Douglas Dexter

Arthur Bernard Douglas Marks was the son of a London portrait painter whose chosen profession was as a schoolteacher. But it was as a magician, using the name Douglas Dexter, that he became better known, and in 1928 he appeared at Windsor Castle before King George V. Dexter appeared in several Royal Variety Performances and was also appointed vice-president of the Magic Circle.

Dexter was also an excellent fencer, winning the US outdoor épée title in 1934 and was twice runner-up in the British championship. In 1934 Dexter also won the Thompson Trophy, the biennial challenge match between the US and Great Britain. He also represented Great Britain in the individual and team épée events at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In June 1937, three months before his death, Dexter reached the final of the National épée championship despite not being fully recovered from a bad bout of influenza and he was still ill when he was part of the British team at the World Championships at Paris a month later. His health deteriorated whilst in Paris and upon his return he was hospitalised at the Middlesex Hospital where he died.