Christopher Hart (actor)

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Christopher Hart
Christopher Hart (magician), screenshot and cropped, LA Talk Radio (May 2016).png
Hart in 2016
Occupations
Years active1989–present
Notable work Thing in The Addams Family films

Christopher Hart (born 22 February 1961) is a Canadian actor and magician whose roles include Thing, the disembodied hand, in the 1991, 1993, and 1998 movies The Addams Family , Addams Family Values , and Addams Family Reunion .

Contents

Early life

Christopher Hart was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, to an English mother and Canadian father. He was raised in Los Angeles, where he was educated in Catholic schools. [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.

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.

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.

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 Stéphanie of Monaco personally awarded him the top prize at the Grand Prix Magique held in Monte Carlo.

Hart is currently performing in TV's Magic Stars at the Golden Cabaret at the Horizon Casino Resort in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Hart appeared on To Tell the Truth in 2018 and on I Can See Your Voice in 2022.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1989 Columbo Goes to the Guillotine Magician at Cemetery
1991 Addams Family Thing
1993 Addams Family Values
1997 Quicksilver Highway LeftyTV movie
1998One Hand, LeftShort
1998 Addams Family Reunion ThingTV movie
1999 Idle Hands The Hand
1999 Angel The HandsEpisode: "I Fall to Pieces"

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References

  1. "Christopher Hart – Biography All About Magicians.com". Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)