Martin Gardner on TV, Film, and Video
Unlike Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan and Steve Jobs, who are closely identfied in the public eye with physics, astronomy and computers, respectively, and whose faces are well known to many people, Martin was a private man who shunned fame and attention. Has shy in front of a camera, and there seems to be little of him captured on film.
What is known to exist breaks up into four neat piles, starting with rarely seen TV clips:
Minitrix These were two series of very short films from the early 1950s, made by Gerald A. Bartell and Associates. Each film came in two parts, the effect and the method, and they were shown on TV with commercials in beteeen. Excerpts are included in the Suzuki production listed below. In 2015, these three clips became available once more:
Gardner Rising Card (30 sec video, 1950s)
Gardner Floating Table (30 sec video, 1950s)
Gardner Cigar and Rope (40 sec video, 1950s)
There's some interview footage shot at Martin's home in Hendersonville, NC, in Jul 1994, upon the occasion of his receiving that year's Joint Policy Board for Mathematics Communications Award in person from Bob Fennell of Clemson University:
Martin Gardner Communications Award (14 min video, 1994)
There's footage shot in the spring of 1996 at the second Gathering 4 Gardner in Atlanta, for a David Suzuki CBC documentary:
The Nature of Things (46 min video, 1996)
The Nature of Things (excerpt) (2 min video, 1996)
Gérard P. Michon has a guide to who (Maven, Conway, Rice, etc) appears when in this video.
Finally, there is privately shot amateur video, such as these interactions with Atlanta magician Joe M. Turner:
The Wink Change (Jan 2007)
Unwedding Ring (Jan 2007)
Martin often cited "The Wink Change" as his proudest magic creation.