Beloved TV mentalist The Superb Kreskin, who frequently appeared on The Tonight Present Starring Johnny Carson within the Seventies, has died. He was 89.
His household confirmed the dying in an announcement on social media, writing, “It’s with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of The Superb Kreskin, born George Kresge, on the age of 89. Performing for all of you introduced immense pleasure to his life, and it was one thing he deeply cherished. The household kindly asks for privateness throughout this troublesome time.”
In a follow-up publish, the household wrote, “As Kreskin all the time mentioned on the shut of his exhibits, ‘This isn’t goodbye, however to be continued.’”
As Kreskin all the time mentioned on the shut of his exhibits, “This isn’t goodbye, however to be continued.”
— The Superb Kreskin (@Kreskin) December 11, 2024
Based on his supervisor, Ryan Galway, Kreskin died at his house in Caldwell, New Jersey. A reason for dying was not disclosed.
Born on January 12, 1935, in Montclair, New Jersey, Kreskin was impressed to turn out to be a mentalist by Lee Falk’s cartoon Mandrake the Magician, which incorporates a crime-fighting stage magician. He made his first tv look on The Steve Allen Present in 1964, performing magic methods and illusions.
One in every of Kreskin’s most well-known methods was to seek out his personal paycheck for his present efficiency after asking the viewers to cover it someplace whereas he was escorted off stage. If he couldn’t discover the test, then he wouldn’t be paid for the efficiency.
The Superb Kreskin on Late Night time with Jimmy Fallon; Dana Edelson / © NBC / Courtesy: Everett Assortment
Following his look on The Steve Allen Present, Kreskin grew to become a tv common all through the Seventies, that includes on the likes of The Mike Douglas Present, The Merv Griffin Present, and Reside with Regis and Kathy Lee. Most notably, he appeared 88 occasions on The Tonight Present, and it was Johnny Carson who dubbed him “The Superb Kreskin.”
He additionally hosted The Superb World of Kreskin from 1972 to 1975, which aired on CTV in Canada and was distributed in syndication in the US. A further set of episodes had been produced from 1975 to 1997, billed as The New Kreskin Present.
Whereas Kreskin usually made predictions, he outright denied being a “psychic,” explaining that his expertise merely used the ability of persuasion.
“I’m not a psychic, an occultist or fortune teller. I’m not a thoughts reader, medium or hypnotist. There may be nothing supernatural about something that I do,” he wrote in 1991’s Secrets and techniques of the Superb Kreskin. “I’m a scientist, a researcher within the discipline of suggestion and ‘extrasensory’ perceptions. I carry out what I uncover.”
Kreskin continued to pop up on TV all through the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, making a number of appearances on Late Night time with David Letterman and on The Howard Stern Present. He returned to late-night in 2009 when he made three appearances on Late Night time with Jimmy Fallon.
He continued to carry out in his later years, showing frequently on WPIX in New York Metropolis and yearly on each the Fox Information Channel and CNN to offer his New 12 months’s Day predictions for the approaching 12 months.