Charles Joseph Carter (June 14, 1874 – February 13, 1936) was an American stage magician, also known as Carter the Great. Biography He was born on June 14, 1874 in New Castle, Pennsylvania and developed an interest in magic from a young age. Carter's first theatrical experience occurred at the Herzog's museum and Pat Harris' Masonic Temple in Baltimore at the age of 10, where he appeared as "Master Charles Carter the Original Boy Magician". Due to stiff competition from the number of magic acts on the American stages at the time, Carter opted to pursue his career abroad, where he gained fame. Among the highlights of Carter's stage performances during his career were the classic "sawing a woman in half" illusion (an elaborate surgical-themed version with "nurses" in attendance), making a live elephant disappear and "cheating the gallows", where a shrouded Carter would vanish, just as he dropped at the end of a hangman's noose. He was also known for devising acts that were inspired by recent events that captured the public's imagination, such as the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 or John Dillinger's famous jailbreak in 1934. In 1894 he met his future wife, Corrine, whom he married and included in his show. A year later, his son, Lawrence, who would eventually take over the act after his death, was born. Around the beginning of the century, Carter decided to settle down in Chicago along with his wife and son, his first major break from touring. During this time he tried to get a series of different business ventures up and running, such as an entertainment agency called The National Theatrical Exchange and his trade magazine called The Chicago Footlights, with various levels of success. During this time, he also enrolled in law school, from which he graduated in 1905. In 1907 he set off again on a world tour that took him and his family to Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Italy and beyond for three years. He would continue to tour the world with only short respites in the United States until 1917, completing seven world tours in this time. Because of his elaborate live shows, he had to travel everywhere with a lot of equipment, which at one point reached the weight of 31 tons. According to some sources, it was this heavy equipment of his that lead to him being