There can be few people who are hailed as both 'Britain's greatest magician' and a pioneer who brought moving pictures to UK audiences.
David Devant - who is honoured with a heritage blue plaque at his former flat in Ornan Court, Belsize Park - was a trailblazer in both magic and early cinema.
Born David Edmonston Wighton in 1868, Devant was also the founding president of The Magic Circle - a society for stage magicians who famously kept the secrets of the world's greatest illusions.
He is also credited with transforming stage magic into an elegant, witty theatrical art form.
Devant’s famous catchphrase was "all done by kindness", a reflection of his suave and charming stage persona.
An inventive performer, he created a number of baffling illusions including the Mascot Moth, in which a winged assistant appeared to vanish into a candle flame and the Magic Kettle, which produced, on demand, any alcoholic beverage called for by the audience.
One story that hit the headlines was when Devant was accosted by an escaped mental health patient in London who insisted that the conjurer pull coins from the air.
Devant did so until attendants arrived from the hospital to take his disturbed spectator away.
Another trick in which he read a message inside a sealed envelope tricked audiences into believing he was psychic or clairvoyant.
As a member of the Maskelyne & Cook company, Devant performed regularly at London’s Egyptian Hall, and he eventually became a partner in the business in 1905.
It was here that he made one of his most significant contributions to entertainment history by introducing moving images to the UK.
He personally acquired a Theatrograph projector from film pioneer Robert Paul and took the bold step of demonstrating motion pictures on March 19, 1896, at the Egyptian Hall.
This event marked the first public screening of a film in the UK, predating Paul’s own commercial screenings at Olympia by two days.
Devant expanded his film work, offering private screenings at homes for a fee of 25 guineas and incorporating the Theatrograph into his touring magic shows across Britain.
Devant also appeared in several of Muswell Hill-based Paul’s early films, including The Mysterious Rabbit and The Egg Laying Man in 1896.
He traded early cinematic equipment and films with the French magician and special effects pioneer Georges Méliès, and appeared in one of Méliès’ filmed magic acts.
Devant was a frequent traveller to Paris in search of new French films which were among the best in the world.
Somehow he found time to co-write the book Our Magic and produced several instructional manuals on conjuring.
As an Edwardian celebrity he appeared in the first Royal Command Performance in 1912 and donated material that formed the basis of The Magic Circle’s library and museum.
In 1904 he married Annie Maria Gosling, who performed under the stage name Marion Melvill and assisted him in his stage illusions - and they had one daughter named Vida, who occasionally joined him on stage.
In tribute to his achievements, the Circle awards an annual prize in his name and has a bronze sculpture at its Euston headquarters depicting one of his best-known tricks involving a boy, a girl, and some eggs.
Devant was still at the peak of his profession when his health began to fail during the First World War and suffering from what he called 'paralysis agitans' he was forced to retire in 1920.
He died in 1941 and is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
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