The Amazing Kreskin, famed mentalist and entertainer, dies at 89
NEW YORK - JUNE 14: The Amazing Kreskin attends the 2010 Urban Community Services Giving Green Benefit at the Prince George Ballroom on June 14, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Dario Cantatore/Getty Images)
George Joseph Kresge Jr., known to generations of TV watchers as the mesmerizing entertainer and mentalist The Amazing Kreskin, has died at age 89.
His friend and former road manager, Ryan Galway, confirmed to news outlets that Kreskin died Tuesday at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey, where he spent much of his life.
Galway did not provide additional details.
Inspired by the crime-fighting comic book character Mandrake the Magician, Kreskin launched his television career in the 1960s and remained popular for decades, making guest appearances on talk shows hosted by everyone from Merv Griffin to Johnny Carson to Jimmy Fallon.
Fans would welcome, if not entirely figure out, his favorite mind tricks — whether correctly guessing a playing card chosen at random, or, most famously, divining where his paycheck had been planted among the audience. He also hosted his own show in the 1970s, gave live performances and wrote numerous books, including "Secrets of the Amazing Kreskin" and "Mental Power Is Real."
Although he was a talk show regular, one host wasn't amused by a Kreskin stunt. In 2002, he claimed that a UFO would appear over Las Vegas on the night of June 2, and added that he would donate $50,000 to charity if he was wrong. Hundreds of people gathered in the desert, in vain. Kreskin acknowledged to radio personality Art Bell that his prediction was a hoax, a way of proving that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the year before had made people susceptible to manipulation. Bell called the ruse "lame, lame, lame" and banned him from his show.