1993: Death Defies Mandrake the Magician in Surrey Hospital

Born “on the road” on April 11, 1911, in a small town in Washington State, Leon Mandrake was the son of two vaudeville entertainers. When his parents divorced two years later, his mother brought him to New Westminster to live with his aunt, Mildred Wagner, who worked at the post office and lived nearby at 307 Carnarvon Street in a house designed by Samuel Maclure in 1887 (and still one of the oldest heritage homes in New Westminster).

After his aunt gave him the Mysto Magic Kit, Mandrake practiced in a backyard shed, borrowed books from the library, watched magicians at the local Edison Theatre and attended circus shows at the Pacific National Exhibition. One year he was given the props and costumes of a magician who had left the show. He first performed on stage at the Edison Theatre at age eleven in 1922.

For the next three five years the young illusionist appeared at the PNE as Mandrake the Magician. His mentors included Howard Thurston, Claude Alexander, Doc Verge, Bannister and Ralph Richards “The Wizard” who gave him his first out-of-town work in 1927: a six-month tour that ended in Winnipeg.

Mandrake was twice married to his on-stage assistants; first Narda Mandrake from 1939 to 1946, then Velvet Mandrake or “Miss Velvet.” The latter couple honed a two-hour magic show for nightclubs during the 1940s and 1950s.

Called ‘the best-loved magician who ever sawed a woman in half,’ the tuxedoed illusionist and ventriloquist was the inspiration for an unaffiliated comic strip, Mandrake, that ran for decades. Drawn by cartoonist Phil Davis and written by Lee Falk, this strip was created in 1934, in St. Louis, without Mandrake’s prior consent or knowledge.

According to Mandrake’s son Lon Mandrake, a science teacher in Delta, B.C. who also performs magic tricks, Falk claimed he had invented with name Mandrake the Magician coincidentally. When fact met fiction, Phil Davis drew their character to resemble the real Mandrake. Both parties verbally agreed to cross-promote each other with the result that Mandrake the Magician became recognized throughout North America.

During his long career Mandrake entertained royalty and was compared to Houdini. Other Mandrake spin-offs included a television show, a movie and a novel. The ventriloquist Edgar Bergen made Mandrake three dummies for his stage shows.

Mandrake’s publicity stunts were as notorious as his act. He was known for driving a car while blindfolded, hypnotizing a girl in a department store window, making great escapes from boxes and mind reading on the street. Leon and Velvet Mandrake retired to White Rock, B.C. after they quit performing in 1984, ending a 62-year showbiz career.

Mandrake Incomparable (Hades $27.50) by Sheldon O’Connell is a wandering but appreciative biography that culminates in Leon Mandrake’s death at Surrey Hospital on January 27, 1993. A wake was held at the old Edison Theatre in New Westminster, now the Paramount Theatre, the first place Mandrake worked his magic.
Thanks to Jack Bennest of BC Radio History for this info.

2007: Mandrake the Magician Memorabilia Disappears

A North Delta robbery has reportedly netted a filing cabinet filled with posters, programs and brochures of Mandrake The Magician, the real performer who inspired the comic. This according to SurreyLeader.com.

A son of vaudevillian performers, Mandrake grew up in New Westminster and first performed on stage at New Westminster's Edison Theatre (Now called the Paramount). He gained international fame as a magician. He and his second wife, Velvet, his stage assistant, retired in White Rock after 62 years in show business.

“It’s of no value to anyone but family,” Lon Mandrake said.

“I’m hoping they’ve just dumped them by the side of the road and someone will find them. Or they’ll return it.”

He’s offering a reward, no questions asked. (He can be contacted at 604-591-5839).

Hopefully, the materials get back in the hands of those who treasure them most as soon as possible.

For a full bio on Mandrake, go here.

2007: Historic Imperial Theatre Crumples Under Wrecking Ball

The Imperial Theatre, a once important vaudeville house on Vancouver's Main Street (see here http://bcentertainmenttrivia.blogspot.com/2007/09/frank-william-hart-opened-what-he.html), was demolished. Until it's demise, it had a long stretch as a porn theatre called the Venus.
Rumor has it that two gay men once rented the theatre to watch movies alone in and one was found dead the next morning, tied, gagged and with a curling iron inserted in his anus.

1925: CBC Radio History

CRVC was one of six of BC's first AM radio stations. The CNR became the predecessor of the CBC when in 1925 the railway decided to introduce radio listening aboard the trains in transit. The passengers would sit in a parlour car and listen by earphones or horn speakers. There was an operator provided to control the receiving sets. To ensure the quality of reception, a series of transmitters were located at various cities and towns along the railway line.

Eventually a coast-to-coast radio network was established. The CNR radio stations were identified by their location including CNRV – Vancouver. As a matter of history, the CNR operated the first coast-to-coast radio network in North America. Down south, the NBC and CBS networks went coast-to-coast later in 1928.

The CNR network functioned until 1932, when, during the depression, it was decided by the government to form the Canadian Radio Commission. The call letter system was altered slightly - hence CRCV Vancouver.

In 1935 there was another change - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In Vancouver, CRCV became CBR then CBU.
In those early years, night-time Canadian radio was completely different from today’s programming. To encourage Canadian talent, the broadcast regulations required that no recordings were to be played after seven-thirty to eleven-thirty at night. So, we listened to all-live talent shows.
There was a wide variety to tune in to - mysteries, commentaries, newscasts, man-in-the-street broadcasts, dramas, musicals, amateur hours, dance-hall remotes, newscasts, variety shows, political discussions, and religious broadcasts. All the radio stations would have on hand a staff pianist. This position was used as a stand-by strategy when, for various reasons, the scheduled program was not available for broadcast.

At the Vcancouver stations, there were some programs where the public was invited to watch the performances directly at the station studios. Very popular musical variety shows were held at downtown theaters such as the Orpheum.

To learn more about early radio in BC, check out Jack Bennest's great site, BC Radio History.

2007: Is There a Tenor in the House?

On October, 18, 2007, during a concert of Gerontius, star tenor, Ben Heppner was forced to leave the Orpheum at intermission with a flu-like illness that rendered him unable to perform. Tenor Peter Butterfield (pictured) who was attending the concert as an audience member, courageously jumped into the role of Gerontius for the second half of the Vancouver Symphony production.

1946: Groundbreaking Community Arts Council Formed

Community Arts Council of Vancouver. Originally an advisory body, it was established in Vancouver in 1946, the first organization of its kind in North America. A model for many later community arts organizations, the council has helped to initiate the construction of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Playhouse, the planning of the Vancouver International Festival, the development of a music department at the University of British Columbia, the founding of the Vancouver Opera, the establishment of the Vancouver Academy of Music, and the preservation of the Orpheum Theatre. In these and other cases the projects have been completed under the supervision of other organizations. Financed by membership fees, grants, and donations, and operated by its volunteer members, the council has undertaken to act as a clearing-house for information on the arts in Vancouver, publish a quarterly magazine Arts Vancouver 1985- (formerly known as Community Arts Council News 1965-72; News 1973-83; and Images 1983-5), act as liaison between arts and government bodies, adjudicate provincial grants to small and non-professional arts organizations and semi-professional and amateur performing arts groups in greater Vancouver, and display the work of local emerging artists and community groups at its downtown premises. In 1986, the council began its sponsorship (in its gallery) of the Vancouver Composers' Showcase concerts; in 1989 and 1990 it offered a recital series, 'Performer's Choice,' and in 1990 it supported a further noon-hour series called 'Mozart in Canada' - both programs were coordinated by Ian Hampton. In 1991 the council's stated goal was 'to increase and broaden the opportunities for Vancouver citizens to enjoy, to appreciate, and to participate in cultural activities and to improve the quality of life in the city'.
Author: Max Wyman, Bryan N.S. Gooch

2007: Lynn Canyon Tree Attacks "Silver Spoons" Star

Oct. 11, 2007
Former child actor Rick Schroder was taken by ambulance to Lion's Gate Hospital after being injured on the North Vancouver set of a TV movie version of "Journey to the Center of the Earth".
The 37-year-old sustain minor injuries when he struck his head on a tree branch.

1921: Symphony Director Skips Town With The Take

In 1921, Henry Green, musical director of an orchestra that became the genesis of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, skipped town, with the orchestra’s money, never to be heard from again.

1914: English Hussy Banned

The mayor of Vancouver banned performances by visiting English music-hall performer Marie Lloyd. At one point in her show she had lifted her floor-length gown up two inches to reveal a watch on her ankle. The shameless hussy!

Lloyd's songs, although perfectly harmless by modern standards, began to gain a reputation for being "racy" and filled with double entendre, ("She'd never had her ticket punched before" for example) largely thanks to the manner in which she sang them, adding winks and gestures, and creating a conspiratorial relationship with her audience. She became the target of Vigilance or "Watch" committees and others opposing music-hall licenses. She liked to claim that any immorality was in the minds of the complainants, and in front of these groups would sing her songs "straight" to show their supposed innocence.

1912: Comedy Legends Take on Vancouver

An English revue company called Karno’s Comedians performed in Vancouver. Included in the cast: Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.

1910: PNE Carpenter Becomes Horror Legend

A young English actor named William Pratt arrived in Vancouver, got work as a carpenter helping to build what became the PNE. Later he moved to Hollywood and changed his name to Boris Karloff.

1909: Boxer Would Later Hit the Big Screen

World heavyweight boxing champ Jack Johnson fought a six-round exhibition bout in Vancouver with boxer Victor McLaglen, who would later become an Oscar-winning movie actor. This was Jackson's first bout after winning the crown.

McLaglen starred in over 120 movies including the 1935 film The Informer which earned him an Academy award.

Spouse Margaret Pumphrey (1948 - 7 November 1959) (his death) Suzanne M. Brueggeman (1943 - 1948) (divorced) Enid Lamont (1919 - 1942) (her death)

Trivia

Father of film director Andrew V. McLaglen.

Brother of actor Clifford McLaglen.

Brother of actor Cyril McLaglen.

Brother of actor Kenneth McLaglen

Brother of actor and sculptor Arthur McLaglen.

Father-in-law of actress Veda Ann Borg.

Daughter Sheila McLaglen born 1920.

Interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, USA.

Grandfather of Mary McLaglen.

Brother of actor Leopold McLaglen.

As a carnival boxer, if anyone could stay in the ring with him for one round and not be knocked down, they won a box of cigars.

He was quoted as saying:

"Acting never appealed to me, and I was dabbling in it solely as a means of making money. I rather felt that the grease paint business was somewhat beneath a man who was once a reasonably useful boxer."

Complete bio here...

1908: Jeff, the Boxing Kangaroo Hits Town

In 1908 “Jeff, the Boxing Kangaroo” amused big crowds in Vancouver at the Pantages Theatre.

ed. note: After a quick Internet search I found evidence that "Jeff" spent his retirement years on the Ruhe Animal Farm in New York State. I don't know for sure that these two "roos" are one and the same, but how many boxing kangaroos named Jeff could there be?

http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/ruhefarm.html

1902: Audiences Watch Mount Pelee Eruption

• In 1902 movie goers in Vancouver were informed they could see THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT PELEE—BY ELECTRICITY at the Electric Theatre on Cordova Street. (This was a reconstruction, in a studio, of the actual 1902 Mount Pelee disaster. The film makers used a table-top model with flour bursting out of it.)

1900: Immigration Film Hampered By Snow (Not in the way one might expect)

In 1900 the Canadian Pacific Railway financed a film to promote Canadian immigration to the west. It took two years to film because the film-makers weren’t allowed to show snow.

2007: Smashing Pumpkins Fan Dies in PNE "Mosh Pit"

VANCOUVER - A 20-year-old Richmond man died after he was dragged unconscious from a mosh pit at the Smashing Pumpkins concert on September 25th at the Pacific National Exhibition Forum.
Vancouver police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said a group of young men dragged the victim out of the mosh pit toward security Monday night.
The victim, who was from Richmond, B.C., was taken to hospital, where he later died, police said Tuesday night.

Heritage Theatre Led a Varied Life

Frank William Hart opened what he called an opera house in 1887, but it hardly deserved the name. Hart's Opera House had started life as a roller skating rink in Port Moody but it was later dismantled and rebuilt on wooden piles on Carrall Street in 1886. It continued as a skating rink until December 1887, when it re-opened as a theatre and assembly hall. The interior of Hart's Opera House was lined with white cheesecloth, and there were enough benches to seat about 800 patrons. The Salvation Army held its meetings there, as did the Amateur Dramatic Club.

Hart's closed the year that the Imperial Opera House opened.

The Imperial was also stretching the truth by calling itself an Opera House: it was actually more like an assembly hall. Local architect A.E. Crickmay and financier Hugh Robson built the Imperial in 1889 on Pender Street at Abbott. The Imperial had separate waiting rooms for men and women, a bar and two ticket offices; it could hold about 600 patrons. Vancouver's first Shakespearean production, Richard III, was performed at the Imperial in December 1889.

Seen above is a later incarnation of the Imperial, The Venus Theatre, which, until recently, was a porn theatre. The fly tower was apparently functioning.
Sadly, the theatre was torn down in October of 2007.

1891: Bernhardt Flops in Vancouver

World-famed actress Sarah Bernhardt appeared in Vancouver, but audience numbers fell off sharply when it was found she acted only in French.

1891: Opera House Opens

In February, 1891, when the population of Vancouver was only about 13,000, the Vancouver Opera House, built for the Canadian Pacific Railway, opened on Granville with 2,000 seats.

The first performance was the Emma Juch Grand English Opera Company. They were brought to Vancouver at a cost of $10,000 and performed Wagner's Lohengrin. In September, Sarah Bernhardt appeared in Fédora and La Tosca.
The Vancouver Opera House was located on the west side of Granville Street between Georgia and Robson, built by the C.P.R. adjacent to the first Hotel Vancouver, and owned by them until 1909. It could hold over 1,000 patrons in orchestra, gallery and box seating, and had a drop scene with a Canadian view of mountains (The Three Sisters) and the Bow River. Made in New York, the drop arrived in Vancouver by rail on two flatcars. Notably, electric lights were used as a replacement for gas lighting. Evening dress was required for both men and women, and Hansom cabs took patrons to the door; for those returning by streetcar, the whole system would be held past its usual 11 p.m. closing time until the audience came out. Until 1912, it served as the city's principal theatre for touring companies and important solo performers.

Taken from Encore! Encore! Online Dance Exhibition

1889: Kipling Becomes Vancouver Landowner

In 1889, the writer Rudyard Kipling visited Vancouver and bought land here: two lots at the southeast corner of East 11th Avenue and Fraser Street.

1861: Richmond Island Named After "Sweet" Singer

In 1861 Col. Richard Moody of the Royal Engineers named Lulu Island in Richmond in honor of 16-year-old singer Lulu Sweet, a visiting member of a touring San Francisco musical revue.

1969: International Festival Closes

After 11 years, the Vancouver International Festival, debt-ridden, came to an end.

1969: Early Music Society Formed

The Vancouver Early Music Society was formed by Jon Washburn, Ray Nurse, David Skulsky, Hans-Karl Piltz and Cuyler Page. Its purpose was and is “to foster interest in medieval, renaissance, and baroque music.”

1969: The Poppy Family Reach No. 2

Terry Jacks and The Poppy Family had a smash hit (it reached #2 in the US) with Which Way You Goin' Billy?

The Poppy Family, made up of Susan and Terry Jacks, had a number of hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Where Evil Grows, That's Where I Went Wrong and Which Way You Goin' Billy? The latter tune reached No. 1 in Canada and sold 2.5 million copies worldwide.

Susan (born 1948 nee Pesklevits - Saskatoon, Sask), eventually left Terry (Seasons in the Sun) and set off on a solo career that showed promise until problems arose with her record label. Jacks is now a businesswoman in Nashville.

1969: A Banner Year For Film In BC

Film production began here in earnest, with Robert Altman's That Cold Day in the Park. In director Altman's first Vancouver feature, a lonely, delusional spinster (Sandy Dennis) picks up a young drifter (Michael Burns) in Kitsilano's Tatlow Park. Another major production: Robert Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson and Karen Black.
Other movies made locally this year included (comments are by Michael Walsh):
Great Coups of History
Written and directed by Ron Darcus, this told the story of a single mom (Delphine Harvey) who reminisces about a life spent trading on her female charms, while her teenaged daughter (Janie Cassie) struggles with her own budding sexuality.
The Mad Room
Directed by Bernard Girard, this was a remake of 1941's Ladies in Retirement, the story of a lady's companion (Stella Stevens) whose teenaged siblings are suspects in the murder of her employer (Shelley Winters).
The Plastic Mile (aka The Finishing Touch and She's a Woman). Directed by Morrie Ruvinsky. The story of an unhinged director (Jace Vander Veen) who raped his leading lady (Pia Shandel) during the making of his magnum opus, this controversial “art movie” added new sex scenes to each successive version.

1969: Pacific Ballet Established

The Pacific Ballet Theatre was established by Maria Lewis, after a career as a dancer in Montreal and Toronto. The company grew slowly to semi-professional regional status, with a repertoire of small works in classical style. Lewis would be succeeded in 1980 by Kamloops-born Renald Rabu. In 1985 the company would be renamed Ballet British Columbia.

1969: First Community Cable Channel

Vancouver Cablevision (later Rogers Cable) initiated the Lower Mainland's first community cable channel. Radio man Vic Waters, along with partners Dave Liddell and Gerry Rose, operated the service on a shoestring budget—and the attitude was rather casual. Martin Truax, who joined in 1970, recalls Waters getting calls from viewers who said they missed a show: “Vic would say, ‘No problem. I'll just run it again for you right now!’

1969: Promoter Lily Laverock Dies In Obscurity

Lily Laverock
December 2, 1969
Impresario Lily Laverock died in Duncan, about 89. She was born in Edinburgh, c. 1880. She came to Vancouver as a child with her parents. She was the first woman to graduate in moral philosophy from McGill. She was the first woman (1908) employed as a general reporter by a Vancouver newspaper (The World). On October 4, 1909, when the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Women’s Press Club was formed, she was the chief organizer and the first secretary-treasurer. She moved to the News-Advertiser in 1910 and became editor of the women’s page. “Her pen was ever ready in the cause of women's suffrage.” She never married. Quiet, shy, ethereally attractive, she made her greatest contribution to local fame when she became an impresario. An avid arts supporter, she promoted her first Celebrity Concert in 1921. The world-famous performers she brought to the city in the 1920s and 1930s make for an eye-popping list: Kreisler, Heifetz, Melba, Gigli, Casals, Chaliapin, Maurice Ravel at the piano . . . and on and on. She packed the Denman Arena with acts like the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Belgian Royal Symphonic Band. WWII ended her impresario efforts. Today, despite her immense contribution to the city’s cultural life, she’s almost totally forgotten.

1989: Little Orpheum Ackery Dies on Eve of 90th

Ivan (Ivor Frederick) Ackery Movie promoter b. Oct. 30, 1899, Bristol, Eng.; d. Oct. 29, 1989, Vancouver, on the eve of his 90th birthday. Moved to Vancouver in 1914. As manager of the Orpheum Theatre (1935-69), he was known as Mr. Orpheum, Atomic Ack and Little Orpheum Ackery. Promotional stunts earned him two Motion Picture Quigley Awards, the theatre promoters' equivalent of an Oscar. Paraded a cow down Granville with a sign: "There's a great show at the Orpheum and that's no bull." The lane behind the Orpheum is called Ackery Alley. Biblio: Fifty Years on Theatre Row.

From http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/

Read more about Ivan Ackery here...