Before Penn & Teller were fooling us, before David Copperfield made the impossible possible, and way before Criss Angel’s first eyeliner application, there was Gloria Dea—the original Vegas magic queen who proved that what happens in Vegas starts in Vegas.
It’s 1941. Our city is barely a blip on the map, The Strip is more strip mall than entertainment capital, and into the El Rancho Vegas’ Round-Up Room walks a teenager about to make history. Gloria Dea, armed with nothing but billiard balls, a hypnotist’s swagger, and what her friends would later describe as “costumes as skimpy as possible,” became the very first magician to perform on what would become the Las Vegas Strip.

Talk about a tough act to follow.
But young Gloria wasn’t just any illusionist—she was the total package. While other performers were still pulling rabbits out of hats, she was mixing sleight-of-hand with hypnotism and throwing in a rumba for good measure. Yes, you read that right. A magic show with dancing. And not just any dancing; she’d occasionally remove her skirt mid-performance and use it as a cape, which might explain why those early Vegas shows were such a hit with the audience.
The path to becoming Vegas’s first magic act wasn’t exactly traditional. Her parents, who had a “healthy appreciation” for gambling (translation: they couldn’t stay away from the tables), frequently brought little Gloria to Las Vegas. Rather than following the usual path of, oh, I don’t know, finishing high school, Gloria decided to become a chorus girl instead. Because when you’re destined to make history, why waste time on algebra?
According to her friend AnnaRose Einarsen, a fellow hypnotist and magician, Gloria had a particular philosophy about costumes—the less fabric, the better. This was decades before the typical Vegas showgirl costume became what it is today, making Gloria not just a magical pioneer but a fashion revolutionary. In an era when female performers were expected to be demure and proper, Gloria recognized that this sparkling desert oasis was different. This was a place where traditional rules didn’t apply, where entertainment could be bold, sexy, and still absolutely skillful. She understood the Vegas mindset before Vegas even knew what its mindset would be.
Her specialties were billiard-ball manipulation (way harder than it sounds, trust us), hypnotism (because sometimes you need to convince people they’re seeing real magic), and that signature rumba (why not add some Latin flair to your illusions?). It was like having a variety show wrapped up in one very talented, slightly underdressed package.
Here’s the real magic trick, though: Gloria Dea didn’t just perform at the El Rancho Vegas—she helped establish Las Vegas as the world capital of magic. Every time you see a big-name magician on The Strip, you’re watching the house that Gloria built. So the next time you’re watching some world-famous illusionist make a building disappear or saw their assistant in half, remember Gloria Dea, the teenage magician who started it all with nothing but talent, courage, and apparently, not much in the way of wardrobe budget.
But Gloria’s influence extends beyond just being first. She set the template for what Vegas magic would become—a bountiful blend of skill, showmanship, and spectacle. While today’s magicians might have bigger budgets and flashier props, they’re all following the path she blazed in those early days at the El Rancho.
What’s particularly remarkable is how she understood, even back then, that Vegas audiences wanted more than just traditional magic. They wanted an experience, something that engaged multiple senses and pushed boundaries. Her combination of magic, dance, and hypnotism was decades ahead of its time. Nowadays, we’d call it a “multimedia experience” and charge double.
But what happened to our pioneering magical showgirl? Like many great stories, Gloria’s tale took some unexpected turns. After her reign on The Strip ended in the late ‘40s, she headed to Hollywood, where she landed roles that were… let’s say, memorable in their own special way.
She danced in 1945’s Mexicana, played Princess Pha opposite Buster Crabbe in King of The Congo, and—in what might be her most infamous role—appeared as a “mourner” in Ed Wood’s legendarily terrible Plan 9 From Outer Space. As Gloria herself would later quip, “It was the worst movie of all time. Ed Wood, the director, was the worst. I had fun making it, though.” Now that’s what we call making the best of a B-movie bomb!
But Gloria wasn’t done reinventing herself. After her Hollywood adventure, she proved she could sell more than just magic. She became an insurance agent and then broke barriers again as one of the first successful female car salespeople at a Chevrolet dealership in the San Fernando Valley.

In 1980, Vegas called her home. She settled into the historic Paradise Palms neighborhood with her husband, Sam Anzalone, a fellow auto sales executive she met at the Chevy dealership. There, she lived quietly—perhaps her greatest disappearing act of all—until the magic community rediscovered their pioneering princess and lauded her with recognition and awards.
Gloria Dea took her final bow in 2023 at the age of 100, shortly after being honored with a birthday celebration at the Westgate Las Vegas. David Copperfield, who befriended her in her later years, said it best: “Gloria was amazing. She was charming, funny and engaging. And in Vegas, as a young magician, she started it all.”
From teenage magician to B-movie actress, from car saleswoman to beloved Vegas legend, Gloria Dea’s life was as colorful and varied as the city she helped shape. She might not have made the Statue of Liberty disappear or walked through the Great Wall of China, but she did something even more impressive—she helped create the magic that is Las Vegas. And that’s a legacy that will never vanish.