His parents managed the local theatre in Cleveland. His first 'brush' with magic came at the tender age of 11 when he discovered a book called 'How To Entertain At Parties', which contained several magic card tricks.
Click here for a slideshow of Paul Daniels researching his South West Wales roots.
He left school at 16 to work as a clerk in local government. He went on to become an internal auditor.
Two years later, as a result of National Service he enlisted into the First Battalion, The Green Howards and was sent on active duty to Hong Kong.
On being demobbed, he went into his parents business - managing a small, mobile grocery business.
But in the evenings he worked as an entertainer and after a lot of hard work landed a summer season in Newquay, which ultimately led to him turning professional.
It was a year later that he made his TV debut on 'Opportunity Knocks'. Despite being the runner up, he went on to become one of our best-known master magicians.
Welsh roots?
There were no slights of hand necessary to find his Welsh ancestry. In 'Paul Daniels: Coming Home' (Wednesday, December 6 2006, BBC One Wales) the popular entertainer searched Carmarthenshire for clues to the five generations of his family who lived in the area.
The spur for the trip was a book he came across during his own private genealogical research, and the chance that he may have inherited some interesting property.
"I found the 17th Charter Role of Henry III from 1233. In it, the King basically gives me south Wales," he laughs. "Not really, it's a mill and land, but it's in perpetuity, so I think I'll go back and say 'get off my land, get out of my mill!'
"I've always felt a kind of inner pride in being of Welsh descent," he says. "Welsh somehow seems much older then being English."
The trail uncovered family scandal including one ancestor who married, fathered illegitimate children by his wife's niece, then married the niece's sister. And they all lived together in a small house in Ferryside!
If Paul is to claim his long-lost land he has to prove a direct link back to 1233 - not easy according to Carmarthen genealogist Greg Howes. But he has managed to find records of the earliest Daniels dating back to 1781, including great-great-great-grandfather David Woozley who was one of Carmarthenshire's first law-keepers.
Paul Daniels - not a tall man himself - is surprised to find out some of his police ancestors were famous for their height, some of them topping 6'2".
David Woozley turns out to hold an impressive record of service as a policeman, including his role in quelling the infamous Rebecca Riots. When he died at the grand old age of 82 he was still working and actually on duty at the time.
Held in very high esteem, his lavish funeral was described at the time as 'perhaps the largest, most respectable funeral of its kind ever seen in Carmarthenshire.'
These days it's a challenge to find the weathered gravestone of David Woozley because the graveyard where he lies is so unkempt - something that bothers his great-great-great-grandson.
"To find out he was so well known and so well respected - he seems to have been a member of everything in the town, seems to have had his finger in lots of pies - and then to come and find his gravestone in a state like this, I feel it's a bit sad," says Paul.
"It's not just about my family, but all the families here. Written on these stones is real people history and to see it crumbling away is really sad."
Moment of Glory: Being the first magician from outside the USA to be awarded the prestigious 'Magician of the Year' Award by the Hollywood Academy of Magical Arts.
