David Copperfield

He met supermodel Claudia Schiffer in 1993 and got engaged. However, their relationship unraveled and the couple separated in 1999.

Currently, he is in a relationship with French model Chloe Gosselin. He has one daughter with her.

He founded a rehabilitation program, ‘Project Magic’ in 1982 where magicians and therapists work together to help rehabilitate physically challenged patients.

David Copperfield was born to Jewish parents, Hyman Kotkin and Rebecca Kotkin. His father operated a harberdashery shop while his mother worked as an insurance adjuster.

He was a shy and timid child who began practicing magic tricks to gain confidence. He became known as Davino the Boy Magician in his neighbourhood. As a teenager, he discovered that magic was a good way to attract girls.

At the age of 12, he was admitted to the Society of American Magicians, becoming the youngest person ever to get membership.

He attended Metuchen High School and graduated in 1974.

He was selected to teach a course, ‘The Art of Magic’ at the New York University when he was just 16.

At 18, he was chosen to play the lead in the musical comedy, ‘The Magic Man’. The success of the show instilled in him a love for performing live in front of audiences.

Joseph Cates, a producer of television specials recognized the talents this young man possessed and cast him in a magic special called ‘The Magic of ABC’ in 1977.

The success of his debut show ensured that Copperfield got ample opportunities to star in several other magic show specials. He was signed by CBS for a series of magic television specials titled, ‘The Magic of David Copperfield’ that was broadcast between 1978 and 1998.

The magician presented new and innovative illusions in each of the specials that were simply beyond the audience’s expectations. The fact that he always performed in front of a live audience added to his credibility.

One of his most famous tricks was to make the Statue of Liberty vanish. In the trick he raised a giant curtain on the Liberty Island and lowered it after a few seconds to reveal that the statue had now disappeared.

The illusion ‘Walking through the Great Wall of China’ was performed by him only once. While performing the trick, he appears to enter the wall from one side and emerges through the other side with live audiences being present on both sides of the wall.