UPDATED: Former Bozo Sidekick Could Save Taj

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[Update] Carl Icahn says he’s never met Becker.

Never met/spoke to magician Becker @nypost states I've been talking to re running the Taj. Hope & believe Taj can be saved w/out a magician

— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) November 25, 2014

[Original] Herbert Becker, a former Bozo the Clown sidekick who was named America’s best magician twice during the 1970s, may be the person who saves the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City. The New York Post reports Becker — now known as a “turnaround expert” —is in talks with financier Carl Icahn to run the casino.

Becker said he wants to see Atlantic City become “a great family place.”

“It was a place you could afford to stay and afford the restaurants,” he said, referring to Atlantic City decades ago. “We want a place to enjoy ourselves and not be afraid to walk the streets at night.”

The Taj has been reaching out to people in the New Jersey, New York and Las Vegas areas looking for what they are calling a “messiah,” a source close to the situation said.

“The feeling is that Becker with his ties to show business and strong business abilities is the man for the job,” the source said.

Icahn owns the Taj’s debt and has offered to forgive it in exchange for casino ownership. He has said he would invest new money in the casino, but has also demanded pay and benefit concessions from workers.