Nate Leipzig was born the third youngest of eight children--seven boys and one girl--in Stockholm, Sweden. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan and at 12 years old started work as a lens-maker for L. Black & Co. He then joined Max Rudelsheimer's optical business, and worked there 17 years, but continued to accept performance engagements. He was an American vaudevillemagician who at his peak performed in Europe and USA. In May of 1938, Leipzig was elected president of the SAM. Previous presidents of SAM include Howard Thurston and Harry Houdini. In his introduction to the English edition of Ottokar Fischer's book, Illustrated Magic, Fulton Oursler wrote, "The king of manipulators, in my opinion, will always be Nate Leipzig. There's something Mephistophelian about this astonishing character. If I were told to his name were really Dr. Faustis, I should believe it. He is the Paderewski of card manipulators, the Paganini of magicians, the virtuoso in whose hands the playing cards become not pasteboard but living creatures obedient to his commands. Whenever I see Leipzig with a pack in hand, I expect the cards to burst into song." John Scarne said of Leipzig, "Whatever I can do, is because Nate Leipzig showed me how to do it." Wilfred Johnson wrote, "The incomparable Leipzig was known as a magician's magician. As well as a headliner on the leading vaudeville circuits. Leipzig's card creations have become classics, and his consummate skill is legendary in the art of legerdemain." According to editor Vynn Boyer, Leipzig was beloved by all, both young and old; under Leipzig's guidance, the Society reached the highest plane of its tranquility. His innovations of sleight of hand, particularly with card tricks and close-up magic, garnered him respect among fellow magicians. Leipzig was the first magician to perform a stage act using playing cards and thimbles, and is credited with inventing the Side Steal, a.k.a the Side Slip--a technique for secretly removing a playing card from the middle of a deck of cards. Ten years after his death, Nate Leipzig was selected to appear on the cover of the first issue of M-U-M in January of 1949.
