{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Robert Merlini''' (born Robert Robbins; 1926&ndash;1964) was an Australian illusionist, stage performer and television performer.<ref name="Magic">{{cite web|title=Robbins Magic Collection|url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/research-and-collections-significant-collections/robbins-magic-collection|website=State Library of New South Wales|access-date=18 January 2017|language=en|date=16 July 2015}}</ref> He was the first Australian magician to appear on television<ref name="cook">{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/archive/news/magic-moments/news-story/ca60d47ba0e7750d5b7516795f8d309f|title=Magic moments|date=February 18, 2008|first=Frank|last=Cook|work=Daily Telegraph}}</ref> and was a collector of magic books and memorabilia.

==Early life== He was born in Sydney on 21 August 1926, to Herbert Robbins and Mary Anne Elizabeth (Polly) Robbins.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Magic, Mayhem, Merlini and Me|last=Robbins Greenland|first=Margaret|publisher=Margaret D. Robbins Greenland|year=2007|isbn=9780958116435|location=Sydney|pages=17}}</ref> At the age of 14 he was the youngest magician to perform at the ''Tivoli Theatre'' in Sydney.

==Career== thumb|Robert Merlini performing a magic show.Robbins used the stage name of ‘Robert Merlini’.<ref name="magic">{{Citation | author1=Greenland, Margaret Robbins | author2=McCudden, Lynn | title=Magic, mayhem, Merlini and me | year=2007 | publication-date=2007 | publisher=L. McCudden | isbn=978-0-9581164-3-5 }}</ref> Merlini studied with another notable Australian magician, The Great Levante (Leslie George Cole), a Gold Star awarded performer and fellow of the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood.<ref name="Robbins collection">{{cite web|title=Robbins Magic Collection|url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/research-and-collections-significant-collections/robbins-magic-collection|website=State Library of NSW|access-date=20 July 2017|language=en-AU|date=16 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Blackmore, Kent | title=Levante : his life, no illusion | year=1997 | publication-date=1997 | publisher=Mike Caveney's Magic Words | isbn=978-0-915181-29-2 }}</ref> Performances of magic have a long history in Australia, with the first magic shows taking place on the gold fields.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Concise companion to theatre in Australia|last=Parsons|first=Philip|date=1997|publisher=Currency Press|isbn=0868194999|edition=Rev. and abridged from "Companion to theatre in Australia."|location=Sydney|pages=164|oclc=37911150}}</ref>

Robbins was in the Australian Occupation Forces in Japan when World War II ended and joined English performer Gracie Fields and her troupe entertaining the forces.<ref name="cook"/>

Using his stage name, Merlini corresponded with Oscar Oswald the magic dealer and editor of Magical Digest .<ref>{{Citation | author1=Robbins, R.B. (Robert B.) | author2=Oswald, Oscar | author3=Magical Mart | title=[Robert Merlini correspondence, Mar. 14, 1960] | publication-date=1960 | publisher=London | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/32013903 | access-date=18 January 2017 }}</ref> Throughout his career Merlini built a substantial collection of more than 900 books and pamphlets about magic dating from 1799 to 1962<ref name="Robbins collection"/><ref name="Magicpedia">{{cite web|title=Robert Merlini - Magicpedia|url=https://www.geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=R._B._Robbins|website=www.geniimagazine.com|access-date=20 July 2017|language=en}}</ref> building on an extensive collection of texts relating to magic which he acquired from The Great Levante in the early 1960s. Now known as the Robbins Collection of Stage Magic, the collection "contains around 900 books, trade catalogues, pamphlets, posters and serials".<ref name="Magic" /><ref>{{cite web|title=The R. B. Robbins collection of stage magic and conjuring|url=http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/blogs/r-b-robbins|website=State Library of NSW|access-date=21 July 2017|language=en-AU|date=24 July 2015}}</ref>

Appearing as Merlini, Robbins was the first hypnotist to perform live on Australian television in 1957.<ref name="Robbins collection"/> He appeared in television programs including ''Cafe Continental'', ''Review 61'' and ''Review 62'' and made several appearances on ''In Melbourne Tonight'' with Graham Kennedy.<ref name="Magicpedia"/>

==Personal life== Robbins was married to Margaret Robbins and they had three children, Denise, David and Graham. Robbins died on 8 January 1964, aged 37.<ref name="cook"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlini, Robert}} Category:1929 births Category:1964 deaths Category:Australian magicians Category:Australian collectors Category:Entertainers from Sydney