Bess Houdini

Bess Houdini

Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner (January 22, 1875 – February 11, 1943), known as Bess, was the stage assistant and wife of Harry Houdini. They had no children.

Biography

There are many stories of how Bess and Houdini met. One version is that in 1893, while performing with his brother "Dash" at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini," Harry met and married fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner. She was performing as the "Floral Sisters." Bess replaced Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis".Fact|date=September 2008 Bess's version of the story is that Houdini performed at her high school in 1894, and during the performance, mistakenly splashed acid on Bess's dress. Embarrassed and apologetic, Houdini had his mother sew a new dress for Bess. Thrilled and charmed by Houdini's thoughtfulness, Bess snuck out of her house to spend the day at Coney Island with him. Later that same day, Houdini proposed and they were married. By all accounts. they had a happy marriage.Lutes, Jason and Bertozzi, Nick. "Houdini: The Handcuff King". Hyperion, 2007.]

For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess would work as his co-performer and stage assistant, and she was indispensable to Houdini's success.

Houdini died on October 31, 1926, and Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle beside a photograph of Houdini. In 1943 she said "ten years [was] long enough to wait for any man." [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Harry Houdini |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774270,00.html |quote=The late, great prestidigitator Harry Houdini, famed foe of phony mediums, and his wife Beatrice agreed before his death to try to get in touch with each other afterwards. Gravely ill last week in Hollywood, his widow announced that she had not only given up trying but had her doubts about the existence of a hereafter. She had held seances every year for ten years, unsuccessfully. "Ten years," observed patient Mrs. Houdini last week, "is long enough to wait for any man." |work=Time (magazine) |date=February 15, 1943 |accessdate=2008-07-31 ]

Bess Houdini died on February 11, 1943, 17 years after her husband, in Needles, California, aboard an eastbound train traveling from Los Angeles to New York City. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Died |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774340,00.html |quote=Beatrice Rahner Houdini, 67, widow of Prestidigitator Harry Houdini, famed escape artist, exposer of phony mediums; of a heart ailment; in Needles, Calif., aboard an eastbound train from Los Angeles. |work=Time (magazine) |date=February 22, 1943 |accessdate=2008-07-31 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Mrs. Harry Houdini. For Ten Years Tried to Hear From Him From Spirit World. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50C15F83C581B7B93C0A81789D85F478485F9 |quote=Mrs. Harry Houdini, widow of the magician, died tonight aboard a train taking her to New York. Her age was 67. The frail, whitehaired former partner of ... |work=New York Times |date=February 12, 1943 |accessdate=2008-07-31 ] She was not permitted to be interred with her late husband at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York because she was a gentile. She is interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

References

External links

*
*

Gallery


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Houdini Le Grand Magicien — Titre original Houdini Titre québécois ? Réalisation George Marshall Acteurs principaux Tony Curtis Janet Leigh Torin Thatcher Scénario Philip Yordan d après l œuvre de Harold Kellock …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Houdini le grand magicien — Tony Curtis et Janet Leigh sur le tournage du film Données clés …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Houdini (film) — Infobox Film name = Houdini caption = Original film poster director = George Marshall producer = George Pal writer = Philip Yordan Harold Kellock(book) starring = Tony Curtis Janet Leigh Torin Thatcher music = Roy Webb cinematography = Albert… …   Wikipedia

  • Harry Houdini — Houdini redirects here. For other uses, see Houdini (disambiguation). Harry Houdini Houdini in 1899 Born Erik Weisz March 24, 1874(1874 03 24) …   Wikipedia

  • Houdini — Harry Houdini Houdini lässt einen Elefanten verschwinden (1918) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Harry Houdini — en 1899. Nombre …   Wikipedia Español

  • Harry Houdini — (* 24. März 1874 als Erik Weisz in Budapest; † 31. Oktober 1926 in Detroit) war ein US amerikanischer Entfesselungs und Zauberkünstler österreichisch ungarischer Herkunft …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Harry Houdini — en 1899. Harry Houdini faisant disparaitre un éléphant (1918) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Arthur Ford — (January 8, 1897 ndash; January 4, 1971) was an American psychic spiritual medium, clairaudient and in 1955 founded the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship. Biographical problems Biographer Allen Spraggett called him American Spiritualism s near pope… …   Wikipedia

  • Dorothy Dietrich — Known for her innovative magic and feats of escapology Born October, 31, Halloween Erie, Pennsylvania Occupation magician …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”