R.I.P.: George Kresge, Famed Mentalist 'The Amazing Kreskin'

George J. Kresge, who as the entertainer the Amazing Kreskin used mentalist tricks to dazzle audiences as he rose to fame on late-night television in the 1970s, died on Tuesday in Wayne, N.J. He was 89, according to The NY Times.

A close friend, Meir Yedid, said the death, at an assisted living facility, was from complications of dementia.

George Joseph Kresge Jr. was born in Montclair, N.J., on Jan. 12, 1935, and became known professionally as either the Amazing Kreskin or just Kreskin. As a child he was drawn to both magic and psychology, he said, and by the time he was a teenager he was performing mentalist tricks for audiences.

His star rose in the 1970s and early 1980s when he was a regular guest on the talk show circuit. He made dozens of appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” — 88 according to some sources — and was also seen on “The Mike Douglas Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman,” among other shows. (In the 21st century, he appeared on “The Tonight Show” when Jimmy Fallon was the host.)

With other famous guests, he played psychological tricks that looked like magic: asking people to put their fingers on objects that would seem to move, for example, or guessing what card had been pulled from a deck.