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Jack Kent Tillar Papers (MS-01170)

Abstract

The Jack Kent Tillar Papers (approximately 1890-2010) are comprised of magic-related books, periodicals, pamphlets, ephemera, and artifacts from the estate of Jack Kent Tillar who was a composer and music editor for the film and television industry. Materials also include a small amount of Tillar's personal papers. Tillar was an amateur mentalist magician and wrote numerous books and articles on the subject of telepathy and mentalism including The Assumption Swindle, Trio: Three Complete Acts for the Mentalist, and Solo: The Walk-Around Mentalist.

Finding Aid PDF

Date

1890 to 2010

Extent

31.06 Cubic Feet (47 boxes)
28.00 Linear Feet

Related People/Corporations

Creator: Tillar, Jack

Scope and Contents Note

The Jack Kent Tillar Papers (approximately 1890-2010) are comprised of magic-related books, periodicals, pamphlets, ephemera, and artifacts from the estate of Jack Kent Tillar who was a composer and music editor for the film and television industry. Materials also include a small amount of Tillar's personal papers. Tillar was an amateur mentalist magician and wrote numerous books and articles on the subject of telepathy and mentalism including The Assumption Swindle, Trio: Three Complete Acts for the Mentalist, and Solo: The Walk-Around Mentalist.

Access Note

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. The donor, Teller, transferred all right, title and interest they had in the Jack Kent Tillar Papers (MS-01170) to UNLV. However, some material may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Acknowledgement of the UNLV University Libraries is requested. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproductions and use or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu.

Biographical / Historical Note

Jack Kent Tillar was an award-winning composer, mentalist, and musical editor. Jack Kent Tillar was born in Los Angeles, California in 1930. He graduated from University of Southern California with an undergraduate degree in naval science and psychology, and later a graduate degree in advertising, marketing, and television production. He also served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1965. After the Korean war, he attended the Chavez College of Magic and started as a junior executive at CBS. At one point, he was in Production Cost Control at Television City under Bill Larsen, the original president of the Hollywood Magic Castle. Tillar ultimately took over the entire CBS music department. He supervised the music for some of the greatest live shows of TV's Golden Age: shows like Playhouse 90, Climax!, and classic film series like Perry Mason and Twilight Zone. At Desilu and Columbia, he supervised many episodes of The Untouchables, Naked City, Route 66, and many others. He also published five stage musicals and developed many magic and mentalism effects that were published in Magick, Genii, Invocation, and Talisman, as well as ten books in the topic.

Preferred Citation

Jack Kent Tillar Papers, approximately 1890-2010. MS-01170. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f12b52

Acquisition Note

Materials were donated by Teller in 2023; accession number 2023-089.

Processing Note

In 2023, Tammi Kim created an accession record in ArchivesSpace. In 2024, Sarah Jones reboxed the material, grouped periodicals together, and minimally processed the remaining portion of the collection. This collection is minimally processed.

Resource Type

Papers

Collection Type

EAD ID

US::NvLN::MS01170

Finding Aid Description Rules

Describing Archives: A Content Standard
English