Maurice Rooklyn

On the cover of the Genii 1962 June issue

He was born on March 5, 1905 in London and died on July 22, 1992 (age 87) in Sydney.

Maurice Rooklyn, born in London but raised in Australia, performed the bullet catch as "The Human Target" and became one of Australia's foremost magicians.

By 1912, his family emigrated to Sydney, Australia, where by the age of twelve he was already performing a magic act with his brother, Harry.

Maurice worked on a range of magic and variety acts, including juggling, ventriloquism, card manipulations, mindreading and general magic. By the age of fifteen he left home and performed in many concert parties and traveling troupes.

At the age of 28, Rooklyn had become the President of the Australian Magicians' Club.

On March 2, 1934, he started appearing as "The Human Target" at the New Tivoli Theatre in Sydney performing the Bullet Catch. At his March 8th performance, there was an accident and he was hit in the shoulder by a sliver of bullet casing. A few months later that year, he was also wounded on May 5th at the Hoyts Olympic No.2 Theatre in Bondi by a splinter of a shell case.

In late 1936, Rooklyn departed Australia for a successful three year tour of British theaters, performing a billiards manipulation routine that would became his signature, "A Symphony in Spheres".

Later he toured in Australia, New Zealand and Asia as "The Amazing Mr. Rooklyn" as both a hypnotist and stage illusionist.

Maurice Rooklyn died in 1992 at his home in Sydney.

Awards and honors: Masters Fellowship from Academy of Magical Arts (1984)