Ali Bongo was born William Oliver Wallace (1945 D) in Bangalore, India, the son of an army officer. The precocious boy learned his first magic trick from a newspaper article when he was five. By 1935, his family had moved to England and settled in Sutton Valence.  His father had been a serving RSM in the Royal West Kent Regiment and joined the School staff as SSI. William won a scholarship to the School, where he formed a magic club and spread his wings even further by setting up a club in the Medway towns. Frequently he was to be seen on his bicycle going up and down Bluebell Hill on his way to and from Rochester and Gillingham. Realising that his parents would not be able to afford to send him to university, he left School early to perform children's magic shows before doing his national service.  He joined the Royal Army Pay Corps and performed in Naafi shows that he also helped to write. This convinced him to pursue a full-time career in show business.
 
In his last years, just before he died, Ali Bongo was regarded as the magicians’ elder statesman. He was the father figure to whom they all looked to learn how to be a good magician. So strong was his reputation that he was a consultant to David Nixon and Paul Daniels on their television series and also appeared himself on several children's shows.

Bongo's knowledge of magic was encyclopaedic. A self-confessed workaholic, he often stayed up all night to deliver a prop for the Daniels show. He wrote three books on magic and was a tireless inventor of tricks, including the classic ‘Bongo Hat’. In 2008, he was elected president of the Magic Circle, and was an enthusiastic helpmate to the Young Magicians Club, passing on the tricks of his trade to the next generation. He was, indeed, obsessed with magic. His flat became so crowded with props that he bought the flat below in order to have a place to sleep! Ali Bongo died, aged 78, on 9th March 2009.