10th Anniversary: Bessie on the backlot

It was 10 years ago that I embarked on a little Hollywood archeology in search of the exact spot seen in a photo of Bess Houdini at Paramount studios in the 1930s. Did I find it? Click the link below and find out.

Bessie visits Paramount (and so do I)

UPDATE: The photo above surfaced in recent years and is the second taken during Bessie's visit that I've seen. I also now know the year was 1935. Of course, Paramount is still there and so is this spot. My theory of its location still holds as far as I can tell. This was among my first Houdini archeological jaunts and has become a favorite thing to do!

With this I'm closing out my year long look back at the 10th Anniversary of WILD ABOUT HARRY. I hope you've enjoyed revisiting some of these past posts.

Click here to view all 10th Anniversary posts

Related:

• Bessie goes Hollywood
• Houdini meets DeMille
• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!

10th Anniversary: Launch day!

It was 10 years ago on November 10, 2010 at 10AM that I launched WILD ABOUT HARRY. I had already launched a Houdini website called Houdini Lives! in 2006. My original plan was to use Blogger to create a news aggregator for Houdini Lives and other magic websites. In fact, I originally called this new site HOUDINI HEADLINES. But it quickly became clear to me that I could do so much more with the Blogger interface, so I changed the name and began migrating all my Houdini Lives content to this new site and writing new posts. And I've never stopped!

TEN YEAR UPDATE: 4,625 posts. 16,878 comments. 7,378,715 pageviews. I'm still wild about Harry. And so are you.

TOP 10 MOST VIEWED POSTS

Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Part One

The problem with Bessie

Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Part Two

The illicit loves of Harry Houdini

This is J. Gordon Whitehead

SOLD! Houdini straitjacket captures $46,980 at Christie's

What Sid told me

Time to rethink the rethinking on the Houdini punch

The gateway biography

The untold story of Houdini's 1914 Battery Park escape

Related: 

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!

10th Anniversary: Houdini Art and Magic

It was 10 years ago today that the impressive Houdini Art & Magic touring exhibition opened at the Jewish Museum of New York. Relive the opening day post below:

HOUDINI ART AND MAGIC opens in New York City

TEN YEAR UPDATE: Houdini Art and Magic ran at the Jewish Museum of New York from October 29, 2010 to March 27, 2011. It then traveled to the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles from April 28 to September 4, 2011; the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco from October 2, 2011 to January 16, 2012; and then wrapped up at at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison, Wisconsin from from February 11 to May 13, 2012.

I had the please of seeing the exhibition in Los Angeles and San Franscio which also hosted talks by Ken Silverman and William Kalush. The exhibition also saw an impressive companion book by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, which is still available on Amazon.

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!
• David Blaine opens Houdini exhibition with escape
• Watch the complete 'Houdini: Art and Magic' tour with Joshua Jay

10th Anniversary: Randi at the Castle

It was 10 years ago that I reported on an event at the Magic Castle in Hollywood with James The Amazing Randi. This was my first time meeting Randi who remains one of my magic heroes.

The Amazing Randi spellbinds at The Magic Castle

TEN YEAR UPDATE: Randi did make his return appearance at the Castle in 2012, which I also covered HERE. Today Randi is still with us at age 92, and, boy, has my hair gone grey!

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!
• An Honest Liar on DVD and Netflix
• Randi reappears at The Magic Castle

10th Anniversary: The Marie Blood book

Ten years ago Greg Edmonds shared with us details of a book he was writing about Marie Blood and her experiences with her uncle Harry and aunt Bess. Greg was very close to Marie in the last years of her life and is well suited to tell her story. You can revisit what Greg had to say below:

New book to tell story of Marie Blood

TEN YEAR UPDATE: Unfortunately, Greg suffered technical setbacks when his computer crashed, not once but twice, and he lost the manuscript both times. After encountering more obstacles, such as being unable to secure key photos for the book, Greg set the project aside.

Here's hoping Greg picks it back up someday because Marie memories are wonderful and her story is a part of Houdini history that deserves documentation.

Related: 

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!
• Marie H. Blood, 1917-2004
• Never before seen footage of Houdini and Marie Blood

10th Anniversary: Wild about Danny

It was ten years ago today that I landed a "scoop" (of sorts) by attending a panel at the San Diego Comic Con featuring Danny Elfman. At that time Elfman was working on a big budget Broadway musical about Houdini with Hugh Jackman earmarked for the lead. Click the link to see what Elfman had to tell us Comic Conners.

Elfman gives update on 'Houdini' at Comic-Con

TEN YEAR UPDATE: The Houdini Broadway musical went through a long and rocky development. Elfman was eventually replaced by Stephen Schwartz and Aaron Zorkin was brought on to re-write the book. The musical was finally announced for the 2013/14 season. But Zorkin's script did not conjurer magic, and Jackman and Schwartz left the project which was put on indefinite hold in 2014.

I would still love to hear the music Elfman created for Houdini.

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!
• New York Times: What went wrong with Broadway's Houdini musical
• New Houdini stage musical announced for 2021

10th Anniversary: Houdini re-haunts Six Flags

Ten years ago today I reported on the reopening of "Houdini’s Great Escape" at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. The popular ride is set inside an imaginative version of 278 and had been non operational for two years.

Houdini is back in action at Six Flags

TEN YEAR UPDATE Happily, "Houdini’s Great Escape" is still in operation at Six Flags Great Adventure, although the park itself is temporarily closed due to Covid-19. There is also a "Houdini's Great Escape" at Six Flags New England set inside a haunted Opera House. I love that Houdini lives in these popular attractions and I wonder how many children get their first exposure to the Houdini story this way.

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!
• Houdini haunt returns to Knott's
• Rainbow MagicLand's Maison Houdini

10th Anniversary: Those Vanishing Elephant photos

It was ten years ago today that I shared what would turn out to be one of my most popular (and frustrating) posts to that date. It concerned the rumor that color photos of Houdini's Vanishing Elephant illusion ran in a 1918 issue of New York World magazine. You can revisit below:

The vanished Vanishing Elephant photos

TEN YEAR UPDATE: I wish I could say that these photos have been found within these past ten years, but I cannot. They remain as elusive as ever, and I'm beginning to wonder if they ever really existed. But, hey, this is the kind of thing that keeps up going!

For those who might be disappointed in the lack of progress on the elephant front, know that I have made another major Houdini find that I will share this weekend. You'll dig it! (And that's a clue.)

Related:

• 100 years ago Houdini vanished an elephant
• A new vanishing elephant pic appears
• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!

10th Anniversary: Golden Age in bronze

In 2010 Mike Elizalde's special effects house Spectral Motion launched their amazing "Magicians Series" of bronze busts. I discovered these by surprise at Monsterpalooza and blogged about them 10 years ago today.

Houdini bronze by Spectral Motion

TEN YEAR UPDATE: Spectral Motion has thus far created busts of Houdini, Robert-Houdin, Kellar, Thurston, Chung Ling Soo, Alexander Herrmann, Adelaide Herrmann, Blackstone, Dante, and Cardini. All are on display at the Magic Castle. I've heard talk of mini busts and a new series of contemporary magicians. Mike Elizalde recently teased Ricky Jay on his Twitter. As for Houdini, I've never pulled the trigger on one of these (they are $2650), but I remain tempted and they still have a few in stock. My dream is they'll one day do a second Houdini bust at his older "Master Mystifier" age.

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!
• 10 year flashback: The Worcester YMCA pool test
• 10 year flashback: Diggers Rest centennial festival

10th Anniversary: Diggers Rest centennial festival

It was 10 years ago today that Diggers Rest in Australia kicked off their centenary celebrations of Houdini's historic first flight on the continent on March 18, 1910. You can revisit the festival via my post about the lineup of events below:

Diggers Rest Houdini centenary celebration schedule

TEN YEAR UPDATE: The centenary came off as planned and a monument now stands at Diggers Rest (below). Gary Sunderland's model of Houdini's biplane, made especially for the celebrations, eventually landed at the local Houdini's Café e Cucina. However, despite the best efforts of the organizers to discover what happened to Houdini's historic Voisin biplane after he sold it in 1913, it remains a lost artifact.

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year
• When Houdini showed Australia that a man can fly

WILD ABOUT HARRY is moving headquarters

This week I bid goodbye to my Studio City apartment where I created WILD ABOUT HARRY ten years ago and have written all 4392 posts. I'll be putting the blog on pause while I pack up and move to a great little house in nearby Burbank. But a whole lot of Houdini happened here, and I will miss this magical space.

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year!

10th Anniversary: The Worcester YMCA pool test

As part of WILD ABOUT HARRY's 10th anniversary, I will post links back to significant stories from 2010 with a ten year follow up. Today I share the first of these flashbacks from January 26, 2010.

Houdini's famous Shelton Pool test is well known. But you'll barely find any mention of his second underwater endurance test performed at the Worcester YMCA a month later. So click the link below and travel back 10 years to read all about:

Uncovering Houdini’s SECOND underwater test

TEN YEAR UPDATE: This still remains a largely unknown Houdini stunt and the photo above is still the only known image. I wish I had more to share. But what I had 10 years ago is still pretty much all I know.

UPDATE: Reader Jay Hunter has provided four remarkable must see photos from this test, SO GO!

Related:

• Welcome to our WILD 10th year

Go WILD for Houdini on Facebook

Did you know WILD ABOUT HARRY has several pages on Facebook? This is because I'm insane. And...it's a nice way to follow just that aspect of Houdini's life and career that you find most interesting. My most recent addition is Houdini Illustrated. Here I share only those posts having to do with Houdini in contemporary art and illustration. So if that's your thing, give it a Like!

Below are my other pages with descriptions.

Wild About Harry (Houdini)
Want it all? This is my main Facebook page where I share everything that goes up on the blog and more. This one is for the truly Wild.

Houdini
My most "Liked" page. Here I share only history related Houdini posts. Forget the movies and plays and comics and clutter, this stays focused on the man and his times.

Houdini's Escapes
Into bondage? Well, there are other Facebook pages for that. But if Houdini's escapes are your thing, here's a page that will keep you captive.

Houdini's Magic
Houdini's career as a straight magician is greatly unappreciated. But we appreciate it here! Like to keep up with Harry's hocus pocus.

Houdini's Spirit Exposures
Do Spirits Return? On this page Houdini says No and Proves it! Here I also share links to stories about modern frauds and psychic rip-offs. The crusade continues.

Houdini the Aviator
Houdini thought he would always be remembered for his achievements as a pioneer aviator, which proves he wasn't psychic. But while the world may have forgotten, we haven't!

Houdini's Movies
Action! Houdini's short-lived movie career lives forever on this page.

Bess Houdini
Who doesn't love Bessie? Give her some Likes, but watch out for her "brainstorms"!

Hardeen
Wild about Dash? So are we. Of course we need a page devoted to The Monarch of Manacles.

Houdini (1953)
For many people, myself included, it all stated with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. The first and still the best Houdini biopic.

The Great Houdinis
I have soft spot for this second Houdini biopic from 1976. And judging by the number of Likes, looks like I'm not alone.

I also have largely retired pages devoted to the Houdini Miniseries and the TV series Houdini & Doyle. And I'm toying with the idea of new page devoted just to Houdini Books.

So Like your favorites or Like them all!

Welcome to our WILD 10th year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to 2020, which just happens to be WILD ABOUT HARRY's 10th year online. After 10 years and 4340 posts, can there really be anything left to say about Houdini? Oh, we've just gotten started!

It all kicks off tomorrow with a deep dive into what Houdini himself was up to 100 years ago. It's Houdini in 1920.