How did people respond to you when you started out?
Well, 99pc of people were basically amazed and tied it into their spirituality, into the paranormal, the unknown. I learned that personality, charisma, your body language and being polite to people went a long way, and were the elements that catapulted me into being internationally famous.
What about the other 1pc?
There were many magicians and others who tried to debunk me. I’ll never forget the Johnny Carson show, in 1973. I sat there for 20 minutes, humiliated because he was a sceptic and it was a set up. I bent a spoon, it wasn’t bent enough. Ricardo Montalbán held a spoon, I bent it, that wasn’t enough. The only thing that ran through my mind was, “Uri Geller, you’re finished”.
I went back to my hotel, and planned to return to Israel, because everyone said if you make it on the Carson show, you’ve made it in America, and I hadn’t.
I was destroyed. In the morning I got a phone call from the operator, and it was Merv Griffin, who hosted the other big talk show, and he booked me. It dawned on me that all publicity is good publicity, providing they spell my name correctly, and from that moment I harnessed my chutzpah, my charisma, and made it big all around the world.
When did you feel you were really making money?
In Israel. I left the army after serving in the Six-Day War. I had a Vespa, but no money, so I rode from one house to another entertaining parties of distinguished guests. One day Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel, came to one of these parties. I walk over to her and give her a piece of paper and a pen.
I tell her to go to the loo, lock herself in and draw a symbol on the paper, fold it and come back and I’ll tell her what she drew. She says no-one can read my mind, but I did. I said she drew the Star of David, which she did.
The next day she was being interviewed on Israeli radio and the presenter asked what her predictions were for the future of Israel. Without hesitation she said, “don’t ask me, ask Uri Geller!” I was living in a one room apartment opposite a graveyard in Tel Aviv, and immediately the phone started ringing with offers.
What has been the most satisfying work you’ve done?
I worked with Salvador Dali for two years. I had painted since I was six years old, but Dali steered me away from my conscious approach to a totally different concept of art, using different tools, medium, change and challenge everything. That was a big deal for me, to work with Dali.
What is your biggest indulgence?
I don’t have one. When I was in my early 20s and all the fame and the fortune went to my head, I went crazy. I became sick – with bulimia, anorexia. I was buying Rolex watches, driving the biggest limousine in New York. I’d go and buy not one silk shirt, but 80 at a go.
That’s all over now. I live in a tiny apartment in Tel Aviv, with Ikea furniture. I could pick up this apartment and put it into one of the big rooms at my house by the Thames. I don’t indulge because I overindulged.
