Christopher Hart (actor)
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Christopher Hart (born 1961) is a Canadian actor and magician, famous for playing Thing, the disembodied hand, in the 1991, 1993, and 1998 movies The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, and Addams Family Reunion.
Early life
Christopher Hart was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, to an English mother and Canadian father. He was raised and educated in Catholic schools in Los Angeles.[1]
At the age of eight he became intrigued after discovering a magic book at the local library. It was at this same time that the television series "The Magician" starring Bill Bixby was on the air and further fueled his passion for magic.[citation needed]
Career
At sixteen, after an extensive audition and interview process, Hart was accepted into the Magic Castle’s elite junior program. As a teenager, he earned extra money working in a cemetery as a grave digger and was nicknamed Lurch due to his tall, lanky frame. Soon realizing that it was a dead-end job, Hart accepted a position demonstrating tricks at Hollywood Magic, the largest West Coast magic shop.[citation needed]
Working in Hollywood gave Hart the opportunity to meet and perform before the likes of Michael Jackson, Johnny Carson, Muhammad Ali, and Harry Anderson. As Hart's reputation grew he soon came to the attention of David Copperfield for whom Hart first worked as a Magic Roadie. Impressed with Hart's knowledge and expertise in the field of magic, Copperfield continued to use him on several more live and television shows, including the Great Wall of China special.[citation needed]
His sleight-of-hand magic has been featured in national television commercials for McDonald's, Honda and RCA. He has twice been awarded "Stage Magician of the Year" by Hollywood's Magic Castle, and Princess Stephanie of Monaco personally awarded him the top prize at the Grand Prix Magique held in Monte Carlo.[citation needed]
Hart is currently performing in TV's Magic Stars at the Golden Cabaret at the Horizon Casino Resort in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.[citation needed]
Filmography
- Addams Family, 1991
- Addams Family Values, 1993
- Idle Hands, 1999
- Angel episode "I Fall to Pieces"
- Quicksilver Highway, 1997
- "Addams Family Reunion", 1998
- One Hand, Left, 1998
- Columbo Goes to the Guillotine, 1989, (magician and warrior)