Del Ray was considered the most innovative magician of the 20th century. Secretly intermingling technologies with traditional trickery, he performed miracles of magic that were unlike those of any other magician. Throughout his life, he passionately guarded the secrets of both his professional and personal affairs. Part One traces Del Ray's career in magic beginning with his adolescent years in an orphanage where he performed his first paid show for $3, to his meteoric rise to fame in the 1950s as America's most successful nightclub magician ever, to Del Ray's development of a stunningly modern approach to close-up magic that enabled him to demand fees as high as $10,000 a week. This remarkable story is illustrated with 116 vintage photographs. Told with exacting detail and a reverence for the master's secrets, the biography section of Del America's Foremost is a celebration of the personality, the achievements, and the genius that made the magical world of Del Ray unique. Part Two focuses on a selection of eight of Del Ray's favorite close-up routines. Half-dollar Through Ring, The Bet, Blackjack Deal, the Computer Deck, Gymnastic Aces Without Aces, Final Aces, and Del Ray's Card Stab. Eighty original photos of Gary's hands executing the sleight-of-hand maneuvers accompany his explanations. The Royal Assembly, a Del Ray effect originally written up by Ed Marlo in 1954, is illustrated by Jay Marshall. The Companion Video is a 92-minute DVD includes Del Ray's stage act at the 1983 Tannen's Magic Jubilee; close-up performances of the Rabbit & Frog, the Singing Bird, Half-Dollar Through Ring, Blackjack Deal, Computer Deck, Dice Stacking, Final Aces, Million Dollar Card Trick, Coin Through Card Box, Gymnastic Aces Without Aces, Card Stab, Flipper, Little Willie, and The Bet.