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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Gloria Dea, credited as the first magician to perform on what would become the Las Vegas Strip in the early 1940s, has died . She is 100 years old.
Dea died Saturday at her Las Vegas residence, said LaNae Jenkins, director of clinical services at Valley Hospice and one of Dea’s caregivers. A memorial is being planned.
Dea also appeared in several films in the 1940s and 1950s, including 1952’s “King of the Congo” starring Buster Crabbe.
Dea moved to Las Vegas from California in 1980. Famed magician David Copperfield befriended her later in life, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“Gloria is fantastic. She’s funny and engaging,” Copperfield told the paper. “She started it all as a young magician in Vegas. It was an honor to know her.”
Dea was 19 years old when he performed at El Rancho Vegas on May 14, 1941.
Her performance at the Roundup Room was the Las Vegas magician’s debut, the Review-Journal reported Sunday.
“There really wasn’t a Las Vegas Strip back then,” Dea told the paper on her 100th birthday last August. “We had the Last Frontier and El Rancho Vegas. They were just starting to build the Flamingo.”
Dea did magic that night and all that.
“I danced too. I did the rumba because it was hard to keep setting up all my magic,” Dia said.
After moving to California, Dia appeared in several films, including “Mexico” in 1945 and “Project 9 From Outer Space” in 1957.
“I went to a Saturday matinee, for the kids,” she said. “‘Project 9 From Outer Space’ is the worst movie ever made. …but I had a lot of fun doing it.”
But it marked the end of Dea’s entertainment career. She sold insurance at a dealership in the San Fernando Valley, then sold new and used cars, becoming a top rep.
According to the Review-Journal, Dea is an only child and does not have any immediate family members. Her husband, Sam Anzalone, a former California auto sales executive, died in January 2022.
Dea was scheduled to be inducted into the UNLV Academy of Fine Arts Hall of Fame Tuesday night.
Those plans will go ahead as planned; Dea will be presented by Copperfield in a presentation ahead of the full plan.
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