.[1] He eventually got an engagement at the Egyptian Hall.

He was an expert in sleights and misdirection, and invented an ingenious second-sight code which he worked very successfully with his English wife

Valadon's big chance came when Harry Kellar was searching for successor to carry on his show. Kellar saw Valadon perform in London and proposed a partnership. Unfortunately, Kellar dispensed with Valadon over conflicts in personalities and appointed Howard Thurston to his place. From that time, Valadon gradually declined in popularity and wealth. He died in Phoenix, Arizona, leaving his son, Paul Valadon, Jr. a penniless orphan at 13. Valadon, before his death, requested his son not to spend any money for a gravestone because he knew that the boy would have enough responsibilities in just taking care of himself.

Carl Rosini, then vice president of the Magicians Guild, suggested they make an effort to discover the location of his Paul Valadon's grave. Bert Easley, while in Phoenix, Arizona for business, checked cemetery records and found the unmarked grave in Greenwood Memorial Park Cemetery.[2] The Magicians Guild arranged for the grave marker; a stone with the name "Paul Valadon", the dates 1867 and 1913 separated by a high hat crossed by a wand. On Sunday, June 27, 1948, a dedication services were held at the grave by the Mystic 13, I. B. M. Ring No. 55. [3]

Family

His son, Paul A. Valadon, remained in Phoenix. Around 1920, he went to work for the city engineering department. He had remained with that department and worked his way up to chief paving inspector. He died in 1954 at the age of 55 in Phoenix, Arizona was buried in Greenwood Memorial Park with his father. He was survived by his widow, Helen, and a son, Paul H. Valadon.[4]

References

  1. Cover, The Sphinx, Vol. 3, No. 11, January 1905, The Magician of the Month, Herr Paul Valadon, page 131
  2. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90740531, Paul Valadon
  3. The Showman, Vol. 2, No. 39, August 1901, Herr and Madam Valadon, page 554
  4. The Linking Ring, Vol. 33, No. 12, February 1954, Broken Wand, Paul A. Valadon, page 79
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