Juan Tamariz, one of Spain's most celebrated magicians and a world champion of card magic, died Tuesday at age 83 in the Clínico San Carlos hospital in Madrid, his daughter Ana Tamariz confirmed in an Instagram post.
Born on Oct. 18, 1942, Tamariz dedicated seven decades to the craft of illusion. He won the World Card Magic Prize in Paris in 1973 and went on to perform across Spain and in cities including New York, Tokyo, Paris and London. He became a household name through television variety programmes on Spanish public broadcaster TVE beginning in the 1970s, appearing on shows such as "Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez" and "Por arte de magia." In 2011, he received Spain's Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
Tamariz, who studied physics before turning to magic full-time, married Colombian magician Consuelo Lorgia in 2008. In the 1990s, he opened the Gran Escuela de Magia Ana Tamariz, directed by his daughter.