Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Bess Houdini

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Cause of death
  
Heart attack

Name
  
Bess Houdini

Movies
  
Mystic Circle Murder


Bess Houdini Arthur Ford hoax The Skeptic39s Dictionary Skepdiccom

Full Name
  
Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner

Born
  
January 23, 1876 (
1876-01-23
)

Died
  
February 11, 1943, Needles, California, United States

Spouse
  
Harry Houdini (m. 1894–1926)

Books
  
Book of Magic: Fascinating Puzzles, Tricks and Mysterious Stunts

Parents
  
Gebhard Rahner, Balbina Rahner

Similar People
  

Ghosts wanted the spirit of bess houdini


Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner (January 23, 1876 – February 11, 1943), better known as Bess Houdini, was the stage assistant and wife of Harry Houdini.

Contents

Marie hinson remembers her sister bess houdini


Biography

Bess Houdini houdiniandbesspng

Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner was born in Brooklyn, New York (before New York City was consolidated) in 1876 to German immigrants Gebhard Rahner (a cabinet maker) and Balbina Rahner (née Bugel).

Bess Houdini Bess Houdini A few facts Rua Irish Magician

Bess was working at Coney Island in a song and dance act called The Floral Sisters when she was first courted by Houdini's younger brother, Theo (aka Theodore Hardeen). But it was the older Houdini brother, Harry, that she fell in love with and married on June 22, 1894. The pair worked as The Houdinis for several years before Houdini hit it big as The Handcuff King. But he and Bess continued to occasionally perform their signature trick, Metamorphosis, throughout his career. Bess also looked after their menagerie of pets, collected dolls, and made the costumes for Houdini's full evening roadshow. The Houdinis remained childless throughout their marriage. Bess's niece, Marie Hinson Blood, said Bess suffered from a medical condition that prevented her from having children.

Bess Houdini Houdini wife Bess Beatrice Wilhelmina Rahner

After Houdini died on October 31, 1926, Bess opened a tea house in New York, and briefly performed a vaudeville act in which she froze a man in ice. In the 1930s she moved to Hollywood, California, and worked to promote Houdini's memory along with her manager and partner, Edward Saint. On Halloween 1936, Bess and Saint conducted a "Final Houdini Séance" on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. At the conclusion of the failed séance, she put out the candle beside a photograph of Houdini that was said to have burned for ten years. In 1943 she said "ten years [was] long enough to wait for any man."

Bess Houdini Bess Houdini dies in 1943

After the 1936 séance, Bess passed the torch to Walter B. Gibson writer of the famous mystery series "The Shadow" and friend, confidant, publicist and ghost writer for Houdini, and asked him to carry on the yearly tribute, who held them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Before he died, Walter passed on the tradition to Dorothy Dietrich.

Bess Houdini died from a heart attack on February 11, 1943 while in Needles, California, aboard an eastbound train traveling from Los Angeles to New York City. She was 67 years old. Her family would not allow her to be interred with her late husband at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York as she had been raised a Roman Catholic. She is interred instead at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

In film

Bess Houdini appeared as herself in the 1938 film Religious Racketeers (a.k.a. Mystic Circle Murder) directed by Frank O’Conner and produced by Fanchon Royer. In the film, she expressed her belief that communication with those who have died is impossible. The film sparked controversy among spiritualists, but was praised by magicians. It was released on DVD in 2006 by Alpha Video.

Bess has been portrayed in film by Janet Leigh (Houdini, 1953), Sally Struthers (The Great Houdinis, 1976), Stacy Edwards (Houdini, 1998), and Kristen Connolly (Houdini, 2014). On stage she has been played by Judith Bruce (Man of Magic, 1966), Viviane Thomas (Houdini - A Circus Opera, 1979), Kim Lores (The Great Houdini, 1999), and Evanna Lynch ("Houdini," 2013).

References

Bess Houdini Wikipedia