Name Pronunciations

[Guest]

I say Hun-dye. As for Vernon the book said in the same paragraph about how he got the name Dai that he continued using David when meeting people. I'm not sure when the David went away and the Dai became common use.
Steve V

[Frank Dudgeon]

Just to confuse matters further - I have a copy of the S.A.M. 1939 National Conference Souvenir Book and Program - he is referred to as "Dale" Vernon several times. He is listed on the Headliner Show as Dale Vernon, "Harlequin in Magic"; he is pictured in a photo section captioned: "Dale and Jean Vernon in their Harlequin Act"; and there is a full-page photo - the classic with him holding a cigarette looking down on the Ace of Clubs in the deck in his hand, captioned "Dale Vernon - He Fooled Houdini."

BUT - in the same program, in the back in a list of members of the Parent Assembly, No. 1, New York, N.Y. there is listed "Vernon, Dai W., 566 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y."

Maybe he was trying out a new "handle?"

Frank Dudgeon

[Frank Dudgeon]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the 1939 S.A.M. National Conference was held in New York City - his home turf. So the "Dale" probably wasn't a clerical error.

Frank Dudgeon

[Richard Kaufman]

His name was David Verner.
He changed it slowly, first to Dave Vernon, then to Dai Vernon. You see him referred to as "Dave" in old magazines from the 20s.
The "Dai" is pronounced just as if it had been chopped off "David": like "Day."
It remained "Day" until he moved to the Magic Castle, and somehow the pronunciation changed to "Die." I asked The Professor about it and could never get a straight answer.
Since he lived about equal parts of his life as "Day" and "Die," either would be correct.

[Guest]

I haven't seen the new Vernon book yet, so I don't know if it deals with the pronounciation of "Dai" or not, but having just had a visit with Paul Fox's daughter Margaret Fox Mandel, she told me the Fox family always pronounced it as "Day."

Terry