Bess Houdini

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Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Houdini , nee Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner , (born January 23, 1876 in Brooklyn , New York City , † February 11, 1943 in Needles , California ) was an American artist and the stage assistant of her husband Harry Houdini .

Life

Bess Houdini was born on January 23, 1876 in the then still independent city of Brooklyn as Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, daughter of the German immigrants Gebhard Rahner (1844-1887) and Balbina Biegel (1849-1938). She was working as a dancer and singer in the stage show The Floral Sisters on Coney Island when she met Harry Houdini and his brother Dash - still under their real names Ehrich and Theodor Weiss - in 1894. Harry Houdini, born in Budapest as Erik Weisz, changed his name to Ehrich Weiss after the family entered the United States . She fell in love with Ehrich and the two married a short time later. Since Ehrich was Jewish and Bess was a Catholic, they were married by both a rabbi and a Catholic priest.

After the wedding, Bess left The Floral Sisters show and became her husband Harry Houdini's stage assistant. The new stage show was now called The Houdinis . Besides working on stage, Bess was responsible for the costumes for the shows. Until Houdini's breakthrough as an escape artist, the couple toured in small traveling circuses. The Houdinis were also touring Europe with their show and performed in well-known German circus companies such as Circus Busch-Roland and Circus Corty & Althoff . In addition to the German Empire , the Houdinis also celebrated great success in the Russian Empire . After returning to the United States in 1905, they bought a house in Manhattan .

Bess and Harry Houdini remained childless. After the early death of Harry Houdini after 32 years of marriage in 1926, Bess Houdini opened a tea house . She tried to keep his legacy together with her manager Edward Saint. She moved to Hollywood in the 1930s .

Bess Houdini died on February 11, 1943 on a train in Needles, California. She was on her way from California to join her family in New York. Contrary to her wishes, Bess Houdini was not buried at the side of her husband in the Jewish cemetery Machpelah Cemetery in the New York borough of Queens , but in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

spiritism

After the death of Harry's mother, the Houdinis came into contact with spiritism . They grappled with it and exposed a lot of the "media" and their tricks. Before his death, Harry Houdini had agreed a secret code with his wife, and for ten years after his death, Bess invited spiritualists for Halloween (he had died on Halloween) to a seance so that one of these spiritualists could tell her the secret code and himself would show as a "real" medium. Bess awarded a sum of $ 10,000. The code was: Rosabelle - answer - tell - pray - answer - look - tell - answer - answer - tell . The necromancer Arthur Ford finally succeeded, but it turned out that he was having an affair with the ailing Bess. Every year on the anniversary of Houdini's death, US wizards meet to receive the message that Houdini originally intended for Doyle. So far, however, no one has received this message.

Film and stage

Bess Houdini played herself in Frank O'Connor's 1938 film Religious Racketeers. In the film she expresses her belief that communication with those who have died is impossible. In 2006 Alpha Video released the film on DVD.

She was portrayed by Janet Leigh in Houdini, The King of Variety , by Sally Struthers in The Great Houdinis, and by Kristen Connolly in 2014 Houdini .

On stage she was portrayed in 1966 by Judith Bruce in Man of Magic , in 1979 by Viviane Thomas in Houdini - A Circus Opera , in 1999 by Kim Lores in The Great Houdini and in 2013 by Evanna Lynch in Houdini .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Rua - Paul Gleeson: Bess Houdini - A few facts - Rua - Irish Magician | Deception Artist | Illusionist | Escapologist - To Hire Email: bookings@iamrua.com. (No longer available online.) In: iamrua.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016 ; Retrieved July 9, 2016 (American English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / iamrua.com
  2. ^ Houdini wife Bess Beatrice Wilhelmina Rahner. In: houdini.net. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b c WILD ABOUT HARRY: This weekend we are Wild About Bess. In: wildabouthoudini.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
  4. ↑ a b Bess Houdini | Jewish currents. (No longer available online.) In: jewishcurrents.org. Jewish Currents, archived from the original on June 23, 2017 ; Retrieved July 9, 2016 (American English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / jewishcurrents.org
  5. ↑ a b c d Bess Rahner Houdini (1875 - 1943) - Find A Grave Memorial. In: findagrave.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
  6. ^ Frank O'Connor, Frank O'Connor (story), Charles R. Condon (adaptation): Religious Racketeers. In: imdb.com. October 13, 1939, accessed July 9, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Houdini, Bess
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Houdini, Wilhelmina Beatrice; Rahner, Wilhelmina Beatrice (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist and her husband Harry Houdini's stage assistant
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1943
Place of death Needles , California