Milbourne Christopher

Milbourne Christopher
Milbourne Christopher with Walter B. Gibson and Dorothy Dietrich's at a Houdini Seance
Born	Baltimore, Maryland, USA 23 March 1914
Died	17 June 1984 [1] New York City, New York, USA
Occupation	Magician, historian, and debunker

Milbourne Christopher (23 March 1914 ^[2] - 17 June 1984) was an American illusionist.

President of the Society of American Magicians, an honorary vice-president to the Magic Circle, and one of the founding members of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Christopher authored several books, including a biography of Harry Houdini, and thousands of essays relating to magic and mentalism. ^{[3] [4]}

Christopher regarded those indiduals who claim ESP or psychic powers to be actually using magic tricks. He wrote three book-length exposes of those he said were false psychics: ESP, Seers & Psychics; Mediums, Mystics, & the Occult; and Search for the Soul. Christopher also commented on the parapsychology experiments and experimenters during his lifetime. Despite his denial of the existence of psychic power, and like fellow magicians Harry Houdini and James Randi, both of whom also worked to expose false psychics, Christopher was accused himself of using psychic power to perform his magic tricks.^[5]

The Society of American Magicians presents The Milbourne Christopher Awards annually.

Books

• Christopher, Milbourne (1962). Panorama of Magic. New York: Dover. pp. 216. ISBN 0-486-20774-9. OCLC 62-51376. 
• Christopher, Milbourne (1969). Houdini: the Untold Story. New York: Crowell. pp. 281. OCLC 4255. 
• Christopher, Milbourne (1970). ESP, Seers & Psychics: What the Occult Really Is. New York: Crowell. pp. 268. ISBN 978-0-690-26815-7. OCLC 97063. 
• Christopher, Milbourne (1973). The Illustrated History of Magic. New York: Crowell. pp. 452. ISBN 0-435-07016-9. OCLC 668533. 
• Christopher, Milbourne (1975). Mediums, Mystics, & the Occult: New Revelations about Psychics and their Secrets. New York: Crowell. pp. 275. ISBN 0-690-00476-1. OCLC 1095102. 
• Christopher, Milbourne (1977). Milbourne Christopher's Magic Book. New York: Crowell. pp. 240. ISBN 0-690-01677-8. OCLC 3088945. 
• Christopher, Milbourne (1979). Search for the Soul: An Insider's Report on the Continuing Quest by Psychics & Scientists for Evidence of Life After Death. New York: Crowell. pp. 206. ISBN 0-690-01760-X. OCLC 5241692. 

References

1. ^ "Milbourne Christopher, 70, Magician On Stage And Tv". The New York Times. June 19, 1984. http://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/19/obituaries/milbourne-christopher-70-magician-on-stage-and-tv.html. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 
2. ^ "Social Security Death Index" 14 July 2010
3. ^ Gerd H. Hoevelmann, Marcello Truzzi, and Piet Hein Hoebens, "Skeptical Literatue on Parapsychology: An Annotated Bibliography," in Paul Kurtz, editor, A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology, pp. 449-490; Christopher's book is described on pp. 455-456.
4. ^ Scot Peacock, Contemporary Authors, 2003, Gale.
5. ^ Milbourne Christopher, Mediums, Mystic & the Occult (New York: Crowell, 1975) 233

External links

• Milbourne Christopher Biography
• IBDB Page
• IMDb Page

Persondata
Name	Christopher, Milbourne
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 March 1914
Place of birth
Date of death	17 June 1984
Place of death	New York City, New York, USA