HELLER, ROBERT

original name William Henry Palmer born c. 1830, , England died Nov. 28, 1878, Philadelphia British-born magician who popularized conjuring in the United States. Trained as a musician, Heller turned to magic after he saw a performance by the French magician Robert-Houdin in 1848. Heller settled in the United States, where he found success as a magician in the 1860s. At first an imitator of his more famous contemporaries, Heller eventually emerged as an entertaining and witty performer whose most famous act was a second-sight (mind-reading) presentation.