The Amazing Kreskin, the famous mentalist and frequent guest on “The Tonight Show,” died on Tuesday at age 89.
His family revealed his passing on social media, asking for privacy.
“Performing for all of you brought immense joy to his life, and it was something he deeply cherished,” they said in a post from Kreskin’s X account.
Kreskin’s friend and former manager, Ryan Galway, said he was “beyond heartbroken,” having worked with Kreskin for the past six years.
“I know you know what I’m still thinking,” he said in a post on Linkedin. “I will miss your stories and seeing you perform on stage.”
Kreskin, whose real name was George Kresge, was born in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1935. He rose to fame in the ’70s through numerous TV appearances on shows including “The Mike Douglas Show,” “The Mervin Griffin Show” and perhaps most notably, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” where he performed 88 times.
His own television show, “The Amazing World of Kreskin,” aired from 1972 to 1975 in Canada and in syndication in the United States.
Kreskin also performed on “Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and the “Howard Stern Show” throughout his career, and made appearances on CNN to make predictions about the New Year. In 1991, he wrote a book called, “Secrets of the Amazing Kreskin.”
In his shows, he would perform mentalist feats like telling audience members he had never met their social security number, license plate number or even the name of a street they lived on.
Galway said that Kreskin was “renowned for his uncanny ability to predict complex events, including multiple Super Bowl outcomes and presidential election results.” One of his most notable predictions was the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLVIII victory, where he accurately forecasted the near-exact score of 43-8 and even predicted that Malcolm Smith would make a significant play.
Perhaps his most memorable routines involved having his audience hide a check at his show and promising that if he couldn’t find it, he wouldn’t be paid that night. Out of all his performances, Kreskin said he lost less than a dozen times.
He would also offer $1 million to any member of his audience who could prove that he was using assistants or hidden devices in his show.
Throughout his six-decade career, Kreskin continued performing well into his 80s, making over 300 appearances annually, Galway said.
“The Amazing Kreskin cared only to perform for all of you,” his family said on X.
They added that there was only “10 more days until his retirement,” referencing Kreskin’s own words in a CBS interview, before his 80th birthday.
When speaking on his retirement, he told CBS, “It’s going to be 10 days after I pass away. I’m one of these rare blessed people. I have a tremendous passion for what I do.”
Before his death, Kreskin had already prepared his own tombstone, which Galway called “a final, dramatic gesture that encapsulated his unique approach to life and entertainment.”
As The Amazing Kreskin said at the end of his shows, “This is not goodbye, but to be continued.”
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