Harry August Jansen

{{Short description|American magician (1883–1955)}} {{Redirect|Sim Sala Bim|the musical album|Simsalabim|the magic word|magic word#Invocations of magic}}

{{Infobox person | name = Harry August Jansen | image = Harry August Jansen, known as Dante.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Harry August Jensen | birth_date = {{Birth date|1883 |10|3}} | birth_place = Copenhagen, Denmark | death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|6|15|1883 |10|3}} | death_place = Northridge, California, U.S. | nationality = | other_names = {{hlist|Dante the Magician|The Great Jansen}} | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = Magician | title = | height = | party = | boards = | spouse = {{marriage|Edna Herr|1905}} | partner = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | footnotes = }}

'''Harry August Jansen''' (born '''Jensen'''; October 3, 1883 – June 15, 1955)<ref name="Truitt1977">{{cite book |author=Evelyn Mack Truitt |title=Who was who on screen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8LsYAAAAIAAJ |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=July 1977 |publisher=Bowker |isbn=978-0-8352-0914-4 |page=110}}</ref> was a Danish-born American entertainer who traveled the world as a professional magician under the name '''Dante the Magician'''.<ref name=latimesobit/><ref name=nytobit/>

==Biography== Harry August Jensen was born on October 3, 1883, in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the age of 6, Jansen came to St. Paul, Minnesota, in the United States, with his family.<ref name="Christopher1991">{{cite book |author=Milbourne Christopher |title=Magic: A Picture History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5X5qlkwZo9oC&pg=PA197 |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=23 September 1991 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=978-0-486-26373-1 |page=197}}</ref>

At the age of 16, Jansen made his stage debut under Charles Wagner.<ref>{{cite book |author=David Price |title=Magic: a pictorial history of conjurers in the theater |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PuBAAAAMAAJ |access-date=1 October 2010 |year=1985 |publisher=Cornwall Books |isbn=978-0-8453-4738-6 |page=279}}</ref> He then set off on a world tour for five years as The Great Jansen. In 1922, magician Howard Thurston, realizing Jansen's talent and possible competition to him, engaged Jansen to star in the #2 Thurston show. Thurston gave Jansen the stage name of Dante.<ref name="Room2010">{{cite book |author=Adrian Room |title=Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSIhzKnNUf4C&pg=PA132 |access-date=1 October 2010 |year=2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-4373-4 |page=132}} </ref><ref name="Inge1989">{{cite book |author=M. Thomas Inge |title=Handbook of American popular culture |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofameric01inge |url-access=registration |access-date=1 October 2010 |year=1989 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-25406-2 |page=680}}</ref> The name came from the original Dante, Oscar Eliason (1869–1899),<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sydneymagic.net/eliason/oe-afterdante.html | title = OSCAR ELIASON - After Dante | access-date = 2010-10-02 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724090332/http://www.sydneymagic.net/eliason/oe-afterdante.html | archive-date = 2011-07-24 }}</ref> who had been killed in a tragic hunting accident in Australia years earlier.<ref>{{cite book |author=David Price |title=Magic: a pictorial history of conjurers in the theater |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PuBAAAAMAAJ |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=May 1985 |publisher=Cornwall Books |isbn=978-0-8453-4738-6 |page=159 }}</ref> In 1925, Dante the Magician Inc. came into being with Thurston as co-owner.<ref name="HaddenLuce1940">{{cite news |author1=Briton Hadden |author2=Henry Robinson Luce |title=Time |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sc8LAQAAIAAJ |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=July 1, 1940 |publisher=Time Inc. |page=41}}</ref> The 2nd unit Thurston show was built and co-produced by Jansen.

Dante was known throughout the world under the name Dante the Magician, working in vaudeville, burlesque, legitimate theatre, films, and in later years, television.<ref name="Truitt1974">{{cite book |author=Evelyn Mack Truitt |title=Who was who on screen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CuVkAAAAMAAJ |access-date=2 October 2010 |year=1974 |publisher=R. R. Bowker Co. |isbn=978-0-8352-0719-5 |page=79}}</ref> Dante and his troupe, consisting of between 25 and 40 performers, made several global trips and appeared in many U.S. theaters. His stage trademark was to utter three nonsense words, "Sim Sala Bim"<ref name="Conley2008">{{cite book |author=Craig Conley |title=Magic Words: A Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SB60Wavy6MC&pg=PA299 |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=1 October 2008 |publisher=Weiser |isbn=978-1-57863-434-7 |page=305}}</ref> (adapted from the lyrics of the Danish children's song ''{{ill|Højt på en gren en krage|da|preserve=preserve}},'' which contains the nonsense words ''simsaladim bamba saladu saladim''),<ref>{{cite book |author=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |title=Billboard |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_rgwEAAAAMBAJ |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=28 August 1943 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_rgwEAAAAMBAJ/page/n17 18] |issn=0006-2510}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU2x1W6trAk | title = YouTube - Højt På En Gren En Krage - Danish Children's song | website = YouTube | access-date = 2010-10-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se1xQvGPcv4 | title = YouTube - KRAUKA - Højt på en gren en krage (2010) | website = YouTube | date = 28 June 2010 | access-date = 2010-10-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pAxaiQFcH8 | title = YouTube - Hoejt paa en gren en Krage | website = YouTube | date = 21 April 2008 | access-date = 2010-10-01}}</ref> during his performances to acknowledge applause.<ref>{{cite book |title=New York theatre critics' reviews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yz4UAAAAIAAJ |access-date=1 October 2010 |year=1940 |publisher=Critics' Theatre Reviews, inc. |page=249}}</ref> He can be seen using these words in the Swedish 1931 feature ''Dantes mysterier''<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021783/ | title = Dantes mysterier (1931) - IMDb | website = IMDb | access-date = 2010-10-02}}</ref> (''Dante's Mysteries'')<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMNPqVPV414 | title = YouTube - Dante's Mysteries | website = YouTube | access-date = 2010-10-02}}</ref> and in the 1942 Laurel and Hardy comedy ''A-Haunting We Will Go''.<ref name="Institute1971">{{cite book |author=American Film Institute |title=The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRY0QiacQccC&pg=PA4 |access-date=1 October 2010 |year=1971 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21521-4 |page=4}}</ref> Dante<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conley |first=Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SB60Wavy6MC&dq=simsalabim+dante&pg=PA305 |title=Magic Words: A Dictionary |date=2008-10-01 |publisher=Weiser Books |isbn=978-1-60925-050-8 |language=en}}</ref> Though other magicians like Kalanag have claimed to have invented the phrase.

Dante also appeared as himself in ''Racket Busters'' (1938), ''A-Haunting We Will Go'' (1942), and ''Bunco Squad'' (1950),<ref name="randi">{{Cite book |last=Randi |first=James |title=Conjuring |date=1992 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-08634-2 |location=New York |oclc=26162991|author-link=James Randi}}</ref>{{rp|126}} and played a character role in Jean Renoir's ''The Golden Coach'' (1952).

In 1940 he produced and starred the Broadway<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=1011 | title = Sim Sala Bim / IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information | access-date = 2010-10-02}}</ref> revue ''Sim Sala Bim''<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL2c6XxFpUc | title = YouTube - Dante - Sim Sala Bim | website = YouTube | access-date = 2010-10-02 | date = 1940-09-09}}</ref> on the Morosco Theatre.<ref name="MantleChapman1941">{{cite book |author1=Burns Mantle |author2=John Arthur Chapman |author3=Garrison P. Sherwood |author4=Louis Kronenberger |title=Burns Mantle Yearbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MUQAAAAIAAJ |access-date=2 October 2010 |year=1941 |publisher=Dodd, Mead |page=378}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=New York theatre critics' reviews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yz4UAAAAIAAJ |access-date=1 October 2010 |year=1940 |publisher=Critics' Theatre Reviews, inc. |page=284}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Time Inc |title=LIFE |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LEoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116 |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=14 October 1940 |publisher=Time Inc |page=116 |issn=0024-3019}}</ref> With television, the public stayed home more often, and the world of variety theatre suffered drastically.<ref name="Inc.1943">{{cite book |author=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |title=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WAwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT22 |access-date=2 October 2010 |date=21 August 1943 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |page=22 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> As a result, Dante retired to Southern California in the late 1940s.

He died at his ranch in Northridge, California, of a heart attack, at the age of 71.<ref name=latimesobit>{{cite news |title=Dante, 'King of Magicians,' Dies at Home |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/524500662.html?dids=524500662:524500662&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Jun+17%2C+1955&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Dante%2C+%27King+of+Magicians%2C%27+Dies+at+Home&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201111413/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/524500662.html?dids=524500662:524500662&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Jun+17,+1955&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Dante,+'King+of+Magicians,'+Dies+at+Home&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 17, 1955 |access-date=2009-02-10 }}</ref><ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |title=Harry Jansen, Protege of Thurston Dies. Veteran Entertainer Used Stage Name of Dante. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/18/archives/harry-ojtl-protege-of-thurston-dies-veteran-entertainerused-stage.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 18, 1955 |access-date=2009-02-10 }}</ref> He was alone at the time of his death.

==Legacy==

With Dante's death, what historically has been known as the "Golden Age of Magic" came to an end. Gone were the variety theaters of the world, and with it were the large traveling magic productions that had thrilled and mystified millions for generations. In prior decades, the magical lineage created by the American public had elevated magicians Alexander Herrmann, Harry Kellar, Thurston and Dante to the position of the #1 magician in the country.

Shortly before Dante's death, he approached a young magician, Lee Grabel, to be his successor in the lineage of great magicians.<ref name="Bouffard2008">{{cite book |author=Psy D Ph D James Charles Bouffard |title=The Magician's Fight! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vtctgq6hc7kC&pg=PA127 |access-date=1 October 2010 |date=6 March 2008 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-615-19358-8 |page=127}}</ref> Plans were underway at the time of Dante's death. However, because Dante died before making a public announcement, some magical historians believe the lineage ended with Dante. This magician has since chosen a Las Vegas headliner magician, Lance Burton to be his successor, therefore carrying on the tradition of the magical lineage to another generation. Despite this, its authenticity is still questioned by some.

In 1991, magic historian Phil Temple published the definitive biography of Dante the Magician, ''Dante - The Devil Himself'', based largely on Dante's personal records, and Temple's friendship with surviving family members who had toured with the show decades earlier.

Years later, a memoir about life on the road with the Dante show was written by Marion Trikosko, who spent two years with Dante as an assistant. His book, ''Trouping with Dante'', was published in 2006.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

*{{cite book |author=Phil Temple |title=Dante: the devil himself |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4XpSHQAACAAJ |access-date=2 October 2010 |year=1991 |publisher=P. Temple}} *{{cite book |author=Marion S. Trikosko |title=Trouping With Dante: Travels With Dante's Sim Sala Bim in the Golden Age of Big Illusion Shows |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rO7pAAAACAAJ |access-date=2 October 2010 |date=31 July 2006 |publisher=Squash Publishing |isbn=978-0-9744681-4-3}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0200580}} *{{Find a Grave|14262516}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Harry August}} Category:1883 births Category:1955 deaths Category:American magicians Category:Danish emigrants to the United States Category:People from Copenhagen Category:American vaudeville performers