A WORLD famous magician and wartime entertainer is starting his retirement at Queen Elizabeth Court care home in Llandudno, after 80 years in show business.

Mark Raffles, aged 97, who is now a resident at the home, which is run by the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution care company, is looking forward to a well-earned rest having entertained millions of people all over the world, including D Day troops during the Second World War.

Mark became a regular on British TV screens during the 60s, 70s and 80s, appearing on popular variety shows with his famous pickpocket act under the stage name of Ray St Clair.

Born in January 1922 in Manchester, Mark discovered he had a gift for magic at an early age. His family were in showbiz, his grandfather was a comedy star in music hall, while his uncle F.V. St Clair appeared in the very first Royal Variety Command Performance in 1912. Mark’s mother Amelia appeared with film legend Charlie Chaplin in the original stage production of Casey Court.

Mark’s first professional engagement was in 1938 at the Queen’s Park Hippodrome in Manchester. He performed a silent magic act due to having a debilitating stammer.

With the onset of the Second World War, having failed his army medical because of his stammer, Mark worked as a bricklayer building air raid shelters. He was also part of the Air Raid Precautions rescue squad during the Manchester blitz.

Before long, Mark was directed into the Entertainments National Service Association, an organisation set up to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel. For the next three years, Mark entertained servicemen and women in army barracks and theatres all over the UK.

It was during this time that Mark developed his famous pickpocket routine, standing in the foyer before the show looking like the perfect gentleman who later produced items on stage, stolen from the amazed audience.

Following D Day in 1944, Mark was drafted into Europe, performing to British, American and Canadian troops. In May 1945, soon after Liberation Day, he performed for troops and civilians in the Channel Island of Guernsey.

After the war, Mark returned to playing the music halls with his famous on-stage pickpocket act. He first appeared on our television screens in 1949.

Mark began a new act after falling in love with his late wife Joan. For many years the couple toured as ‘Mark Raffles and Joan’. They had three children who followed them into showbiz.

Mark and Joan later took over a well-known variety act called The Wychwoods. They had 12 toy poodles, which were seemingly produced out of thin air. The act played during summer seasons, pantomime and television for twelve years.

Mark, who was known as the oldest working magician in the world before his retirement, said: “I’ve had a marvellous life and I am lucky to have been able to continue for as long as I have. Magic has led me to meet all sorts of interesting people and enabled me to serve my country.”