Magician James Randi who exposed fake paranormal seers and healers dies at 92

Magician James Randi has died.

The award-winning magic man, who exposed those who falsely claimed to have paranormal powers, was 92.

James, who was known professionally as the Amazing Randi, used his talents to debunk false claims of spoon bending, mind reading and ghost whispering, made by others.

Thought of as the father of the modern skeptical movement, he also looked to expose fake healers, fortune tellers and UFO sightings.

James died on Tuesday at his home in Plantation, Florida.

His passing was announced by the James Randi Educational Foundation, who said he had died of “age-related causes”.

The Amazing Randi once said that his career was fuelled by anger that members of the public were being ripped off by people claiming to have paranormal powers.

He said in 2014 documentary An Honest Liar: “People who are stealing money from the public, cheating them and misinforming them — that’s the kind of thing that I’ve been fighting all my life.

“Magicians are the most honest people in the world: They tell you they’re going to fool you, and then they do it.”

James began his magic career way back in the 1940s when he began working as an illusionist and escape artist.

He once famously escaped from a strait jacket while he was dangling upside down over Niagara Falls, and did the same thing suspected over Broadway in New York.

“I wanted to break his records”, he said of Houdini.

He added: “I wanted to stay in a sealed metal coffin longer than he did, get out of a straitjacket faster than he did, under chains, out of leg irons, out of handcuffs.”

It was later in his career that he turned to exposing frauds who were claiming to have powers they did not.

He began travelling the US to expose seers, healers, and others who could not do what they claimed.

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