Television
When television rose in popularity in the 1950s, it became increasingly difficult to keep the live performances going as most people were inclined to stay home and watch TV. Live shows were getting canceled more and more frequently. In 1951, Mandrake bought the rights to former magician Alexander's material and reinvented his image. He started a television show as mentalist "Alexander." He had a series of programs entitled "Alexander the Great" which performed out of Portland, Oregon for 36 weeks and Richland, Washington for 20 weeks in 1955 - 1956. In the 1963, Mandrake made another attempt at TV. This time as himself, performing with Velvet before a live audience on CBC's "Mandrake Special." In 1970, Mandrake was on CBC television series "The Manipulators" and in 1977, he played himself on an episode of "The Beachcombers."
Read more about this topic: Leon Mandrake
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“There was a girl who was running the traffic desk, and there was a woman who was on the overnight for radio as a producer, and my desk assistant was a woman. So when the world came to an end, we took over.”
—Marya McLaughlin, U.S. television newswoman. As quoted in Women in Television News, ch. 3, by Judith S. Gelfman (1976)
“There is no question but that if Jesus Christ, or a great prophet from another religion, were to come back today, he would find it virtually impossible to convince anyone of his credentials ... despite the fact that the vast evangelical machine on American television is predicated on His imminent return among us sinners.”
—Peter Ustinov (b. 1921)