Early life[edit]

Geller was born in Tel Aviv, which was at that time part of the British
Mandate of Palestine, to Jewish parents from Hungary and Austria,[4]
Geller is the son of Itzhaak Geller (Gellr Izsk), a retired army
sergeant major, and Manzy Freud (Freud Manci). It is claimed that
Geller is a distant relative of Sigmund Freud on his mother's side.[5]
At the age of 11, Geller's family moved to Nicosia, Cyprus, where he
attended a high school, the Terra Santa College, and learned English.
At the age of 18[6] he served in the Israeli Army's Paratroopers
Brigade,[7] and was wounded in action during the 1967 Six-Day War.[8]
[9]
He worked as a photographic model in 1968 and 1969; during that
time, he began to perform for small audiences as a nightclub
entertainer,[10] becoming well known in Israel.[11]
Geller first started to perform in theatres, public halls, auditoriums,
military bases and universities in Israel.[12] By the 1970s, Geller had
become known in the United States and Europe. He also received
attention from the scientific community, whose members were
interested in examining his reported psychic abilities. At the peak of
his career in the 1970s, he worked full-time, performing for television
audiences worldwide.

Career[edit]

Geller gained notice for demonstrating on television what he claimed

to be psychokinesis, dowsing, and telepathy.[13] His performance
included bending spoons, describing hidden drawings, and making
watches stop or run faster. Geller said he performs these feats
through will power and the strength of his mind. [14] Magicians and
skeptics have noted that Geller has been caught cheating and his
performances can be duplicated by stage magic tricks.[15][16][17][18]
In 1975, Geller published his first autobiography, My Story, and
acknowledged that, in his early career, his manager talked him into
adding a magic trick to make his performances last longer. [19] This trick

involved Geller appearing to guess audience members' license plate

numbers, when in fact his manager had given them to him ahead of
time. One of Geller's most prominent critics is the skeptic James
Randi, who has accused Geller repeatedly of trying to pass off magic
tricks as paranormal displays. Randi often duplicated Geller's
performances using stage magic techniques.[18][20]
By the mid 1980s Geller was described as "a millionaire several times
over", and claimed to be performing mineral dowsing services for
mining groups at a standard fee of 1 million. [21] In June 1986 the
Australian Skeptic reported that Geller had been paid A$350,000 and
granted an option 1,250,000 Zanec shares at 20c each until 5 June
1987.[22]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Uri_Geller.jpg

Geller bending a spoon in a mall in Switzerland, 2005

Geller starred in the 2001 horror film Sanitarium, directed by

Johannes Roberts and James Eaves. In May 2002, he appeared as a
contestant on the first series of the British reality TV show I'm a
Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, where he was the first to be
eliminated and finished in last place. In 2005, Geller starred in Uri's
Haunted Cities: Venice, a XI Pictures/Lion TV production for Sky One,
which led to a behind the scenes release in early 2008 called Cursed;
both productions were directed by Jason Figgis. In early 2007, Geller
hosted a reality show in Israel called The Successor (), where
the contestants supposedly displayed supernatural powers; Israeli
magicians criticized the program saying that it was all magic tricks.[23]
In July 2007 NBC signed Geller and Criss Angel for Phenomenon, to
search for the next great mentalist; contestant Mike Super won the
position.[24] In January 2008, Geller began hosting the TV show The
Next Uri Geller, broadcast by Pro7 in Germany.[25]
In February 2008, Geller began a show on Dutch television called De
Nieuwe Uri Geller, which shares a similar format to its German

counterpart. The goal of the programme is to find the best mentalist in

the Netherlands. In March 2008, he started the same show in
Hungary (A kivlasztott in Hungarian). During the show, Geller
speaks in both Hungarian and English. Geller also performs his
standard routines of allegedly making stopped watches start, spoons
jump from televisions, and tables move. Geller co-produced the TV
show Book of Knowledge, released in April 2008.[26] In October 2009,
a similar show, called The Successor of Uri Geller.[27] began on Greek
television.

Personal life[edit]

Geller lives in the village of Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire, in the

United Kingdom.[28] He is trilingual, speaking fluent Hebrew, Hungarian
and English.[29] In an appearance on Esther Rantzen's 1996 television
talk show Esther, Geller declared that he had suffered from anorexia
nervosa for several years.[30][31] He has written 16 fiction and non fiction
books.
Geller owns a 1976 Cadillac adorned with thousands of pieces of
bent tableware given to him by celebrities or otherwise having
significance to him. This includes spoons from such people as John
Lennon and the Spice Girls, as well as those with which Winston
Churchill and John F. Kennedy supposedly ate. His friend Michael
Jackson was best man when Geller renewed his wedding vows in
2001.[32] Geller also negotiated the famous TV interview between
Jackson with the journalist Martin Bashir: Living with Michael
Jackson.[33]
Geller is president of International Friends of Magen David Adom, a
group that lobbied the International Committee of the Red Cross to
recognise Magen David Adom ("Red Star of David") as a
humanitarian relief organisation.[citation needed] In 1997 he tried to help the
Second Division football club Exeter City win a crucial end of season
game by placing "energy-infused" crystals behind the goals at
Exeter's ground (Exeter lost the game 51); he was appointed co-

chairman of the club in 2002. The club was relegated to the Football
Conference in May 2003, where it remained for five years. He has
since severed formal ties with the club.
Following the death of Michael Jackson, the British television station
ITV announced plans to screen an interview with Geller regarding his
relationship with Jackson, entitled My Friend Michael Jackson: Uri's
Story.[34]

Paranormal claims[edit]

Geller has claimed his feats are the result of paranormal powers[13]
given to him by extraterrestrials,[35] but critics such as James Randi
have shown that Geller's tricks can be replicated with stage magic
techniques.[15][20]
In the early 1970s, an article in The Jerusalem Post reported that a
court had ordered Geller to refund a customer's ticket price and pay
court costs after finding that he had committed fraud by claiming that
his feats were telepathic.[11] In addition, a 1974 article also hints at
Geller's abilities being trickery.[36] The article alleged that his manager
Shipi Shtrang and Shipi's sister Hannah Shtrang secretly helped in
Geller's performances.[36][37] Eventually, Geller married Hannah and
they had children.[38]
The parapsychologist Andrija Puharich met Geller in 1971 and
endorsed him as a genuine psychic. Under hypnosis, Geller claimed
he was sent to earth by extraterrestrials from a spaceship fifty-three
thousand light years away.[39][40] Geller would later deny the spacefantasy claims, but affirmed there "is a slight possibility that some of
my energies do have extraterrestrial connection."[41] Puharich also
stated that Geller teleported a dog through the walls of his house.
However, science writer Martin Gardner wrote as "no expert on fraud
was there as an observer" then nobody should take the claim of
Puharich seriously.[42]
In his biography of Geller, Uri: A Journal of the Mystery of Uri Geller
(1974) Puharich claimed that with Geller he had communicated with

super intelligent computers from outer space. According to Puharich

the computers sent messages to warn humanity that a disaster is
likely to occur if humans do not change their ways. [43] The psychologist
Christopher Evans who reviewed the book in the New Scientist, wrote
that although Puharich believed in every word he had written, the
book was credulous and "those fans of Geller's who might have
hoped to have used the book as ammunition to impress the sceptics.
They will be the most disappointed of all".[43] Randi has written the
biography contained "silly theories" but was "both a boost and a
millstone to Geller".[44]
Geller's spoon bending feats are discussed in The Geller Papers
(1976), edited by Charles Panati. There was controversy when it was
published. Several prominent magicians came forward to
demonstrate that Gellers so-called psychic talents could be easily
duplicated by magic. Martin Gardner wrote that Panati had been
fooled by Geller's trickery and The Geller Papers were an
"embarrassing anthology".[45]
Notable scientists, magicians, and skeptics have suggested possible
ways in which Geller could have tricked his audience by using
misdirection techniques.[15][46] These critics, who include Richard
Feynman, James Randi and Martin Gardner, have accused him of
using his demonstrations fraudulently outside of the entertainment
business.[47][48] Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, who
was an amateur magician, wrote in Surely You're Joking, Mr.
Feynman! (1985) that Geller was unable to bend a key for him and his
son.[49] Some of his claims have been described by watchmakers as
restarting stopped mechanical clocks by moving them around. [50]
Geller is well known for making predictions regarding sporting events.
Skeptic James Randi and British tabloid newspaper The Sun have
demonstrated the teams and players he chooses to win most often
lose.[51] John Atkinson explored "predictions" Geller made over 30
years and concluded "Uri more often than not scuppered [i.e.,

destroyed] the chances of sportsmen and teams he was trying to

help."[51] This was pointed out by one of Randi's readers, who called it
"The Curse of Uri Geller."[52]
During the Euro 96 football game between Scotland and England at
Wembley, Geller, who was hovering overhead in a helicopter, claimed
that he managed to move the ball from the penalty spot when
Scotland's Gary McAllister was about to take a penalty kick,[53]
something that, if true, would be against the rules of Association
football, as the ball would then have been "Out of Play". The penalty
shot was blocked and Scotland lost 0-2.
In another notable instance, in 1992, Geller was asked to investigate
the kidnapping of Hungarian model Helga Farkas; after he predicted
she would be found alive and in good health, she was found to have
been murdered by her kidnappers.[54][55] Geller was a friend of Bruce
Bursford and helped him "train his mind" during some cycling speed
record-breaking bids in the 1990s.[56]
Since the publication of his first book, My Story in 1975 [57] he claimed
that his wealth originated from being commissioned as a mineraldowser and not from bending spoons and forks.[citation needed] In 2007,
skeptics observed that Geller appeared to have dropped his claims
that he does not perform magic tricks. Randi highlighted a quotation
from the November 2007 issue of the magazine Magische Welt
(Magic World) in which Geller said: "I'll no longer say that I have
supernatural powers. I am an entertainer. I want to do a good show.
My entire character has changed."[58] In a later interview, Geller told
Telepolis, "I said to this German magazine, so what I did say, that I
changed my character, to the best of my recollection, and I no longer
say that I do supernatural things. It doesn't mean that I don't have
powers. It means that I don't say 'it's supernatural', I say 'I'm a
mystifier!' That's what I said. And the sceptics turned it around and
said, 'Uri Geller said he's a magician!' I never said that." [59] In that
interview, Geller further explained that when he is asked how he does

his stunts, he tells children to "Forget the paranormal. Forget spoon

bending! Instead of that, focus on school! Become a positive thinker!
Believe in yourself and create a target! Go to university! Never smoke!
And never touch drugs! And think of success!"[59]
In February 2008, Geller stated in the TV show The Next Uri Geller (a
German version of The Successor) that he did not have any
supernatural powers, before winking to the camera. [60]

Parallels to stage magic[edit]

Geller admits, "Sure, there are magicians who can duplicate [my
performances] through trickery."[61] He has claimed that even though
his spoon bending can be repeated using trickery, he uses psychic
powers to achieve his results.[61] Skeptic James Randi has stated that
if Geller is truly using his mind to perform these feats, "He is doing it
the hard way."[62]
Stage magicians note several methods of creating the illusion of a
spoon spontaneously bending. Most common is the practice of
misdirection, an underlying principle of many stage magic tricks.[63]
There are many ways in which a bent spoon can be presented to an
audience as to give the appearance it was manipulated using
supernatural powers. One way is through brief moments of distraction
in which a magician can physically bend a spoon unseen by the
audience,[62] before gradually revealing the bend to create the illusion
that the spoon is bending before the viewers' eyes. [62] Another way is
to pre-bend the spoon, perhaps by heating it, reducing the amount of
force that needed to be applied to bend it manually. [62]
During telepathic drawing demonstrations, Geller claimed the ability
to read the minds of subjects as they draw a picture. Although in
these demonstrations he cannot see the picture being drawn, he is
sometimes present in the room, and on these occasions can see the
subjects as they draw. Critics argue this may allow Geller to infer
common shapes from pencil movement and sound, with the power of
suggestion doing the rest.[63]

Watchmakers have noted that "many supposedly broken watches had

merely been stopped by gummy oil, and simply holding them in the
hand would warm the oil enough to soften it and allow watches to
resume ticking."[50]
In 1978, Yasha Katz, who had been Geller's manager in Britain, said
that all performances by Geller were simply stage tricks, and he
explained how they were really done.[2][64]
In November 2008, Geller accepted an award during a convention of
magicians, the Services to Promotion of Magic Award from the
Berglas Foundation. In his acceptance speech, Geller said that if he
hadn't had psychic powers then he "must be the greatest" to have
been able to fool journalists, scientists and Berglas himself.[65] In
October 2012, Geller gave a lecture for magicians in the United
States at the Genii Magazine 75th Birthday Bash. [66]

Scientific testing[edit]
Geller's performances of drawing duplication and cutlery bending
usually take place under informal conditions such as television
interviews. During his early career he allowed some scientists to
investigate his claims. A study by Stanford Research Institute (now
known as SRI International) conducted by parapsychologists Harold
E. Puthoff and Russell Targ in 1974 concluded that he had performed
successfully enough to warrant further serious study, and the "Gellereffect" was coined to refer to the particular type of abilities they felt
had been demonstrated.[67][68]
In An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and
Supernatural, Randi wrote: "Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ, who
studied Mr. Geller at the Stanford Research Institute were aware, in
one instance at least, that they were being shown a magician's trick
by Geller."[69] Moreover, Randi explained, "Their protocols for this
'serious' investigation of the powers claimed by Geller were described
by Dr. Ray Hyman, who investigated the project on behalf of the
Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency, as

'sloppy and inadequate.'"[69] Critics have pointed out that both Puthoff
and Targ were already believers in paranormal powers and Geller
was not adequately searched before the experiments. [70] The
psychologist C. E. M. Hansel and skeptic Paul Kurtz have noted that
the experiments were poorly designed and open to trickery. [71][72]
Notable critics of the experiments include psychologists Dr. David
Marks and Dr. Richard Kammann, who published a description of how
Geller could have cheated in an informal test of his so-called psychic
powers in 1977.[73] Their 1978 article in Nature[74] and 1980 book The
Psychology of the Psychic (2nd ed. 2000) described how a normal
explanation was possible for Geller's alleged psychic powers. [75] Marks
and Kammann found evidence that while at SRI, Geller was allowed
to peek through a hole in the laboratory wall separating Geller from
the drawings he was being invited to reproduce. The drawings he was
asked to reproduce were placed on a wall opposite the peep hole
which the investigators Targ and Puthoff had stuffed with cotton
gauze. In addition to this error, the investigators had also allowed
Geller access to a two-way intercom enabling Geller to listen to the
investigators' conversation during the time when they were choosing
and/or displaying the target drawings. These basic errors indicate the
high importance of ensuring that psychologists, magicians or other
people with an in-depth knowledge of perception, who are trained in
methods for blocking sensory cues, be present during the testing of
psychics.[75] Marks after evaluating the experiments wrote that none of
Geller's paranormal claims have been demonstrated in scientifically
controlled conditions, he concluded "Geller has no psychic ability
whatsoever. However, I believe him to be a very clever, well-practiced
magician."[75]

The Tonight Show[edit]

Geller refused to bend any tableware during a 1973 appearance on

The Tonight Show in which the spoons he was to bend had been preselected by Johnny Carson. When pressed by Carson, he claimed

that he did not feel "strong" that night. A former magician, Carson was
skeptical of Geller's abilities and consulted James Randi for advice on
how to thwart potential trickery.[35]
In 1993 Randi explained in "Secrets of the Psychics" for the NOVA
television series: "I was asked to prevent any trickery. I told them to
provide their own props and not to let Geller or his people anywhere
near them." A clip of this incident was televised on the NBC show
Phenomenon. This two-minute clip has been widely circulated on the
Internet since James Randi acquired permission to use it from NBC
and Carson paid for the videotape transfer. [76]

Controversial performances[edit]
Wikinews has related
news: Criss Angel
challenges Uri Geller
and Jim Callahan over
paranormal claims

As part of a mass demonstration, Gellers photograph appeared on

the cover of the magazine ESP with the caption "On Sept. 1, 1976 at
11pm E.D.T. THIS COVER CAN BEND YOUR KEYS." According to
editor Howard Smukler, over 300 positive responses were received,
many including bent objects and detailed descriptions of the
surrounding circumstances including the bending of the key to the city
of Providence, Rhode Island.[77]
Television presenter Noel Edmonds often used hidden cameras to
record celebrities in Candid Camera-like situations for his television
programme, Noel's House Party. In 1996, Edmonds planned a stunt
in which shelves would fall from the walls of a room while Geller was
in it. The cameras recorded footage of Geller from angles he was not
expecting, and they showed Geller grasping a spoon firmly with both
hands as he stood up to display a bend in it. [78]
In late 2006 and early 2007, Geller starred in The Successor, an
Israeli television show to find his "successor." During one segment, a

compass was made to move, apparently as a result of Geller's

paranormal abilities. However, critics say slow motion footage of the
episode showed Geller attaching a magnet to his thumb immediately
prior to the compass's movement.[79][80] Geller denied that this was
sleight of hand, and said he welcomed the "mystical aura" that the
publicity gave him.[81]
Geller performed the same compass trick in 2000 on ABC TV's The
View, which was later duplicated by Randi on the same show the
following week.[82]

Litigation[edit]

Geller has litigated or threatened legal action against some of his

critics with mixed success.[83] These included libel allegations against
Randi and illusionist Grard Majax.
In 1971, a mechanical engineering student called Uri Goldstein
attended one of Geller's shows, and subsequently sued the show's
promoters for breach of contract. He complained that Geller had
promised a demonstration of several psychic powers but had
delivered only sleight-of-hand and stage tricks. The case came before
the civil court in Beersheba.[84] Geller was not present as the
summons had been sent to the office of the promoter Miki Peled, who
had ignored it as being trivial. Goldstein was awarded 27.5 lira
(around $5) for breach of contract. Later, Goldstein admitted that he
went to the show specifically with the intent of suing to get his money
back, and he had already found a lawyer to represent him prior to
attending the performance.[85]
In a 1989 interview with a Japanese newspaper, Randi was quoted as
saying that Geller had driven a scientist to "shoot himself in the head"
after finding out that Geller had fooled him. Randi afterwards claimed
it was a metaphor lost in translation.[86] The story was also repeated in
a Canadian newspaper, which quoted Randi as saying essentially the
same thing: "One scientist, a metallurgist, wrote a paper backing
Geller's claims that he could bend metal. The scientist shot himself

after I showed him how the key bending trick was done." [87] In 1990,
Geller sued Randi in a Japanese court over the statements published
in the Japanese newspaper. Randi claims that he could not afford to
defend himself, therefore he lost the case by default. The court
declared Randi's statement an "insult" as opposed to libel, and
awarded a token judgement against Randi, only "one-third of onepercent of what he'd demanded"[88]). Since the charge of "insult" is
only recognized in Chinese and Japanese law, Randi was not
required to pay.[88][89][90] Later in 1995 Geller agreed not to pursue
payment of the Japanese fine.[83] Randi maintains that he has "never
paid even one dollar or even one cent to anyone who ever sued" him.
[90]

Wikisource has original

text related to this article:
Uri Geller vs. James
Randi decision

In 1992, Geller filed a $15 million suit against Randi and CSICOP for
statements made in an International Herald Tribune interview in April
9, 1991,[83][86] but he was unsuccessful because the statute of
limitations had expired.[83] In 1994 Geller asked to dismiss without
prejudice, and he was ordered to pay $50,000 for the publisher's
attorney fees. After not paying in time, Geller was sanctioned with an
additional $20,000. Due to the sanction, the suit was dismissed with
prejudice, which, according to Randi's attorneys, means that Geller
can't pursue the same suit in any other jurisdiction. [83][91] In 1995 Geller
and Randi announced that this settled "the last remaining suits"
between him and the CSICOP.[89] As part of the settlement, Geller
agreed not to pursue the payment of the 1990 Japanese ruling, in
exchange for Prometheus Books inserting an errata on all future
editions of Physics and Psychics, correcting erroneous statements
made about Geller.[89] According to Marcello Truzzi, Randi had spent
all the money from his McArthur award, and his current attorney was

working pro bono.[83]

In 1991, Geller sued Timex Corporation and the advertising firm
Fallon McElligott for millions in Geller v. Fallon McElligott[92] over an ad
showing a person bending forks and other items, but failing to stop a
Timex watch. Geller was sanctioned $149,000 for filing a frivolous
lawsuit.[93]
In 1998, the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) in the United
Kingdom rejected a complaint made by Geller, saying that it "wasn't
unfair to have magicians showing how they duplicate those 'psychic
feats'" on the UK Equinox episode "Secrets of the Super Psychics"
(this film, made by Open Media, was known on first transmission as
Secrets of the Psychics but should not be confused with the earlier
NOVA film of the same name).[94] The full text of the BSC adjudication
is available online here [4].[95]
He also considered a suit against IKEA over a furniture line featuring
bent legs that was called the "Uri" line.[96]