JAY, RICKY

Contributed by: The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia by Steven Jay Rubin

(June 26, 1946–November 24, 2018; birth name: Richard Jay Potash): Card magician, showman, author, scholar, and actor who portrayed cyberterrorist Henry Gupta, henchman to billionaire media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) in Tomorrow Never Dies.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jay made his feature motion picture debut as George in the crime thriller House of Games (1987), directed by his close friend writer/director David Mamet. He later appeared in six other Mamet films. His additional motion picture credits include Homicide (1991); Boogie Nights (1997), as cameraman Kurt Longjohn; Magnolia (1999); State and Main (2000); Heist (2001); and The Prestige (2006).

Jay was a master at sleight of hand, and his stage magic shows, including Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, were celebrated around the world. His consulting company, Deceptive Practices, devised the wheelchair that let actor Gary Sinise play double amputee Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump (1994). Jay was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing a playing card 190 feet at ninety miles an hour

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