The Tragic Tale of Chung Ling Soo: The Magician Who Lived a Lie Chung Ling Soo, one of the most famous magicians of the early 20th century, was a man built on deception. Born William Ellsworth Robinson in New York in 1861, he created the character of Chung Ling Soo—a Chinese magician trained in ancient black magic—to achieve fame. For 18 years, Robinson maintained the illusion, pretending to speak little English, traveling with a translator, and having his assistant, Olive Path, pose as his Chin