Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.

Daniels was known for his catchphrase "You'll like this... not a lot, but you'll like it!", and for his marriage to his assistant, Debbie McGee. He was awarded the "Magician of the Year" Award by the Academy of Magical Arts in 1982, the first magician from outside the United States to receive it. He also won the Golden Rose of Montreux in 1985. He was a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star. He has been described as "The Godfather of Magic" and has been repeatedly credited with inspiring many top magicians to start in the profession.

Daniels was outspoken on matters including politics, current affairs, magic, entertainment, and fellow celebrities. Towards the end of his life he also appeared in reality television shows.

Early life

Daniels was born on 6 April 1938 in the South Bank area of Middlesbrough, the son of Handel Newton "Hughie" Daniels and Nancy (née Lloyd). His father was a cinema projectionist at the Hippodrome Theatre After working as a junior clerk and then as an auditor in local government, he joined his parents in their grocery business.

Showbusiness career

Daniels' interest in magic began at the age of 11 when, during a holiday, he read a book called How to Entertain at Parties. He began performing magic as a hobby, occasionally entertaining at parties and youth clubs and later doing shows for fellow servicemen during his national service. After returning to civilian life he continued to develop his magic by performing in clubs in the evenings while working at his grocery business during the day. Paul was a member of the Middlesbrough Circle of Magicians where he developed an act. with his first wife Jackie. under the name of "The Eldani's", an anagram of Daniels. It was while working the clubs that he developed what would become his long-running catchphrase, "You'll like this ... not a lot, but you'll like it." He stated that he first came up with the line at a club in Bradford as a way to deal with a heckler.

A major turning point in Daniels' career came in 1969 when he was offered a summer season in Newquay in Cornwall. He decided to sell his grocery business and try magic as a full-time career. He made his television debut on the long-running talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1970, and came second. Television producer Johnnie Hamp saw Daniels in that show and later gave him a regular spot on a show compèred by Bernard Manning, The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, for Granada Television. His first series for the BBC was For My Next Trick, where Daniels appeared with several other magicians and singer Faith Brown.

Daniels starred in his own stage show, It's Magic, at the Prince of Wales Theatre from 10 December 1980 until 6 February 1982.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1988 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel.

Daniels and McGee were the focus of one of the episodes of the 2001 BBC documentary series When Louis Met..., presented by Louis Theroux, with Daniels additionally appearing on Da Ali G Show in an Ali G costume, and was interviewed by Caroline Aherne in her guise as Mrs Merton. Later that month he appeared with his son, Martin, on episode 9 of the first season of Penn & Teller: Fool Us.

On 10 October 2012, Daniels and McGee appeared on All Star Mr & Mrs on ITV.

In 2008 and 2010, Daniels toured with 'The Best of British Variety Tour', with acts including Cannon and Ball, Christopher Biggins, Frank Carson and The Krankies, where he closed the first half of the show.

In 2013, Daniels and Debbie McGee toured their 'First Farewell Tour', followed by a tour 'comically' entitled 'Back Despite Popular Demand Tour' a year later. They toured 'The Intimate Tour' in 2015 and starred in the pantomime Aladdin at the Regent Theatre, Ipswich from December 2015 until January 2016, completing the run a few days before Daniels was taken ill.

Awards

Daniels was awarded the Zina Bennett trophy from the British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1964, while he was known as Ted Daniels.

Daniels was awarded the Magician of the Year award by the Academy of Magical Arts in 1982, becoming the first magician from outside the US to receive it. An Easter special of The Paul Daniels Magic Show won the Golden Rose of Montreux Award at the International TV Festival in Switzerland in 1985.

Daniels was the recipient of the Maskelyne, awarded for services to British magic by The Magic Circle in 1988.

Daniels was awarded the Devant for services to International Magic by the Magic Circle in 2007, and the Carlton Comedy Award was bestowed upon him in 2012 by the same organization.

Daniels was also given the Great Lafayette Award by the Edinburgh International Magic Festival in 2011.

Politics and other views

Daniels was a supporter of the Conservative Party. He was reported to have considered leaving the UK with the election of a Labour Party government at the 1997 general election. Daniels later said that his views had been misrepresented, and he would only have considered leaving if they raised income tax. Daniels stated that he had limited sympathy with the homeless because he had come from a "very poor" background and "grafted" to achieve his success. Daniels was personally affected by the winter storms of 2013–2014 and described himself in an interview for Channel 4 News as a climate change sceptic, instead attributing flooding to changes in procedures of The Environment Agency, particularly with regard to dredging. He supported the hereditary system in the House of Lords, expressing the view that the aristocracy had "genetic knowledge" that others lacked.

Daniels refused to attend magic conferences in the UK since they "...were ruined for me by bitchiness and jealousy...now I only go to foreign conventions where, to be honest, I am greeted with respect and civility AND I have tons of 'foreign' magician friends." He was dismissive of modern illusionists, once describing David Blaine as "not very original". He commented on other television personalities such as Anne Robinson and Chris Morris, saying that Robinson had hated him ever since his 1987 Halloween special hoax performance,

Personal life

Daniels married his first wife, Jacqueline Skipworth (born 1942), in 1960; she was 17 and he was 21. They had three sons together: Gary, Paul, and magician Martin. All three sons occasionally appeared on The Paul Daniels Magic Show in varying capacities. Daniels's father often made props for the show, such as wooden boxes for the Selbit Sawing illusion, whilst his mother sewed the stage curtains for his theatre tours.

Daniels married his second wife, long-time assistant Debbie McGee, on 2 April 1988 in Buckinghamshire. The couple met in London in May 1979 during rehearsals for Daniels's summer season show in Great Yarmouth that year. McGee went on to work with Daniels in his 1980 summer show in Bournemouth and then his London stage show It's Magic before being offered the role of assistant in his long-running television series. Their relationship gradually became more established, and he proposed in 1987. When they married, he was 50 and she was 29. Early in their marriage, they lived in a house in Denham that once belonged to Roger Moore. In 1998, they moved to a house on the banks of the River Thames in Wargrave, Berkshire.

Daniels's 2000 autobiography, Under No Illusion, includes descriptions of his and McGee's sex life: "I was writing and needed to concentrate, so I had a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on my back. Eventually I went to bed and Debbie was lying stark naked on the bed – eat your heart out fellas! She was wearing the sort of sleeping blindfold you get on long-haul flights. Printed on it was 'Do Not Disturb'. But further down her body she had a sign that said 'Disturb'!" He said that he had a "passionate" encounter with a schoolgirl hitch-hiker in 1969 when he was aged 30, though he ejected her from the car upon realising her age.

Daniels maintained a website that included personal information, a detailed blog, and podcasts.

In 2012, Daniels cut off his left index finger and the tip of his ring finger in an accident with a circular saw, in the garden shed of his Wargrave home. He drove himself from his home to hospital in Henley-on-Thames, where the index finger was reattached.

Health problems and death

On 20 February 2016, Daniels had a fall and was taken to hospital, where he was treated by medical staff for suspected pernicious anemia. It was later discovered that he had an incurable brain tumour. He died less than a month later, on 17 March, at the age of 77, at his home in Wargrave.

References

Bibliography

  • Paul Daniels, Under No Illusion, Blake Publishing (May 2000),
  • Paul Daniels' weblog