Marshall Brodien, who played Wizzo The Wizard on 'Bozo' show, dies at 84
Editor's note: Brodien died early Friday. This information was incorrectly reported in an earlier posted version.
Groundbreaking magician Marshall Brodien - known to a generation of television viewers as the beloved Wizzo the Wizard clown on "Bozo's Circus" - died early Friday morning at age 84 in Geneva.
"When he passed, I was sitting next to him, my head on his pillow," said Mary Doyle Brodien, his wife of 24 years. "I was holding his hand, praying and talking to him."
Suffering for more than a decade from Alzheimer's disease, the longtime Geneva resident died at Arden Courts of Geneva, where he lived in recent years. His children were with him throughout the past week, his widow said.
Born in Chicago, Brodien learned his first magic trick at age 8 and by his teen years was making his living as a magician. The gregarious Brodien liked telling the story of how he was working in a rough nightclub frequented by mobsters when a patron held a gun to his head and forced Brodien to reveal how a trick was done.
He built a financial empire selling his "TV Magic Cards" through TV commercials in which he demonstrated a series of tricks with his special deck, which were ubiquitous at Walgreens, Dominick's, Goldblatts and magic shops.
Making guest appearances on Bozo during the late 1960s, Brodien developed his Wizzo character and became a regular on the show, where he performed magic with his special "Stone of Zanzibar" and the magic words "doody doody doo" until 1994. At his home in Geneva, Brodien built a museum of magic in his basement.
"He was a gentle man," his wife said. "Everybody was his friend, and everybody thought he was their friend."
Diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007, Brodien was inducted into the Chicago Silver Circle of television in 2012. While in the midst of his dementia, Brodien was asked to make a quick cameo on a WGN-TV news spot featuring Geneva and his magician son, Marshall Brodien Jr.
"He was fighting. He didn't want to shower. He didn't want to get dressed. He didn't want to eat. He didn't want to go," remembered his widow. But when his son gave the cue, Brodien perfectly performed his catchphrase, "Doody. Doody. Doo."
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns proclaimed July 10, 2018, Brodien's 84th birthday, as "Marshall Brodien Day" in the city of Geneva.
His wife wrote a book, "Navigating Alzheimer's," about her years as a caregiver in their Geneva home and became an advocate to help people understand the disease. Her new book, "The Alzheimer's Spouse," will be out soon.
Brodien also is survived by his son, magician Marshall Brodien Jr.; daughter Anita Brazau; son John Brodien; stepchildren Joey, Lisa and Erin; and 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His daughter, Christine Brodien, died of ovarian cancer in 2016.