Rodolfo

He was born on 16 May 1911 in Budapest, in the heart of Józsefváros, in Nagy Fuvaros Street, to a Jewish family. He was inspired to do magic by a Chinese pearl merchant, who taught him a magic trick with Danube pebbles. Odry Zuárd took him up and taught him in the second half of the 1920s. After their frequent joint performances, his first solo performance was managed by his master in the spring of 1929, and from then on the young magician was invited to perform by countless clubs, professional and friendly circles in Pest and Buda. It was then that he received the stage name Rodolfo Grosso from his master.

In December 1930 he applied for membership of the Hungarian Amateur Magicians Association, but despite his success he was not accepted. He decided to take the professional artist’s examination, made an appointment and three days later, after a highly successful examination performance at the Royal Orfeum, he became a member of the Hungarian Artists’ Association in January 1931. The young, black, English moustached magician tried to gain more publicity for himself with a few publicity stunts to help him gain recognition. The finger-cutting, the eating of a locket, the theft of suspenders, ties and all sorts of personal effects, and their repeated return, have become legendary. From then on, according to the posters and advertisements of the time, the professional magician and pickpocket was hired for longer or shorter stays in many of the capital’s well-known and popular nightclubs (Arizona nightclub, Clarusse, Alpine Village, Moulin Rouge). In the autumn of 1935, he married Olga Nádor, with whom he led a colourful, varied and harmonious life, exemplary for the artistic world, for half a century. The two Latabars (Árpád and Kálmán), Kamill Feleki, Imre Halmai, Géza Fokker, Alfonzo and Rodolfo, and a great team, reinforced by the costume designer Eric Vogel, regularly entertained audiences at home and abroad at the Moulin Rouge in the mid-1930s. Rodolfo left the company at the beginning of 1939 to form his own revue group. They first spent two months in Bulgaria, followed by Athens and Thessaloniki. In Istanbul, they were engaged by the Turan Varieté and toured Egypt until August 1940. After that the Royal Orfeum in Pest gave them the opportunity to perform regularly. After an enforced stay in Monor, the audiences of Kassa, Cluj Napoca, Uzhhorod, Subotica, Kecskemét and Novi Sad applauded the Rodolfos on several occasions between 1941 and 1943.

In 1945, after the labour service, he was elected a member of the board of the National Artists’ Association. He very often accompanied Katalin Karády, who was later forced to leave her homeland, on her country tours.

From 1948, he performed regularly with his fellow artist Alfonzo, and from 1950 he performed as a member of the Latabar brigade. For eight years until 1956 he was a teacher at the Artists’ Academy and the State Artist Training Institute. Since the 1960s he has been a member of the State Examination Board of the Artist Training Institute. After 1956, he was invited to perform for relatively longer periods in the major cities of the former Soviet Union (Moscow, Leningrad, Riga), Paris, London, Brussels, Luxembourg and, over two decades, 50 times in Zurich. Since 1967 he has been a regular guest at world congresses of magicians (e.g. Baden-Baden, Amsterdam and Vienna).

On his 50th birthday he was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist (1960) and in 1971 (on his retirement) the title of Distinguished Artist. From 1962 he was employed by the Hungarian Circus and Variety Company (MACIVA) and made a significant contribution to the restoration of the new Budapest Circus (1971). He was awarded the SZOT Prize in 1980.

His last public performance was on 13 January 1986 on the Microscope Stage. (He died four days after his wife’s death, on 25 January 1987 in Budapest. The real source of his success was the perfection of his songs and his ability to connect with the audience. Even in retirement he was still practising four hours a day. His catchphrase became his slogan: “Watch my hands, for I cheat!” His creed was also: ‘An artist who is satisfied with himself is no longer an artist. He is dead.” He was one of the greatest talking sleight of hand magicians and pickpockets of all time; he knew a great many tricks from all branches of magic, of which, by his own account, he could perform about a thousand at any one time.