Dante

Danish-born Harry August Jansen was not the first magician to don the sobriquet 'Dante the Magician' -- that honour belonged to fellow Scandinavian Oscar Eliason (born in Utah to Mormon parents). Eliason, invariably attired in courtly dress, performed stage illusions, including the spirit-cabinet act, touring the United States, Mexico, Canada and Australia as early as the 1890's. He was at the peak of his popularity when he took a fatal bullet to the abdomen during a hunting trip in South Africa after a gun discharged accidentally. The second Dante was the famous one. Harry Jansen was understudy to Howard Thurston in the 1920's and adopted the moniker on the advice of his mentor. He took Thurston's magic show on a world tour and was still overseas performing to captivated audiences when Thurston died in 1936. The name of Dante's lavishly produced show was 'Sim Sala Bim' (a nonsense phrase from an old Danish song and Dante's trademark line).