Ricky Jay
Ricky Jay (born June 26, 1946 as Richard Jay Potash in New York City , † November 24, 2018 in Los Angeles ) was an American magician , actor and author, and an expert on the history of magic and freak show attractions.
Life
Jay was born in Brooklyn , New York in 1946 and is known as a magician specializing in card art , card- cheating , card-throwing , closeup - and mental magic . He also worked as a consultant and actor. The playwright and director David Mamet directed two of his live shows ( Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem ) and also cast him in many of his films. Jay has also worked with other independent directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Gus Van Sant . He has been frequently cast in films related to trickery or sorcery. One of his best-known roles was that of the henchman Henry Gupta in Tomorrow Never Dies . The scenes in which he uses his card tossing trick are not included in the final theatrical version of the film. His work as a film and television actor includes almost 40 productions.
Jay was involved in a trick props consultancy that included a. contributed to Forrest Gump . For years he acted as curator of the Mulholland Library of Conjuring and Allied Arts , which dates back to the American magician John Mulholland , until it was bought by David Copperfield in 1991 . He is a co-founder of the Conference on Magic History , has worked on documentaries on the art of magic and has produced corresponding contributions for radio shows.
Jay long held the world record in card throwing listed in the Guinness Book of Records . With the appropriate throwing technique, he was able to use playing cards to pierce watermelon peel, among other things . The title of his corresponding book Cards as Weapons is therefore self-deprecating . He died in Los Angeles in November 2018 at the age of 72.
Filmography (selection)
- 1982: A Midsummer Night's Dream (TV) - Director: Emile Ardolino
- 1987: House of Games - Director: David Mamet
- 1988: Things Change -… the way to happiness (Things Change) - Director: David Mamet
- 1991: Homicide - Homicide (Homicide) - Director: David Mamet
- 1995: The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky (TV) - directed by John Kent Harrison
- 1997: The Spanish Prisoner (The Spanish Prisoner) - Director: David Mamet
- 1997: Boogie Nights - Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- 1997: Tomorrow Never Dies (Tomorrow Never Dies) - Director: Roger Spottiswoode
- 1999: Magnolia - Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- 1999: Mystery Men - Director: Kinka Usher
- 2000: The X-Files - Episode 7X08: The Incredible Maleeni (TV) - Director: Thomas J. Wright
- 2000: State and Main - Directed by David Mamet
- 2001: Heist - The Last Coup (Heist) - Director: David Mamet
- 2001: Heartbreakers - Director: David Mirkin
- 2003: MythBusters - Die Wissensjäger ( MythBusters ; TV)
- 2004: Deadwood (TV)
- 2004: Incident at Loch Ness - Director: Zak Penn
- 2005: Last Days - Director: Gus Van Sant
- 2006: Prestige - The Master of Magic (The Prestige) - Director: Christopher Nolan
- 2006–2007: Kidnapped - 13 Days of Hope (Kidnapped)
- 2007: The Unit ( The Unit ; TV)
- 2008: The Great Buck Howard (The Great Buck Howard) - Director: Sean McGinly
- 2008: Redbelt - Director: David Mamet
- 2008: Brothers Bloom (The Brothers Bloom) - Director: Rian Johnson
- 2009–2010: FlashForward (TV series, 3 episodes)
- 2014: Getting On - Nasty Old Bones (TV series, 1 episode)
- 2015: The Automatic Hate
- 2019: Sneaky Pete (TV series, 7 episodes)
Documentaries:
- 1996: Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants - Directed by David Mamet
- 1996. Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters and Ricky Jay - Directed by Rex Bloomstein
- 2012: Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay - Directed by Molly Bernstein
bibliography
- Cards As Weapons. New York 1977. ISBN 0-88201-017-4 , (Reprint edition: New York 1988. ISBN 0-446-38756-8 )
- Crazy & fireproof: people, animals, show business sensations, stone eaters, fire kings, mind readers, escape artists and other devils. Edition Volker Huber, Offenbach 1988, ISBN 3-921785-50-2 .
- Many Mysteries Unraveled, or, Conjuring Literature in America, 1786–1874. Worcester 1990, ISBN 0-944026-22-2 , (with Georgia Brady Barnhill and Sally Levinson).
- Jay's Journal of Anomalies: Conjurers, Cheats, Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters, Impostors, Pretenders, Sideshow Showmen, Armless Calligraphers, Mechanical Marvels, Popular Entertainments. New York 2001, ISBN 0-374-17867-4 , (Paperback: New York 2003, ISBN 1-59372-000-9 ).
- Dice: Deception, Fate & Rotten Luck. New York 2002, ISBN 0-9714548-1-7 , (Paperback: ISBN 1-59372-002-5 ).
- Extraordinary Exhibitions: The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head, The Whimsiphusicon & Death to the Savage Unitarians. New York 2005. ISBN 1-59372-012-2 .
- Matthias Buchinger: The Greatest German Living. New York 2016. ISBN 978-1-938221-12-5 .
Web links
- Official website
- Ricky Jay in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Literature by and about Ricky Jay in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://variety.com/2018/film/obituaries-people-news/ricky-jay-dead-dies-magician-boogie-nights-1203035879/
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Jay, Ricky |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Potash, Richard Jay (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American magician, actor, and author |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 26, 1946 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
DATE OF DEATH | November 24, 2018 |
Place of death | Los Angeles , California |