Dante (Harry August Jansen)
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Harry August Jansen AKA Dante the Magician (1883-1955), was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and settled in Chicago, United States. He travelled the world as a professional magician.
Jansen came to the United States at the age of 6 with his parents. At the age of 16 Jansen made his stage debut under Charles Wagner. He then set off on a world tour for 5 years as the "Great Jansen". In 1922, magician Howard Thurston declared that Jansen should succeed him as the "premier classicist magician in the world." In 1925, Dante the Magician Inc. came into being with Thurston, now retired, as the owner of the title. The long running DANTE show was built and produced by Jansen.
The magician was a well known performer, working in vaudeville and burlesque circuits, films and, in later years, television. Dante and his troupe, consisting of between 25 to 40 performers, made several global trips and appeared in many U.S. theaters. His stage trademark was to utter three nonsense words: “Sim Sala Bim,” during his performances to acknowledge applause.
Dante retired in the late 1940s. He died at his Northridge ranch of a heart attack at the age of 71.
