Los Angeles
County
Biographies
EARL ALBERT LOCKMAN
For
nearly fifty years, chiefs of police, peace officers and citizens committees
have been trying to lock up Lockman, a master escape artist. It just cannot be done!
Earl
Albert Lockman, a resident of Alhambra since July, 1946, is a nationally known
and loved entertainer who has a fabulous life story as a soldier, secret
service man, adventurer, traveler, gourmet, lecturer, entertainer, cartoonist,
musician and magician. He has appeared
in every major city in America and has been featured in many magazines and
newspapers; appeared in radio, motion pictures and on television. He is or has been a friend and confidant of
every famous name—Houdini, Cardini, Thurston and many more in the world of
legerdemain and prestidigitation.
Mr.
Lockman’s unusual ability to escape from shackles and ropes has twice saved his
life; once when he and a companion were accosted on a lonely highway by an
escaped maniac who tied them to a post vowing to return and kill them, Mr.
Lockman freed himself and his companion in time to see the maniac walk out of
the yard. The other occasion was when he
was a United States soldier in 1916, on the Mexican border, and was captured by
a band of Mexican bandits under Pancho Villa who chose him as the first victim
of a “necktie party”. He was tied with
twenty foot ropes to four horses charging in four directions. His instantaneous escape before the horses
could move a few yards saved his life.
Mr.
Lockman has the world’s most formidable collection of handcuffs and iron legs,
some of which date back to medieval times, which he has gathered from the four
corners of the world and represents the labours of
three decades. He has a total of 200
varieties. Mr. Lockman keeps an
up-to-date record of patents and dates on those invented in the United States;
his collection from Europe date back as far as 1600 and 1700.
Mr.
Lockman was the first and only person to produce an escape act on a radio show
in his performance which gained national attention on the “Hobby Lobby”
broadcast and later was so sensational on the television show “You Asked For
It”, that he was asked to return for a second performance.
Born
in Chicago, Illinois, on June 12, 1893, Mr. Lockman is the son of Albert Edward
and Pauline (Elguth) Lockman. His father pulled Buffalo Bill’s Circus
Train. Receiving his early education at
the Beidler Elementary School and the Crane Technical
High School in Chicago, he studied architectural engineering at Crane Junior
College for two years and was a student of all phases of art at the Academy of
Fine Arts in Chicago. Musically inclined
he studied violin under Professor William Hofman for
fifteen years and was a violinist with the Edison Symphony Orchestra for
several years. While appearing with the
Orchestra, he met and later married the former Miss Pearl Fisher on June 21,
1924. This talented couple has a son,
Victor Earl, a resident of Thousand Oaks, California; and a daughter, Lois
(Mrs. George Gordon) Bankenbaker, a 1947 graduate of
Alhambra High School who resides in Temple City, California. The Lockman’s have eight grandchildren: Claudia, Larry, Ronnie, Mark and David
Lockman; Alan, Eugene and Karen Blankenbaker.
A
man with a good sense of humor, Mr. Lockman is a finished cartoonist. Mrs. Lockman, who assists her husband on
stage appearances, has a unique art all of her own. She is well known and envied for her ability
to produce pictures comparable to the Oils of the Old Masters, but uses no brush
or paint; she does it with bits of rags and scraps of cloth.
An
active member of the Alhambra Presbyterian Church, Mr. Lockman is a member of
the Alhambra Masonic Lodge No. 322; the Scottish Rite in Chicago; the Al
Malaikah Shrine in Los Angeles; the American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists, for which he holds a paid-up membership card; and is a past president
of Lodge No. 8, International Guild of Prestidigitators of Alhambra. He also holds memberships in the
International Brotherhood of Magicians, No. 106, and is a charter member of
Chicago Assembly No. 3, Card No. 627, Society of
American Magicians.
The
Lockman’s, who reside at 201 Palmetto Drive, have an interesting collection of
picture post cards, which they have collected from every corner of the United
States on their road appearances. Member
of the Pasadena Post Card Club, Mr. Lockman served as president of this
organization in 1960-61. Other
interesting collections they possess are old and rare coins and over 100,000
United States postage stamps, which they have been collecting over the years.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 665-667, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES