Many people believe that John Calvert was the first magician to appear on the Las Vegas Strip.  It's an illusion, too.

Calvert was undoubtedly the first well-known magician, becoming as famous as David Copperfield throughout his more than 80-year career that included Broadway and the Strip.

In 1942, Calvert debuted his "Magicarama" act in the Roundup Room at the El Rancho Vegas, where he used a buzz saw to cut volunteers in half and discharged assistants from cannons.  He then did it at the Dunes in the

1950s until doing it one more time at Gary Darwin's Magic Club in 2008, five years before he passed away at the age of 102.

However, Calvert was beaten to the Strip by Gloria Dea.   On May 14, 1941, she prestidigitated at the Roundup Room as well.

She did two presentations at the age of 19 that featured sleight-of-hand illusions, such as manipulating billiard balls and card tricks.

On August 25, 1922, Dea was born Gloria Metzner in Oakland.  Dea started doing feats at the age of four after being inspired and instructed by her father, an amateur magician who went by the moniker "The Great Leo."

“Miss Dea, a petite magician who performs her rites in tights and a small cape, completely mystified the audience with her legerdemain,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote in its review of her El Rancho debut. “Her concluding trick, wherein a card jumps from a handkerchief into the core of an orange, was the hit of the show.”

Dea performs on an unidentified stage in an undated photograph

Disappeared Into Nothingness

Dea's first performance as a magician was also her last, despite the positive reviews.  Following those two performances, she hung up her magic hat.

Therefore, it's safe to argue that Dea was at least tied for the shortest magic presentation in Las Vegas history, even if Calvert had the longest.

The El Rancho house band played big-band music while she did the rumba between her two magic acts.  She went on to steer her career in the direction of dancing.

Dea appeared in chorus lines when she returned to the Las Vegas stage.  Most famously, she was a showgirl who danced at the Flamingo soon after it opened in 1946.

She then went on to pursue a career in Hollywood, obtaining parts in Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1957) and "King of the Congo" (1952).

Calvert's consistent presence as a headliner on the early Strip, however, overshadowed Dea's contribution to magic in Las Vegas because she never attained recognition.

Dea left the entertainment industry to work for a Chevy dealership in the San Fernando Valley, where she sold vehicles and insurance.  She relocated to Las Vegas in 1980, where she lived under false pretenses with her fourth spouse, fellow auto salesman Sam Anazlone, who passed away in 2022.

Poof, She's Back!

AnnaRose Einarsen rediscovered Dea's story.  The sole reason for this is that in 2021, the Las Vegas magician just so happened to buy a 1940s skirt at a vintage clothes store in downtown Las Vegas.

When she inquired about its origins, the owner informed her that it was a piece from a collection that had been sold to her by a former Hollywood actress and Las Vegas magician.

After Einarsen shared Dea's name with the local magic community, they looked into it and discovered her long-forgotten accomplishment.

David Copperfield became friends with the legend after learning that he lived among him.  The magician debuted the 99-year-old from the stage during his MGM Grand event in October 2021.

There was a standing ovation for Dea.

Dea was also given a Key to the Las Vegas Strip in 2022.  She was admitted into the UNLV College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame a year later.  However, since she had passed away from coronary artery disease just three days prior, on March 18, 2023, the latter accolade was posthumous.

Copperfield was the one who inducted her

“If it weren’t for the people who went out there and really made magic important, I wouldn’t be here,” Copperfield told KVVU-TV/Las Vegas. “And I think what Gloria did was, when she did her act in the show, and got the best review, the door was open for magicians to keep performing here.

“So maybe I owe my career to her.”

A 1941 postcard promotes Dea’s short professional magic career