Who was Chung Ling Soo? The magician behind the mask
The life of William Ellsworth Robinson, the American who performed as Chung Ling Soo, his rivalry with Ching Ling Foo and his death during the bullet catch in 1918.
By The Online Magic Store
· 6 min read
In this story 9 sections
Chung Ling Soo was the stage name of William Ellsworth Robinson (1861 to 1918), an American magician who spent most of his career performing as a Chinese conjurer. He built the act on the success of a real Chinese magician, Ching Ling Foo, and the two became public rivals in London in 1905. Robinson was shot during his bullet catch at the Wood Green Empire in London on 23 March 1918 and died the next day; the inquest returned a verdict of misadventure.
Who was William Ellsworth Robinson?
Robinson was born on 2 April 1861 in New York. (Sources differ on where exactly: Henry Ridgely Evans, who knew him, says New York City, while Wikipedia says Westchester County.) He worked for years behind the scenes for two of the biggest names in American magic at the time, Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar, as an assistant and stage manager, and later for Leon Herrmann.
He was a real student of the craft. Evans describes him as a collector of rare magic books, and Professor Hoffmann, in Later Magic (1904), credits him with a trick in which a borrowed ring turns up inside a potato. In 1898 he published Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena, a book exposing the methods behind séance slate writing. The title page bills him simply as “Assistant to the late Herrmann.”
How did he become Chung Ling Soo?
Working under his own name, Robinson had little success. Then Ching Ling Foo, a genuine Chinese conjurer, became a hit in American theatres. Evans writes that Foo’s manager advertised a cash prize for anyone who could duplicate his tricks, and that Robinson stepped forward, but no contest ever took place. (The amount varies by source.)
Robinson decided to build a similar act in Chinese costume and make-up. Around 1900 he took the act to France, first under a different name, and became Chung Ling Soo before he reached London. Accounts of his best-known pieces include producing a large bowl of water from a cloth and catching live goldfish from the air with a fishing rod, both described by Evans.
He worked with Olive Path, his partner on and off stage, who appeared as Suee Seen (spellings vary in old reports).
Was the persona a secret?
Only partly. Robinson kept up the character offstage. Evans says he gave newspaper interviews through an interpreter, and The Magic Circle’s own account of his costume confirms the interpreter. But magicians knew. Evans named him as Robinson in print in 1902, and Hoffmann did the same in 1904.
Many in the public, though, only learned the truth after his death, when the inquest identified him as an American named William Robinson.
What happened between Soo and Foo?
In 1904 Ching Ling Foo came to England and found an imitator already famous there. By January 1905 Robinson was at the Hippodrome in London and Foo at the Empire. Foo issued a challenge through the Weekly Despatch newspaper, and a meeting was set at its office.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| January 1905 | Robinson arrives in costume and performs for the press. Foo does not appear. |
| Next day | Foo’s side says he will only compete if Soo first proves he is Chinese. |
| Afterwards | Soo’s run carries on; Foo’s London engagement is short. |
Not everyone cheered Robinson’s side. In 1905 the American magic magazine The Sphinx argued that Foo was the original and Robinson an imitator, adding: “This may be good showmanship, but it is not fair play.” Evans reprints the editorial in The Old and the New Magic (1906).
How did Chung Ling Soo die?
His bullet catch was staged as a scene in which he faced Boxer riflemen, a theme Evans also mentions. On Saturday 23 March 1918, during the second show at the Wood Green Empire in north London, one of the rifles fired a real bullet. He was hit, reportedly said something in English (the exact words differ from account to account), and died in hospital the next morning, aged 56.
At the inquest, a gunmaker who examined the rifles said wear in one gun had let gunpowder build up where it should not, so that when it was fired the real bullet went out of the barrel. The verdict was death by misadventure. Rumours that it was not an accident went round afterwards, but the official finding stands.
Harry Houdini wrote two years later, in Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920), that Robinson’s death was “the latest addition to the long list of casualties” linked to the bullet catch.
What does his death tell magicians about the bullet catch?
The bullet catch is very old. Evans describes Robert-Houdin performing a version in Algeria in the 1850s, which you can read about in our post on who Robert-Houdin was. Professor Hoffmann opened his own 1876 description with a dry line: “As a rule, people object to being shot at.”
Robinson’s case is the clearest lesson in why it is treated so seriously:
- Real firearms are not props. The guns were real, and the failure came from wear, not from a mistake on the night.
- Experience does not protect you. Evans was already describing this routine in 1906, twelve years before the accident.
- Equipment ages. Anything that has to work perfectly needs regular checking by someone qualified.
Our honest advice: this is not an effect to try. If you want danger and drama on stage, safer routes exist. Our fire and smoke safety guide shows the level of care even milder effects need.
What does he tell us about stage personas?
Robinson was a skilled magician; Hoffmann wrote that in his hands even simple tricks never failed to please. But his career rested on borrowing another man’s act and another culture’s identity, and inventing a life story to sell it. The Magic Circle now says plainly that this kind of cultural imitation would not be acceptable today.
A few takeaways for building your own character:
- Base it on who you are, not on someone else’s culture.
- Give credit to the performers whose ideas inspired you.
- Make sure you can step out of the character when something goes wrong.
Where can you read more?
- Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena: Robinson’s own 1898 book on spirit slate writing and related séance effects, with many illustrations.
- The Old and the New Magic: Evans’s illustrated history, with his chapter on magicians he knew, including Robinson.
- Miracle Mongers and Their Methods: Houdini on fire eaters and other historic performers, with his note on Foo and Soo.
All three are free downloads. Find more in our downloads collection.
Frequently asked questions
Was Chung Ling Soo really Chinese?
No. Chung Ling Soo was the stage name of William Ellsworth Robinson, an American born in New York in 1861. He performed in Chinese costume and make-up and gave interviews through an interpreter, modelling his act on the Chinese magician Ching Ling Foo.
How did Chung Ling Soo die?
He was shot during his bullet catch at the Wood Green Empire in London on 23 March 1918 and died the next morning. The inquest heard that wear in one of the rifles let gunpowder build up so that a real bullet was fired, and returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
What was the rivalry between Chung Ling Soo and Ching Ling Foo?
Ching Ling Foo was a genuine Chinese magician whose act Robinson copied. In January 1905, with both performing in London, Foo issued a challenge through a newspaper, but he did not turn up, and his side later demanded that Soo first prove he was Chinese.
Did Chung Ling Soo write any books?
Yes. Under his real name, William E. Robinson, he wrote Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena in 1898, which explains the methods behind séance slate writing. It is in the public domain and The Online Magic Store offers it as a free ebook.
