Uri Geller

Template:Paranormal Uri Geller (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Langx; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other illusions. Geller uses conjuring tricks to simulate the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy. Geller's career as an entertainer has spanned more than four decades, with television shows and appearances in many countries. Magicians have called Geller a fraud because of his claims of possessing psychic powers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Geller was born on 20 December 1946 in Tel Aviv, which was then part of the British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel). His mother and father were of Austrian-Jewish and Hungarian-Jewish background respectively. Geller is the son of Itzhaak Geller (Gellér Izsák), a retired army sergeant major, and Margaret "Manzy" Freud (Freud Manci). Geller claims that he is a distant relative of Sigmund Freud on his mother's side.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

At the age of 11 Geller moved with his family to Nicosia in what was then British-ruled Cyprus, where he attended high school, the Terra Santa College, and learned English. At the age of 18<ref name="Randi 1982">Template:Cite bookTemplate:Rp</ref> he joined the Israeli Army's Paratroopers Brigade,<ref name="GuardianGeller">Template:Cite news</ref> with which he served in the 1967 Six-Day War, and was wounded in action.<ref name="APwounded">Template:Cite news (also in MSNBC [1] and possibly other sites)</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He worked as a photographic model in 1968 and 1969, during which time he began to perform for small audiences as a nightclub entertainer,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> becoming well known in Israel.<ref name="J_Post">Template:Cite news</ref>

Geller first started to perform in theatres, public halls, auditoriums, military bases and universities in Israel.<ref>Margolis, pp. 92, 103, 107, 112, 118</ref> The parapsychologist Andrija Puharich met Geller in 1971 and assisted him in travelling to the United States.Template:R

Television and film career

Geller became famous demonstrating on television what he claimed to be psychokinesis, dowsing and telepathy.<ref name="GellerBend">Template:Cite news</ref> His performance included spoon bending, describing hidden drawings and making watches stop or run faster. Geller said he performed those feats through willpower and the strength of his mind.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His apparent ability to bend metal objects during his television appearances came to be known as the "Geller effect" and made him a celebrity.<ref name="Melton 2008">Template:Cite book</ref> The work of magician and investigator James Randi was the main factor in revealing that Geller's actual methods were stage magic tricks.<ref name="Alcock 1981">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Regal 2009">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Hurley 2010">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1973, Geller appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, an appearance recounted in both Randi's book The Truth About Uri Geller<ref name="randi-1982">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp and in the Nova documentary episode "Secrets of the Psychics" hosted by Randi on PBS.Template:RTemplate:Rp In the documentary, Randi says that "Johnny had been a magician himself and was skeptical" of Geller's claimed paranormal powers, so before the date of taping, Randi was asked "to help prevent any trickery"; accordingly, the show's staff prepared its own props without informing Geller and did not let Geller or his staff "anywhere near them".Template:RTemplate:Rp When Geller joined Carson on stage, he appeared surprised that he was not going to be interviewed, but instead was expected to display his abilities using the provided articles. Geller said "This scares me" and "As you know, I told your people what to bring", and "I'm surprised because before this program your producer came and he read me at least 40 questions you were going to ask me". Geller was unable to display any paranormal abilities, saying "I don't feel strong", and expressed his displeasure at feeling he was being "pressed" to perform by Carson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Adam Higginbotham:

This appearance on The Tonight Show, which Carson and Randi had orchestrated to debunk Geller's claimed abilities, backfired. According to Higginbotham,

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.<ref name="hattam">Template:Cite news</ref> In June 1986, the Australian Skeptic reported that Geller had been paid $250,000 and granted an option of 1,250,000 Zanex shares at $0.20 each until 5 June 1987.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> However "no diamonds had come from the site identified by Geller."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

British 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.<ref name="Skeptics Society">Template:Cite AV media</ref>Template:Time needed

Geller doing a spoon-bending trick in a mall in Switzerland, 2005

Geller starred in the horror film Sanitarium (2001), directed by Johannes Roberts and James Eaves. In May 2002 he appeared as a contestant on the first series of the 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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 (Template:Lang), where the contestants supposedly displayed supernatural powers; Israeli magicians criticised the program, saying that it was all magic tricks. Geller said he welcomed the "mystical aura" that the publicity gave him.<ref name="BBC Trickery">Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2007, NBC signed Geller and Criss Angel for Phenomenon, to search for the next great mentalist; contestant Mike Super won the position.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In January 2008, Geller began hosting the TV show The Next Uri Geller, broadcast by Pro7 in Germany.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> He also appeared on the Dutch television program De Nieuwe Uri Geller, which shares a similar TV format to its German counterpart. The goal of the programme was to find the best mentalist in the Netherlands. In March 2008, he started the same show in Hungary (A kiválasztott in Hungarian). During the show, Geller speaks in both Hungarian and English. Geller also performs his standard routines of making stopped watches start, spoons jump from televisions, and tables move. Geller co-produced the TV show Book of Knowledge, released in April 2008.<ref name="variety 2008 show">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In October 2009, a similar show, called The Successor of Uri Geller,<ref name="antenna.gr 2009 show">Template:Cite web</ref> aired on Greek television.

In 2013, a BBC documentary, The Secret Life of Uri Geller – Psychic Spy?, featured Uri Geller, Benjamin Netanyahu, Christopher "Kit" Green, Paul H. Smith, Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ. The documentary claimed Geller became a "psychic spy" for the CIA, was recruited by Mossad, and worked as an "official secret agent" in Mexico, being a frequent guest of President José López Portillo. In the film, Geller claims to have erased floppy discs carried by KGB agents by repeatedly chanting the word "erase".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Paranormal claims

Geller has claimed his feats are the result of paranormal powers<ref name="GellerBend"/> given to him by extraterrestrials.<ref name="Frum">Template:Cite book</ref> The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) was a prominent early critic of Geller.Template:R Skeptics such as James Randi have shown that Geller's tricks can be replicated with stage magic techniques.Template:R

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 53,000 light years away.<ref name="Samuel 2011">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Kurtz, Paul. (1985). A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. Prometheus Books. p. 211. Template:ISBN "Hypnotized by Puharich, Geller identified himself as "Spectra", a computer aboard a spaceship from a distant galaxy. Under the control of "Hoova" he was sent to intervene on earth and Puharich was to assist Geller. How much of this was due to Puharich's or Geller's fantasies and how much was a result of pure fabrication on the part of both is difficult to say. The "intelligences" that Uri drew upon were from outer space. For many, UFOlogy has become a new religion, replete with science-fiction imagery of the post-modern world. And Uri, like countless others, has embellished his mission with fanciful space-age symbols."</ref> Geller later denied the space fantasy claims, but affirmed there "is a slight possibility that some of my energies do have extraterrestrial connection."<ref name="Shepard">Template:Cite book</ref> Puharich also stated that Geller teleported a dog through the walls of his house. Science writer Martin Gardner wrote that since "no expert on fraud was there as an observer” nobody should take the claim seriously.<ref>Kurtz, Paul. (1985). A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. Prometheus Books. p. 356. Template:ISBN</ref>

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 was likely to occur if humans did not change their ways.<ref name="Evans 1974">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The psychologist Christopher Evans, who reviewed the book in New Scientist, wrote that although Puharich believed 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 [...] will be the most disappointed of all."<ref name="Evans 1974"/> James Randi has written that the biography contained "silly theories," but was "both a boost and a millstone to Geller."<ref name="Randi 1982"/>Template:Rp

In 1992, Geller was asked to investigate the kidnapping of Hungarian model Helga Farkas. He predicted she would be found in good health but she was never found and is widely believed to have been murdered.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Geller was a friend of Bruce Bursford and helped him "train his mind" during some cycling speed-record-breaking bids in the 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1997, Geller was involved with Second Division football club Exeter City by placing ‘energy-infused’ crystals behind the goals at Exeter's ground to help the club win a crucial end-of-season game. (Exeter lost the game 5–1.) 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 ties with the club. He had also been involved with Reading F.C. and claimed in 2002 that he had helped them to avoid relegation by getting the club's supporters to look into his eyes and say "win, Reading, win". Reading manager, Alan Pardew, dismissed Geller's role in the club's survival – which was achieved thanks to a draw in the critical match – stating "as soon as we get a bit of joy, thanks to all the hard work and efforts of my staff and players, he suddenly comes out of the blue and tries to claim the limelight."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In a 2008 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."<ref name="Telepolis">Template:Cite news</ref> 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!"<ref name="Telepolis"/>

In March 2019, The Guardian reported that Geller wrote an open letter to the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, stating that he would telepathically prevent her from leading Britain out of the European Union. In Geller's words, "As much as I admire you, I will stop you telepathically from doing this – and believe me I am capable of executing it."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31st January 2020 under the leadership of May's successor, Boris Johnson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Stage magic parallels

Many scientists, magicians, and skeptics have suggested possible ways in which Geller could have tricked his audience by using misdirection while bending objects such as keys and spoons manually.<ref name="Jones 2002">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:R<ref name="Harris 1987">Template:Cite book</ref> There are many ways in which a bent spoon can be presented to an audience so 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 or other object unseen by the audience, before gradually revealing the bend to create the illusion that the spoon is bending before the viewers' eyes. Another way is to pre-bend the spoon, reducing the amount of force that needs to be applied to bend it again.Template:R<ref name="NOVA Secrets">Template:Cite episode</ref>Template:Rp Critics have accused Geller of using his demonstrations fraudulently outside the entertainment business.<ref name="Gardner 1989">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Page needed James Randi, one of Geller's most prominent critics, wrote The Truth About Uri Geller explaining how Geller's various alleged supernatural abilities, such as spoon bending and telekinesis, can be easily reproduced by any magician using sleight of hand.<ref name="randi-1982" />

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.<ref name="J_Post"/> A 1974 article in Haolam Hazeh alleged that Geller's manager Shipi Shtrang and Shipi's sister Hannah Shtrang secretly helped in Geller's performances.<ref name="Booth 1986">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Twirls">"Uri Geller Twirls the Entire World on His Little Finger; Only His Closest Acquaintances Know His Methods," Haolam Hazeh, 20 February 1974.</ref> In Geller's first autobiography, My Story, he acknowledged that, in his early career, his manager talked him into adding a magic trick to make his performances last longer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This trick involved Geller appearing to guess audience members' car registration numbers, when his manager had given them to him ahead of time. Yasha Katz, who had been Geller's manager in Britain, said in 1978 that all performances by Geller were simply stage tricks and he explained how they were really done.<ref name="Randi 1978">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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 Geller's psychic feats could be duplicated by stage magic. Martin Gardner wrote that Panati had been fooled by Geller's trickery and The Geller Papers were an "embarrassing anthology".<ref name="Gardner 2003">Template:Cite book</ref>

During telepathic drawing demonstrations, Geller claimed the ability to read the minds of subjects as they drew 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.<ref name="Harris 1987" />

Geller admits, "Sure, there are magicians who can duplicate [my performances] through trickery."<ref name="UGSInterview">Template:Cite news</ref> He has claimed that even though his spoon bending can be repeated using trickery, he uses psychic powers to achieve his results.<ref name="UGSInterview" /> 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.<ref>Feynman, Richard (1985). Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, p. 339</ref> Randi has stated that if Geller is truly using his mind to perform these feats, "He is doing it the hard way."<ref name="NOVA Secrets" />Template:Verify source

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 had not had psychic powers then he "must be the greatest" to have been able to fool journalists, scientists, and Berglas himself.<ref name="Service To Magic Award">Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2012, Geller gave a lecture for magicians in the United States at the Genii Magazine 75th Birthday Bash.<ref>Linking Ring Magazine. August 2012, p. 9</ref>

Scientific testing

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. When Geller's supposed abilities were tested by the US Central Intelligence Agency in 1973, the experimenters concluded that Geller had "demonstrated his paranormal perceptual ability in a convincing and unambiguous manner".<ref name="Larimer">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="CIAsri">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BBCsri">Template:Cite news</ref>

A study was commissioned by the United States Defense Intelligence Agency as part of the Stargate Project and conducted during August 1973 at Stanford Research Institute (now known as SRI International) by parapsychologists Harold E. Puthoff and Russell Targ. Geller was isolated and asked to reproduce simple drawings prepared in another room. Writing about the same study in a 1974 article published in the journal Nature, they concluded that he had performed successfully enough to warrant further serious study.<ref name=j1>Template:Cite journal</ref>

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 [...] Their protocols for this 'serious' investigation of the powers claimed by Geller were described by Ray Hyman, who investigated the project on behalf of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency, as 'sloppy and inadequate.Template:' "<ref name="Randi 1995">Template:Cite book</ref> Critics have pointed out that both Puthoff and Targ were already believers in paranormal powers and Geller was not adequately searched before the experiments.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The psychologist C. E. M. Hansel and skeptic Paul Kurtz have noted that the experiments were poorly designed and open to trickery.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Critics of the experiments include psychologists David Marks and Richard Kammann, who published a description of how Geller could have cheated in an informal test of his so-called psychic powers in 1977.<ref>Marks, David and Kammann, Richard (Summer 1977) "The Non-Psychic Powers of Uri Geller". Skeptical Inquirer, 1(2): 9–17.</ref> Their 1978 article in Nature<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and 1980 book The Psychology of the Psychic (2nd ed. 2000) described how a normal explanation was possible for Geller's alleged psychic powers.<ref name="Marks 2000">Marks, David; Kammann, Richard. (2000). The Psychology of the Psychic. Prometheus Books. pp. 137–187. Template:ISBN.Template:Page range too broad</ref> Marks and Kammann found evidence that while at SRI, Geller was allowed to peek through a hole in the laboratory wall separating him from the drawings he was being invited to reproduce. These drawings were placed on a wall opposite the peephole 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 him to listen to the investigators' conversation during the times when they were choosing and/or displaying the target drawings. These basic errors indicate the great 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.<ref name="Marks 2000"/> Marks, after evaluating the experiments, wrote that none of Geller's paranormal claims had been demonstrated in scientifically controlled conditions, concluding that "Geller has no psychic ability whatsoever. However, I believe him to be a very clever, well-practiced magician."<ref name="Marks 2000"/> Marks and Kammann tested Geller's ability to mentally repair watches and found 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."<ref name="Rensberger">Template:Cite news</ref>

Litigation

Geller has litigated or threatened legal action against some of his critics with mixed results.Template:R<ref name="Truzzi">Template:Cite magazine</ref> These included libel allegations against James Randi and illusionist Gérard Majax.

In 1971, mechanical engineering student 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.<ref>Randi, James (1982) The Truth About Uri Geller, Prometheus Books, pp. viii, 198, 215, Template:ISBN. Randi quotes "Legerdemain ruled breach of contract", The Jerusalem Post, 5 January 1971. Quoted in "An Apology from James Randi", Urigeller.com.</ref> 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 IL27.5 (around $5) for breach of contract. Later, Goldstein admitted that he went to the show specifically with the intention of suing to get his money back, and he had already found a lawyer to represent him prior to attending the performance.<ref>Margolis, Jonathan. (1998). Uri Geller Magician or Mystic. Orion Publishing Group. p. 113. Template:ISBN</ref>

In a 1989 interview with a Japanese newspaper, James 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.<ref name="cuckoos">Cuckoos and Cocoa Puffs by Carol Krol Template:Webarchive Skeptical Eye – Vol. 8, No. 3, 1995, a newsletter published by the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS)</ref> 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."<ref>Orwen, Patricia (23 August 1986) The Amazing Randi, Toronto Star. p. M.1</ref> In 1990, Geller sued Randi in a Japanese court over the statements published in the Japanese newspaper. Randi claimed 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 him, paying Geller only "one-third of one-percent of what he'd demanded".<ref name="randi 1994"/> Since the charge of "insult" is only recognized in Chinese and Japanese law, Randi was not required to pay.<ref name="randi 1994">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="geller_psir">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="randi 2007">Template:Cite web</ref> Later in 1995, Geller agreed not to pursue payment of the Japanese fine.<ref name="Truzzi"/> Randi maintained that he had never paid anything to Geller.<ref name="randi 2007" /> Template:Wikisource

In 1992, Geller filed a $15 million suit against Randi and CSICOP for statements made in an International Herald Tribune interview on 9 April 1991,<ref name="Truzzi"/><ref name="cuckoos"/> but he was unsuccessful because the statute of limitations had expired.<ref name="Truzzi"/> 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 cannot pursue the same suit in any other jurisdiction.<ref name="Truzzi"/><ref name="CiscopLibel" >Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Geller v. Randi, US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 1994.</ref> In 1995, Geller and Randi announced that this settled "the last remaining suits" between him and the CSICOP.<ref name="geller_psir"/> 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 him.<ref name="geller_psir"/>

In 1991, Geller sued Timex Corporation and the advertising firm Fallon McElligott for millions in Geller v. Fallon McElligott<ref>(No. 90-Civ-2839, 22 July 1991)</ref> 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.<ref name="randi 1994" />

In 1998, the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) in the United Kingdom rejected a complaint made by Geller, (the BSC) 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".<ref>This film, made by Open Media, was known on first transmission as Secrets of the Psychics (not to be confused with the earlier PBS documentary film of the same name).</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

In 1999, Geller considered a suit against IKEA over a furniture line featuring bent legs that was called the "Uri" line.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Copyright claims

In November 2000, Geller sued video game company Nintendo for £60 million over the Pokémon species "Template:Lang", localized in English as "Kadabra", which he claimed was an unauthorized appropriation of his identity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="gellerbbc">Template:Cite news</ref> The Pokémon in question has psychic abilities and carries a spoon. Geller also claimed that the star on Kadabra's forehead and the lightning patterns on its abdomen are symbolisms popular with the Waffen SS of Nazi Germany.<ref name="gellerbbc" /> The katakana for the character's name, ユンゲラー, is visually similar to the transliteration of Geller's own name into Japanese (ユリゲラー). He is quoted as saying: "Nintendo turned me into an evil, occult Pokémon character. Nintendo stole my identity by using my name and my signature image."<ref name="gellerbbc" /> Pokémon anime director and storyboard artist Masamitsu Hidaka confirmed in an interview that Kadabra would not be used on a Pokémon Trading Card until an agreement was reached on the case. In November 2020, Geller issued an apology and agreed to allow cards depicting Kadabra to be printed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>

Template:Wikisource In 2007, Geller issued a DMCA notice to YouTube to remove a video uploaded by Brian Sapient of the "Rational Response Squad" which was excerpted from an episode of the Nova television series titled "Secrets of the Psychics". The video included footage of Geller failing to perform. In response, Sapient contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, issued a DMCA counter-notice, and sued Geller for misuse of the DMCA. Geller's company, Explorologist, filed a counter-suit. Both cases were settled out of court; a monetary settlement was paid (but it is not clear whether Sapient paid Geller or vice versa) and the eight seconds of footage owned by Explorologist were licensed under a noncommercial Creative Commons license.<ref>Sapient v. Geller, Electronic Frontier Foundation</ref>

Personal life

Geller married wife Hanna Geller in 1979.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Michael Jackson was best man when Geller renewed his wedding vows in 2001.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Geller also negotiated the TV interview between Jackson with the journalist Martin Bashir, Living with Michael Jackson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later, however, Jackson reportedly kept an "enemy list" on which Geller appeared, along with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, attorney Gloria Allred, music executive Tommy Mottola, DA Tom Sneddon, and Janet Arvizo, mother of a Jackson accuser.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following Jackson's death, ITV broadcast an interview with Geller about his association with Jackson, titled My Friend Michael Jackson: Uri's Story, in July 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 11 February 2009, Geller purchased the uninhabited 100-metre-by-50-metre Lamb Island off the eastern coast of Scotland, previously known for its witch trials, and beaches that Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have described in his novel Treasure Island. Geller claims that buried on the island is Egyptian treasure, brought there by Scota, the mythological half-sister of Tutankhamen in Irish mythology, 3,500 years ago. He claimed that he will find the treasure through dowsing. Geller also claimed to have strengthened the mystical powers of the island by burying there a crystal orb once belonging to Albert Einstein.<ref>Wall Street Journal, 23 August 2010, 1. The article quoted Geller as saying that "I'm certain there are ancient Egyptian artifacts there. It's only a matter of time until we find them."</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022, Geller sought to declare Lamb as Republic of Lamb, a micronation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2014, a 12-foot-tall statue of a gorilla made from approximately 40,000 metal spoons was unveiled in Geller's Berkshire garden by the Duke of Kent, with the intention of possibly relocating it to Great Ormond Street Hospital.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The statue was welded by sculptor Alfie Bradley, and funded by the British Ironworks Centre of Oswestry. According to Bradley, many of the spoons were donated by schoolchildren from around the world. Speaking at the unveiling, Geller said "This will not raise money for charity. It will do something better. It will amaze sick children."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geller has lived in Tel Aviv in Israel since 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He previously lived in the village of Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire, in England.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is trilingual, speaking fluent Hebrew, Hungarian and English.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In an appearance on Esther Rantzen's 1996 television talk show Esther, Geller declared that he had suffered from anorexia nervosa and bulimia<ref name="Glammonitor">Template:Cite news</ref> for several years.<ref name="Telegraph anorexia">Template:Cite news</ref> He has written 16 fiction and non-fiction books.

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021 Geller opened the Uri Geller Museum located at 7 Mazal Arieh Street in Old Jaffa in Tel Aviv. The museum exhibits the personal collection of art and objects that Geller has collected throughout his career. It also features an archaeological display of the ancient soap factory that was discovered during the museum's renovation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Publications

Fiction

• Ella. Martinez Roca, 1999. Template:ISBN
• Shawn. Goodyer Associates Ltd. Template:ISBN
• Pampini. World Authors, 1980. Template:ISBN
• Dead Cold. Template:ISBN

Nonfiction

• My Story. Henry Holt & Company, Inc. (1975) Template:ISBN
• Uri Geller and Guy Lyon Playfair. The Geller Effect. Grafton, Jonathan Cape, Hunter Publishing, (1988) Template:ISBN
• Uri Geller and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Confessions of a Psychic and a Rabbi. (Foreword by Deepak Chopra) Element Books Ltd (2000) Template:ISBN
• Uri Geller and Lulu Appleton. Mind Medicine. Element Books Ltd (1999) Template:ISBN
• Uri Geller's Little Book of Mind Power. Robson Books (1999) Template:ISBN
• Uri Geller's Mind Power Kit. Penguin US (1996) Template:ISBN
• Uri Geller's Fortune Secrets. (Edited with Simon Turnbull) Psychic Hotline Pty Limited (1987) Template:ISBN
• Unorthodox Encounters. Chrysalis Books (2001) Template:ISBN

Further reading

• Jonathan Margolis "Uri Geller: Magician or Mystic?" (Apostrophe Books 2013)
• Bob Couttie, Forbidden Knowledge: The Paranormal Paradox, Chapter 1, "A Meeting with Uri Geller" (Lutterworth Press, Cambridge, 1988)
• Jim Collins The Strange Story of Uri Geller. Raintree, 1975 Template:ISBN (48 pages)
• Ebon, Martin. The Amazing Uri Geller. Signet 1975. Template:ISBN
• Ben Harris Gellerism Revealed. Micky Hades International 1985 Template:ISBN
• Gardner, Martin. Confessions of a Psychic. (under the pseudonym "Uriah Fuller" (an allusion to Geller) that purport to explain "how fake psychics perform seemingly incredible paranormal feats.") Karl Fulves, 1975.
• Gardner, Martin. Further Confessions of a Psychic. (under the pseudonym "Uriah Fuller") 1980.
• Template:Cite journal Reply to Randi's article of 6 April 1978.
• Panati, Charles. The Geller Papers. Houghton Mifflin.
• Puharich, Andrija, Uri: A Journal of the Mystery of Uri Geller. Anchor Press / Doubleday
• Randi, James, The Truth About Uri Geller. Prometheus Books, 1982. Template:ISBN
• Taylor, John G. Superminds. Macmillan/Picador
• Wilhelm, John. In Search of Superman. Pocket Books, 1976. Template:ISBN
• Wilson, Colin. The Geller Phenomenon. Aldus Books, 1976. Template:ISBN

Comics

• Guest appearance as a character in Daredevil #133 (May 1976), Let’s Level With Daredevil. Uri-geller.com. Retrieved on 10 June 2016.

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:Official website
• Template:Official website
• Template:IMDb name

Media

• Template:Webarchive

Archival materials

• Colin Wilson Papers (2 document boxes) housed at the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy of the University of California, Riverside Libraries. This collection Includes original manuscripts and other materials written and collected by Wilson regarding Uri Geller.