Broken Wand
MICHAEL ELLIS 1917-2008
Past International President of the I.B.M.

Mike Ellis was one of the few people in magic whose biography cannot begin: "He was captured by magic when an uncle gave him a magic set for his 8th birthday." He was 60 years old when he happened to note, in a local paper, that Magic was to be taught at the Boynton Beach Adult Education Center for two hours every Wednesday night for ten weeks. He told his wife he thought he'd look into that: it might be fun. (read more...)

It was fun. It also changed his whole life. Ellis was born in Philadelphia on October 25, 1917, but grew up in Wilkes- Barre, where he attended a local public elementary school and a nearby preparatory school, Wyoming Seminary. From there he went off to join the class of 1939 at Dartmouth College, where he majored in French, a ploy which enabled him to spend his junior year in France.

After college, he entered the world of the theatre, where he spent 35 years, with time out for 3 years. 2 months and 11 days in the Air Force as a Criminal Investigator, mostly on Saipan. Although weaned on the Johnson & Smith catalogue, it never occurred to him it had anything to do with magic. When he went overseas in 1944, he took Tarbell I with him. It began with coins, and he was helpless in face of the instructions.

After the war, he made his Broadway debut as an actor in "The Duchess of Malfr'. which starred Elizabeth Bergner and  John Carradine. In 1946, he became assistant stage manager of "Finian's Rainbow".

By the time he left the theatre, he had been actor, stage manager or producer of 12 Broadway shows and 3 off-Broadway. One of these was "Come Blow Your Horn". Neil Simon's first play and first hit. He owned the Bucks County- Playhouse in the 50's and 60's and. by latest count, was involved here and elsewhere in the production of more than 250 plays. In 1962, he won The Margo Jones Award for having done the most for new playwrights in the United States. In the same year he was a judge at the Miss America Contest..

Ellis apparently first came to the notice of the magic world when he and Chip Gronauer produced the 1982 Florida State Convention. He thought he was doing a Broadway show and the results permanently changed the nature of that annual Convention as well as his own life. In 1984 he was invited to join the I.B.M. Board of Trustees as an elected member of the Executive Committee.

He was elected in 1985. With his election, Ellis was named Chairman of the Membership Committee. He was appointed chairman of the Public Relations Committee and a member of the Museum Planning Committee in 1986. He was named Director of Protocol in 1987. He was elected International Vice President in 1988 and President-Elect in 1989. He has served all his offices and appointive posts with dedication.

Mike's wife, Michael, died in 1986. He married again to the former Betty Lou Rose. Between them, they had four children, two his and two hers.

Mike talents and dedication to the International Brotherhood of Magicians will be missed.

[information edited from the July, 1990 Linking Ring story]

An additional obiturary from the Florida News & Observer can be found on this link