Kreskin (aka The Amazing Kreskin), the renowned mentalist who had his own TV programs in the 1970s, has died. He was 89.
Kreskin’s family announced the news in a statement posted on social media on Tuesday. “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of The Amazing Kreskin, born George Kresge, at the age of 89,” the statement reads. “Performing for all of you brought immense joy to his life, and it was something he deeply cherished. The family kindly asks for privacy during this difficult time.”
From 1972 to 1975, Kreskin hosted the television series “The Amazing World of Kreskin,” which was broadcast in Canada on CTV and distributed in syndication in the U.S. He then entertained studio audiences with “The New Kreskin Show” from 1975 to 1977.
In his 1991 book “Secrets of the Amazing Kreskin,” he explained that he is “not a psychic, an occultist or fortune teller. I am not a mind reader, medium or hypnotist. There is nothing supernatural about anything that I do. I am a scientist, a researcher in the field of suggestion and ‘extrasensory’ perceptions. I perform what I discover.”
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Kreskin was born George Joseph Kresge in Montclair, N.J., on Jan. 12, 1935. Lee Falk’s comic strip “Mandrake the Magician,” which focuses on a crime-fighting stage magician, inspired Kreskin to become a mentalist.
Aside from his eponymous TV programs, Kreskin was a frequent guest on several talk shows, including “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “The Merv Griffin Show,” “Late Night With David Letterman,” “The Mike Douglas Show,” “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee” and “The Howard Stern Show.”
He was also the author of “Kreskin’s Fun Way to Mind Expansion” (1984), “Kreskin’s Super Secrets” (1993), “How to Be a Fake Kreskin” (1996), “Conversations With Kreskin” (2012), “In Real Time” (2015) and more.