"[1] He was also an actor who appeared in numerous movies and was the subject of a biographical documentary entitled John Calvert – His Magic and Adventures.

Calvert was born in New Trenton, Indiana and became fascinated with magic at age eight when his father took him to see the magician Howard Thurston perform in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Shortly afterward, he performed his first trick for his Sunday school class - he made an egg appear from under another boy's coat.

[6] His biographer, William V. Rauscher,[7] has called Calvert a "real-life Indiana Jones" because of his reputation for surviving dangerous circumstances in his travels.

[8] Calvert was invited to perform his magic act both on Broadway in New York City and at the London Palladium Theatre on his 100th birthday.