The landmark David Copperfield made disappear in his 1983 TV special was the Statue of Liberty.

Quick Scoop

In April 1983, during a televised special, David Copperfield performed his now‑legendary illusion where the Statue of Liberty appeared to vanish in front of a live audience and millions of viewers at home.

He staged the trick on Liberty Island, seating spectators on a platform facing the statue between two large towers and covering Lady Liberty with a massive curtain before revealing an apparently empty night sky where the monument had stood.

The illusion has since become one of Copperfield’s most iconic feats and is often cited in retrospectives on classic TV magic and ’80s pop culture moments.

Mini Breakdown: What “Disappeared”?

  • Landmark: the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
  • Date of special: April 8, 1983, in a live broadcast watched by tens of millions.
  • Show title: “The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears.”

A Bit of Storytelling

Copperfield framed the disappearance as more than a stunt, using it as a symbolic reminder that freedom can vanish if people take it for granted.

He spoke to the audience about liberty’s fragility, then dropped the curtain to reveal the statue gone, helicopters circling an apparently empty space where the monument should have been.

Behind the scenes, explanations later pointed to a slowly rotating platform carrying the audience and cameras, subtly shifting their viewpoint so the real statue ended up hidden behind one of the support towers while they thought they were still facing it.

Forum / “Latest Talk” Angle

On nostalgia sites and forums, people still recall where they were when “Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear,” often describing it as one of the defining TV magic events of the 1980s.

Modern magic blogs and news pieces also reference the stunt whenever Copperfield announces new large‑scale illusions, like his planned “make the moon disappear” performance.

Short Answer (for search)

The answer to “which landmark did magician David Copperfield make disappear in a 1983 TV special?” is: the Statue of Liberty.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.