- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRandall James Hamilton Zwinge
- Nickname
- "The Amazing"
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- James Randi has an international reputation as a magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world's most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.
Randi has pursued "psychic" spoonbenders, exposed the dirty tricks of faith healers, investigated homeopathic water "with a memory," and generally been a thorn in the sides of those who try to pull the wool over the public's eyes in the name of the supernatural.
He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including a Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1986.
On October 19, 1993, the PBS-TV "NOVA" program broadcast a one-hour special dealing with Randi's life work, particularly with his investigations of Uri Geller and various occult and healing claims being made by scientists in Russia.
He is the author of numerous books, including The Truth About Uri Geller, The Faith Healers, Flim-Flam!, and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. His lectures and television appearances have delighted - and vexed - audiences around the world.
In 1996, the James Randi Education Foundation was established to further Randi's work. Randi's long-standing challenge to psychics now stands as a $1,000,000 prize administered by the Foundation. It remains unclaimed.- IMDb mini biography by: Randi
- SpouseJosé Alvarez(July 2, 2013 - October 20, 2020) (his death)
- Randi broke Harry Houdini's underwater record when he was sealed in a metal coffin at the bottom of a swimming pool for 104 minutes.
- Has successfully debunked claims by self-professed psychics, faith-healers, and conspiracy theorists.
- Currently in charge of the James Randi Educational Foundation which promotes critical thinking. The Foundation also offers one million US dollars to anyone who can show evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event.
- Once traveled with the Alice Cooper Band.
- His longtime partner, José Alvarez, who had become his legal husband the year before, appeared with him in a 2014 documentary about his life and career, An Honest Liar (2014). Peña, known professionally as Jose Alvarez, was a professional artist, and had been Randi's life partner since at least 1989.
- If Uri Geller bends spoons with divine powers, then he's doing it the hard way.
- It's a very dangerous thing to believe in nonsense.
- The New Age? It's just the old age stuck in a microwave oven for fifteen seconds.
- If the audience likes you, they want you to win. It's not a case of: "We'll see whether he can do this. No. We'll see him do this. We want him to be successful. He's up against the odds." They're pulling for the underdog.
- I don't expect that the million will ever be won, simply because there is no confirming evidence for any paranormal claims to date.
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