David Copperfield

David Copperfield was the magician who first made my jaw drop as a kid, and I still think he's the gold standard. Born David Kotkin in Metuchen, New Jersey, and gone from Fordham after three weeks to star in a stage show, he turned illusion into an industrial-scale art form. Forbes called him the most commercially successful magician in history, and with 21 Emmy wins and a Library of Congress Living Legend honor, the credentials are staggering. What impresses me isn't the secrets behind the tricks, but the sheer relentless drive to keep audiences spellbound across decades. That kind of sustained mastery is the real magic.

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Name (English)

David Copperfield

Name (Japanese)

デビッド・カッパーフィールド

Reading

でびっど・かっぱーふぃーるど

Born

September 16, 1956 (age 70)

Origin

Metuchen, New Jersey, United States

Occupation

illusionist / writer / film actor / hypnotist / stunt performer

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Monkey

High school

Metuchen High School

University

Fordham University

Awards & achievements

• Library of Congress Living Legend
• Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
• 2000 Mandrake d'Or
• star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Official sitehttps://www.davidcopperfield.com
• Xhttps://x.com/D_Copperfield
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David%20Copperfield%20(illusionist)
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87%E3%83%93%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AB%E3%83%83%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%83%89
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139637

Tags

• New Jersey
• illusionist
• writer
• film actor

Last updated

September 26, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.