John Calvert, 1911-2013

[Fedya]

The death has been announced of magician [John Calvert|http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2013/09/john-calvert-dies-at-102.html], at the age of 102. Calvert was first and foremost a magician, but he played the Falcon in several of the films in the series in the late 1940s/early 1950s, as well as serving as a technical advisor for the illusions performed by Jack Palance in *The Silver Chalice*. (Calvert told the story of how he offered condolences to Paul Newman because *The Silver Chalice* bombed, only for Newman to remind him of this a couple of years later, after *Somebody Up There Likes Me* made Newman a star.)

 

Calvert continued to perform magic into his late 90s, and was the subject of a documentary produced by his son, called *John Calvert: His Magic and Adventures*. Those adventures included piloting a plane with the crew of his magic show, and surviving a crash of that plane; as well as taking his yacht across the Pacific to perform in Southeast Asia. He escaped pirates there, and met his wife.