Fresh Daisies

Recently some new images from The Great Houdinis have appeared on the Getty Images website credited to the Walt Disney Television Photo Archive. Included are these two shots of the great Adrienne Barbeau as Daisy White that I've never seen before.

Adrienne was part of stellar cast and is so far the only actress to portray Houdini's rumored mistress. She included her experience shooting the movie in her 2007 autobiography There Are Worse Things I Could Do.

These images are available for license via Getty HERE and HERE.

Related:

• Adrienne Barbeau on seducing Houdini
• Adrienne Barbeau to receive Lifetime Achievement Award
• Making the great Great Houdinis

Dean Carnegie discovers the hidden Daisy White

Dean Carnegie goes in search of the elusive Daisy White on his terrific The Magic Detective podcast. Dean has uncovered new details about her life, as well as her real name. Click below to have a listen:

Ep. 24: Daisy White & Houdini

Also check at THIS POST at Dean's Magic Detective Blog for new photos of Daisy.

Related:

• Adrienne Barbeau on seducing Houdini
• The illicit loves of Harry Houdini
• Scarne on Houdini

Houdini and the Mooser sisters

Here's a nice article from the November 6, 1965 San Mateo Times about the original Houdini Nuts, Minnie and Hattie Mooser.

In recent years there has been speculation about a possible romance between Houdini and Hattie. You can read more about that at Dean Carnegie's The Magic Detective. Dean also notes that the Moosers collection wound up in The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft Library University of California Berkley.

Related:

• LINK: A mysterious Houdini girlfriend
• Janet Langer remembers working for Houdini
• The amazing afterlife of Harry Houdini

SNL conjures "Houdini's Mistress"

Last night's Saturday Night Live featured a game show sketch called "So You're Willing to Date a Magician". It was pretty funny and the YouTube is making the rounds of the magic groups on Facebook today.

Of course, I loved the reference to the book Houdini's Mistress that "Marconius Wilde" (Kenan Thompson) produces from the pocket of Leslie Jones. But despite a peek at the cover art (above), know this isn't a real book. Although The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg comes close!

This isn't Houdini's first name check on the long running show. That happened in 1976 with a Halloween sketch featuring the great Garrett Morris at Houdini's (real) grave in Queens.

Thanks to Mark Willoughby for the alert.

Related:

• LIVE from Machpelah Cemetery, it's Saturday Night!
• The illicit loves of Harry Houdini
• The Secret Life of Mrs. London revealed today

The Secret Life of Mrs. London revealed today

Today sees the release of The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg. This debut novel mixes fact and fiction to tell the story of Houdini's affair with the vivacious Charmian London.

San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape. 

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

Ironically, next month marks the 100th anniversary of Houdini and London's alleged affair, which was first uncovered by Kenneth Silverman in his 1996 book Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss.

You can purchase The Secret Life of Mrs. London at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK). For more on the book and upcoming events, check out Rebecca Rosenberg's official website.

Related:

• Houdini in 1918
• The illicit loves of Harry Houdini
• Houdini and Charmian London battle Martians

The Secret Life of Mrs. London to be revealed in 2018

Looks like 2018 is going to kick off with a provocative piece of Houdini fiction based on fact. Here's the description and cover art for The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg.

San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape. 

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of Houdini and London's alleged affair, which was first uncovered by Ken Silverman in his 1996 book Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss.

You can pre-order The Secret Life of Mrs. London at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK). Release date is January 30, 2018.

Related:

• The illicit loves of Harry Houdini
• LINK: Jack London, Public Intellectual
• Houdini and Charmian London battle Martians in 'Metamorphosis'

LINK: Jack London, Public Intellectual

VERSO, the blog of the Huntington Library, has a nice article by Matt Stevens about author Jack London. The piece references Houdini several times and features this excellent photo of Houdini and London from the Huntington Library collection. Houdini met Jack and his wife Charmian in Oakland during his 1915 tour of the West Coast. The Houdinis and the Londons spent that Thanksgiving together.

The Huntington Library also houses the private diaries of Charmian London, which include coded references to a possible affair with Houdini after Jack's death. These diary passages were uncovered by Kenneth Silverman for his book Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss.

Click here or on the headline to read the full article at VERSO.

Related:

• Houdini in 1915
• The illicit loves of Harry Houdini
• Houdini and Charmian London battle Martians in 'Metamorphosis'

William Lindsay Gresham on the Houdinis marriage

Today, on the 121st wedding anniversary of Harry and Bess Houdini, I'm offering up a recent find which, if we are to believe it, casts the Houdinis 33-year marriage in a different light. This one definitely falls under the category of the salacious and gossip, but when the person doing the gossiping is William Lindsay Gresham, who in 1959 wrote the first major Houdini biography, Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls, it's worth a listen. So here we go.

While visiting the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan last month, I came across a letter written by Gresham to his agent, Bernice Baumgarten, in 1954. In it Gresham pitches the idea for his Houdini book, taking aim at what was the only other Houdini biography in print at the time, Houdini His Life Story by Harold Kellock. Gresham writes:

I'm sorry you didn't like the Houdini book idea. What you saw (the carbon of the True booklenghther) is just a bare outline of what that guy really was. There has never been a real biography written -- the book by Harold Kellock, Houdini, His Life Story, is just posthumous publicity, with Bess portraying her marriage as a 33-year idyll. It was like hell.

Later, Gresham turns to the subject of Daisy White, for which he appears to have had a singular fascination:

Perhaps I'm just an enthusiast but I'd love to write a true account of Houdini's life and my years as a fact-detective editor have given me enough know-how to avoid libel. Incidentally, many years ago there was a cute little redhead bombshell who worked in the old Martinka's magic store. She was named Daisy White. After Houdini's death Bess Houdini found a stack of carbon copies of love letters Harry had written Daisy. The schmuck, he thought he took one great secret with him to the grave! What a character.

This last paragraph contains a true bombshell. Love letters "Harry had written Daisy." By the time Gresham writes his book, the author and nature of these letters has drastically changed. On pages 291-292 of Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls, Gresham writes:

Knowing Houdini's prudishness and ultraconservatism in his attitude toward women, Daisy had written him several torrid love letters just to see what would happen. Houdini never threw away any scrap of paper unless it was a clipping which boosted and imitator. He kept the gag-love-letters hidden. After his death Bess found them and is said to have pitched quite a fit until Daisy explained the circumstances and managed to pacify her.

So which version are we to believe? Did Houdini write Daisy love letters, or did Daisy send Houdini "gag-love-letters"? The difference is enormous. The truth might be revealed in Gresham's assurance that he knew "how to avoid libel." Did he change the truth to make the letters innocent so as not indict Houdini? Or, with further research, did he discover what he had written to Bernice was incorrect? Tough one.

And what are we to make of Gresham's claim that the Houdini's marriage was "like hell"? Certainly his final book did not reflect a troubled marriage. In fact, in a lengthy passage on pages 75-76, Gresham paints the Houdinis marriage as, yes, idyllic. He even adds: "There was only one thing of which she could be absolutely sure: he was not interested in other women."

So was Gresham exaggerating in this letter, trying to make his book sound more salacious and therefore more appealing to his agent who wasn't yet sold on the idea of Houdini biography? Was he repeating gossip or making a snap judgment that he later backed away from? Or, again, did he avoid the topic entirely in his final book to protect himself from libel?

I want nothing more to believe the fairytale -- that the Houdini's marriage was what Bess characterized as "33 years of heaven." But I have to admit that the more I do primary research, the more I encounter troubling indicators, such as this Gresham letter, that there might have been some problems.

The wild card for me is the extent of Bessie's involvement with alcohol. If she had a serious drinking problem during the marriage -- if she was an alcoholic -- then there certainly could have been times that it was "like hell." But we also have ample evidence of the Houdinis love and affection for one another.

My guess is the Houdinis 33-year marriage was, like many long term marriages, a complex personal relationship. I doubt it was all "heaven." But until we get more evidence, I find it hard to believe it was "like hell." Still, this is a curious letter from a man who seemed committed to uncovering the truth about Houdini.

Thanks to Alex and Keli Hindenach of the American Museum of Magic for providing me with a copy of this letter, and to Diego Domingo for his help identifying Bernice Baumgarten.

Related:

• The first great Houdini biography
• The illicit loves of Harry Houdini
• Houdini to Bess – "Sweetheart Mine"
• Bessie and the Colonel

Mind reading

Today HISTORY aired an 8+ hour block of Houdini and magic-themed programing. This included their first repeat of the Houdini miniseries starring Adrien Brody and Kristen Connolly. This drew triple the normal traffic to WILD ABOUT HARRY. So what are people thinking after watching the miniseries? Below are the top Google search keywords that drew in traffic today. Kind of an interesting way to see what aspects of Houdini's life as shown in the miniseries sends people to their computers.

Related:

• HISTORY offers a day of Houdini and magic, Jan. 20
• Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night One
• Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night Two

Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Part One

After one night, HISTORY's Houdini miniseries starring Adrien Brody is on track to be the least accurate Houdini biopic ever made, and that's saying something. Nicholas Meyer's screenplay freely jettisons fundamental facts to make room for complete fictions. (More on that in my review on Wednesday.) Unfortunately, people believe what they see on TV -- especially when the network is called HISTORY -- so here are some points of clarification:

Did Houdini get trapped under the ice of a frozen river?
Even though Houdini himself would tell the story of being trapped under an ice sheet during a bridge jump, there is no evidence that it ever happened, and Houdini would alter the location and details in various tellings. But he never claimed his mother's voice or any supernatural power led him to the opening in the ice. He found his own way to freedom. (Read: Trapped under the ice with Houdini.)

Did Houdini have issues with his father?
Houdini spoke very highly of his father and honored him his entire life. Any suggestion of "daddy issues" is purely speculative. It is true that Rabbi Weiss lost his job in Appleton for being too "old world" (he didn't speak English), and this plunged the family into poverty. The story of him having to flee Budapest after killing a man in a duel was told by all the Weiss children. Some biographers doubt it as being too far fetched, but duels in Hungary were not unusual in the 1870s. (Read: Who was Houdini's father? New insights.)

Did Houdini run away from home and work with a traveling magician?
While it's true that Ehrich Weiss (the miniseries misspells it as Erich - grrrr) ran away from home when he was 12, he did not work with a traveling magician. This is a fiction seemingly lifted from a 1987 Disney movie called Young Harry Houdini. However, it is true that his interest in magic was inspired by the autobiography of Robert-Houdin, and that he took his name from the famous French conjurer. (Read: Homeless Houdini.)

Did Houdini live in Brooklyn?
The Houdini miniseries shows Harry growing up and later buying a large home in Brooklyn, NY. Not true. The Weiss family lived in a tenement in mid-town Manhattan, and Houdini later bought a large brownstone in Harlem. Likewise, the Weiss family plot is located in Queens, not Brooklyn. (Read: Discovering the home of Houdini.)

Did Houdini meet Bess when they were both performers in Coney Island?
While there are several romanticized stories of how Houdini and Bess met, screenwriter Nicholas Meyer opted for the truth here. Houdini did indeed meet his wife Bess at Coney Island while she was performing as part of an act called The Floral Sisters. They had a whirlwind courtship and married only a week after they had met. (Read: When Harry Met Bessie.)

Did Houdini create the challenge handcuff escape act in a brothel?
Houdini worked to perfect his challenge handcuff act over several years, and may have gotten the idea from an Australian magician named Lewis Paul. While Harry and Bess performed in Dime Museums, Beer Halls, Circuses, and traveling Burlesque shows, there is no record of them ever performing in a brothel. Besides, aren't brothels their own entertainment? UPDATE: Turns out this is based in fact. Read: The Houdinis in the bordello.

Did Houdini perform escapes as The Wild Man from Borneo?
While Houdini did briefly appear as "Projea The Wild Man of Mexico" in the Welsh Bros. circus, it had nothing whatsoever to do with his magic or escape act. Harry and Bess took on many side jobs during their travels with the circus. Houdini quit the Wild Man when he got hit in the eye with a piece of meat thrown into his cage by Clint Newton, ringmaster of the Welsh Bros. Circus.. (Read: Freaks of Octoberfest.)

Did Houdini achieve fame after escaping from a "Johnson County" jail in 1896?
Houdini performed handcuff and jail escapes in various cities across the U.S. in the late 1890s, they did not bring him recognition beyond that city. The idea that Houdini was "the most famous man in America" by the turn of the century is wildly incorrect. While he had achieved a measure of success in America by 1900, his true breakout success came in Europe. Houdini did not really become a star in America until his return in 1905. (Read: Houdini at the Colonial.)

Did Houdini do escapes in the nude?
To prove he concealed no keys or lockpicks, Houdini would strip nude and submit to an examination by a doctor during his jail escapes. But Houdini would also sometimes strip nude on stage during handcuff challenges, and even advertised himself as "Positively the only conjurer in the world who strips stark naked." He once even performed his Milk Can escape au naturale. He had a powerful physique and wasn't afraid to show it off. (Read: Ebay auction dates Houdini's first 'nude')

Did Houdini hire a magic store clerk named Jim Collins to create his effects?
Houdini's chief assistant and mechanic was named Jim Collins and he did have a genius for designing magic and escape effects. However, Houdini did not impulsively hire him out of an Ohio magic store, and Collins was not an American from Georgia. Jim Collins was born in England, possibly Portsmouth, and it was there that Houdini hired him to be his assistant. (Read: The man who kept Houdini's secrets.)

Was the Water Torture Cell Houdini's first major stage escape?
The Water Torture Cell was not Houdini's first major stage escape and certainly not invented in 1900 as shown in the miniseries. The USD, as Houdini called it, was the culmination of many escapes that came before it (including the Milk Can) and was first performed in Germany in 1912. Also, the idea that Houdini would be revealed as one of his own axe-wielding assistants at the end is not accurate. This "magical" spin on the Water Torture Cell was first performed by Doug Henning in 1975. (Read: The Chinese Water Torture Cell at 100.)

Was Houdini a spy?
Houdini was friendly with law enforcement and took great interest in the methods and practices of criminals and con-men. He even penned a book on the subject in 1906 called The Right Way To Do Wrong. While he might have communicated with William Melville of Scotland Yard about what he was observing in Germany and Russia (and even the "evidence" for this is paper thin), to show him working as a full-blown spy and using his magic act as "cover" is ludicrous. In fact, MI5 didn't even exist during Houdini's first tour of Europe. Of all the fictionalizations in the Houdini miniseries, this is by far the worst, and trying to work this fiction into the story is one of the reasons the movie so badly mangles the facts of his early career. (Read: Experts weigh-in on 'Secret Life' spy revelation.)

Did Houdini do the bullet catch for Kaiser Wilhelm II?
While it's possible Houdini might have done the bullet catch early in his career, he never did it during his fame, and certainly not for Germany's Kaiser in a private performance, as shown in the miniseries. After his friend Chung Ling Soo (William Robinson) was killed onstage doing the catch in 1918, Houdini announced that he would attempt it himself. But he was talked out of it by magician Harry Kellar. This gave the Bullet Catch an even more ominous reputation as being a trick so dangerous even Houdini wouldn't try it. (Read: Did Houdini do the bullet catch in the 1890s?)

Did Houdini ring the bells of the Kremlin?
Like the hole in the ice, this story comes from Houdini's time, but no verifiable source (such as a newspaper account) has ever surfaced to prove that it actually happened. It also tends to change from teller to teller, one of whom was Orson Welles, a great teller of tall tales. And while Houdini did perform for members of the Russian Royal Family in Moscow, the idea that Rasputin was among the gathering is not possible. Houdini toured Russia in 1903 and Rasputin did not meet the Russian Royal Family until 1905. (Read: Orson Welles remembers Houdini.)

Did Houdini give his mother a royal reception in Budapest?
It is true that Houdini brought his mother to Europe and gave her a lavish "royal" reception with relatives in Budapest. The dress Houdini had purchased for her was said to have been designed for Queen Victoria before her death. However, Houdini did not pour gold coins into his mother's lap on this occasion. He did this privately when he asked for his salary in gold coins so his could fulfill a childhood promise to his mother that one day he would pour gold into her lap.

Did Houdini fall apart when we saw Bess sitting on the lap of another man?
This is actually true. Bess purposely planted herself on the lap of a young Colonel to see if she could make her husband jealous. It worked. However, showing Houdini getting drunk is not accurate. Houdini was a well-known teetotaler. But for months, Houdini would be thrown into a deep funk if anyone around him used the word "Colonel."

Did Houdini engage in bondage sex with Lady Butler?
Houdini did not have an affair with British painter Elizabeth Thompson aka Lady Butler, nor is there any indication that they ever even met. And as far as we know, Houdini didn't indulge in any sexual fetish. He was quite puritanical in matters of sex. However, there is evidence that he did have at least one affair with Charmian London, the widow of Jack London. (Read: The illicit loves of Harry Houdini.)

Did Houdini own and fly his own airplane?
In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation and purchased a Voison biplane. He flew in exhibitions in Germany and became the first man to ever fly a plane in Australia. However, the depiction of Houdini barnstorming across Europe with Bess on board is fiction. As with almost all planes at the time, Houdini's Voison could only hold a pilot and was not capable of sustained and reliable flight for travel. (Read: Houdini was the 25th person to fly.)

Did Houdini resent and resist early cinema?
Houdini embraced cinema almost from the start of the medium. He made a short film in Paris in 1909 and also filmed many of his outdoor escapes which played before his vaudeville act. Seeing Houdini frequently meant seeing a film. He was actually a pioneer of the medium. (Read: 'Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt' and other revelations.)

Did Bess Houdini smoke pot?
The same biography that gave us the "spy" theory also claimed that Bess Houdini smoked pot. This comes from a 1927 note in which she mentions that she dined out with "no drink and no weed." However, "weed" was slang for tobacco, so it's more likely she is talking about cigarettes (she did smoke). While Bess enjoyed her champagne and did have trouble with substances after Houdini's death, the extent of her drinking during their marriage is unknown, and the suggestion that she was an alcoholic is speculative. (Read: Did Bess Houdini smoke pot?)

Did Houdini's career falter in 1914?
Houdini's audience never tired of escapes. If anything, it was the opposite. The audience expected and demanded escapes from Houdini even when he tried to mount a straight magic act. Houdini's fame and career was actually at a pinnacle in 1914. (Read: The untold story of Houdini's 1914 Battery Park escape.)

Still watching? The good news is Part Two is a big improvement over Part One as far as the facts are concerned. I will post a Fact Check of Part Two tomorrow. And if there's a question that I haven't answered above, please post it in the Comments section below and I will answer you there.

CONTINUE TO NIGHT TWO...
#HOUDINItruth

Why does Jerry Seinfeld think Houdini was impotent?

Seinfeld is a television classic that will probably run in syndication forever. This is not the best news for Houdini. Because in Episode #65, "The Mango", there is this exchange between George and Jerry on the topic of erectile dysfunction:

JERRY

You know it happens to everybody. Happened to Houdini, and he could get out of a trunk underwater with his hands in chains. But he had a problem with that.

Later George returns to the subject...

GEORGE

Hey, is that a joke about Houdini?

JERRY

No.

GEORGE

Well if Houdini couldn't do it, what chance do I have!?

So why does Jerry Seinfeld think Houdini was impotent?

The answer has everything to do with when this episode was made. "The Mango" was taped on Tuesday, August 17, 1993 (directly across the street from where I'm writing this now) and aired on September 16, 1993. At that time a new Houdini biography had just been released in the UK, The Life And Many Deaths of Harry Houdini by Ruth Brandon. This was the first major Houdini biography in several years, and in it Brandon engaged in some amateur psychology as to why the Houdinis didn't have children and why Harry wrote love letters to Bess. On page 52 the author states:

One can only conjecture as to the reason for this childlessness. […] Infertility is not uncommon. But my own guess, based on his effusive daily--sometimes thrice-daily--outpouring of love-declarations--is that Houdini may have been impotent. Why all those protestations? What was so wrong that he had to keep proclaiming his devotion? Was this constant need to reassure both Bess and himself?

This salacious "revelation" was used as a selling point and featured in book reviews and in interviews with the author. Brandon also shared her theory in the 1993 BBC documentary, Houdini, The Life of the World's Greatest Escapologist. It was in this environment that the Seinfeld writers wrote what at the time was a topical reference to Houdini's "impotency."

Of course, the reason the Houdinis didn't have children was because Bess suffered from a medical condition that prevented it, information that was shared with me by her niece, Marie Blood. (You can read more about that here.)

Brandon's theory received a dose of cold water just a few year after the publication of her book when Kenneth Silverman revealed evidence of an extramarital affair Houdini had with Charmian London in his own biography, Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss (1996). Now the pendulum may have a swung a bit too far the other way with Houdini sometimes portrayed as a bit of a Lothario (we'll see how the upcoming Houdini miniseries handles all this).

It's too bad this blip in Houdini history had to be immortalized in pop culture. True or false, it's just not the kind of thing you want people to know!

Related:

• The problem with Bessie
• Did the Houdinis have a daughter?
  
• The alleged loves of Harry Houdini

Houdini's Dutch entanglements

Here are two ads from January 1903 that ran in the Dutch newspaper, Algemeen Handelsblad. These come courtesy of their discoverer, Dick Koornwinder. Notice that Houdini is sharing the bill with Milla Barry. That's a name that should ring a bell.

William Kalush revealed The Secret Life of Houdini that Houdini had some sort of a romantic entanglement with Barry at this time. It may or my not have been a full fledged affair, but Houdini complained to a friend that Barry was trying to break up his marriage. "I am having a hell of a time, and it will become worse," he wrote in a letter.

During this same engagement, Houdini offered 500 Gulden if he failed to escape from a straitjacket. I'm sure he succeeded. Escaping from Milla appears to have been more difficult.

Thanks to Dick Koornwinder for sharing these ads. To see a photo of Milla click here.

Vera Van Slyke meets Houdini

Tim Prasil, a writer who specializes in the supernatural and sci-fi ("and a bit of humor"), has posted to his blog a new installment of his Vera Van Slyke: Help for the Haunted series called "Houdini Slept Here". This clever short story series purports to be the memories of Prasil's ghost-hunting great-grandaunt, Lucille Parsell, and her companion, Vera Van Slyke (a sort of female Holmes and Watson of the paranormal realm). As you can guess from the title, this latest story features Houdini. Says the author:

Lucille Parsell (a.k.a. my great-grandaunt, Ludmila “Lída”Prášilová) seemed hesitant to tell this story. Frankly, I had some reservations, too. It does not present Mr. Houdini in the most flattering stage light, after all. But there is evidence to support the claim that The Handcuff King had trouble keeping his hands to himself — despite his being married.

In this month’s story, Houdini finds himself threatened with blackmail for an earlier indiscretion — and haunted by it. Can Vera Van Slyke help him escape from the shackles of his past?

"Houdini Slept Here" is very entertaining short story with several inside references that Houdini buffs will enjoy. The story takes place in 1905 and some of the action is set inside 278. Yes, it does paint Houdini as being a bit, um, romantically adventurous, but it's all in good fun.

Follow the link on this page to download "Houdini Slept Here" in .pdf, .epub. or .mobi formats.

Link: Opening the door on Daisy White

Dean Carnegie has uncovered an amazing amount of information on the elusive Daisy White, the magician's assistant and Martinka counter girl who was long rumored to be the original Houdini mistress. Daisy was memorably played by Adrienne Barbaeu in the film, The Great Houdinis.

But there's much more to Daisy, including the fact that Daisy White was not even her real name. So head on over to Carnegie: Magic Detective and let Dean introduce you to the real Daisy White.

LINK: A mysterious Houdini girlfriend

The single most viewed post here on WILD ABOUT HARRY is my blog about The Illicit loves of Harry Houdini. It's amazing, but every day that post draws substantial traffic. Sex sells.

Now Dean over at Carnegie: Magic Detective is wading into these same steamy waters with a candidate I missed: Hattie Mooser. If you can't get enough of this kind of thing, and judging by my stats, you can't, head on over to Dean's blog and hear the tale or when Harry met Hattie.

And while you're there, be sure and check out Dean's Houdini Hired To Entertain in Backyard, the untold story (as far as I know) of Houdini being hired to perform an overboard box escape at a private party.

Houdini and Charmian London battle Martians

First released in 2010, the second novel in the Wonder of the Worlds trilogy by Sesh Heri, Metamorphosis, is now available as a Kindle eBook from Amazon and as a print-on-demand from Lulu. The series finds Houdini joining forces with Nikola Tesla and other 20th Century notables in a battle against Martian agents on Earth...and on Mars!

It's over twenty years since the top secret flight to Mars and Harry Houdini is now a world-renowned escape artist recruited by the covert Majestic Seven group to pursue Martian agents on Earth. Time itself becomes the battlefield as the NYMZA, inter-dimensional masterminds using the men from the Red Planet and the astonishing mercury vortex torsion device known as The Bell for their nefarious purposes, are exposed. Houdini is joined by author Jack London and his adventurous wife Charmian, a woman ahead of her time, in the struggle to keep humanity free from eternal slavery and ultimate destruction. Nikola Tesla and young US Navy Ensign Chester Nimitz hold up their end of the fight in a classified submarine designed by the great inventor. The biggest, darkest and most revealing of the trilogy from Sesh Heri!

Houdini and Charmain London battling Martians in a 623 page novel-? Wow.

The third book, The Lost Pleiad, is also available. However, the description doesn't say anything about Houdini's involvement in the final story. Maybe the Martians (or Charmain) get the better of him in Book 2?

Heeeere's Milla!

Mistress or stalker?

If you recall, in my infamous and much-viewed post from last December, The illicit loves of Harry Houdini, I couldn't find a picture of prime suspect, Milla Barry. Now, thanks to Houdini biographer and Conjuring Arts Research Center maven, William Kalush (The Secret Life of Houdini), we have our girl!

As a refresher, in 1903 Houdini shared the bill with singer/actress Barry and appears to have become personally entangled with her in some way. He confided in a close friend that Barry was attempting to break up his marriage. "I am having a hell of a time, and it will become worse," he wrote.

But was this an affair, or just a fatal attraction situation? I tend to think it was something other than romantic. Most of Houdini's mistresses come into his life in the late teens and early 1920s, when Houdini was in prime male mid-life crisis age. I also don't think Houdini would cheat while his mother was still alive.

Thanks again to Bill Kalush.

A Palm Springs rendezvous with Daisy White

Actor and author, Adrienne Barbeau -- who we love around here for her turn as our favorite Houdini mistress, Daisy White, in The Great Houdinis -- will be making an appearance at Just Fabulous in Palm Springs on Saturday, January 29, from 3 to 5pm.

Adrienne will sign her autobiography, There Are Worse Things I Could Do (which includes mention of The Great Houdinis), and her two novels, Love Bites and Vampyres of Hollywood. The store will also hold a reception.

Just Fabulous is located at 515 North Palm Canyon Drive. Phone 760.864.1300. For more info visit their website bjustfabulous.com.

Houdini's mystery mistresses

Looks like we've opened a can or worms.

Following on my illicit loves of Houdini article (our most viewed post), Houdini expert Patrick Culliton has posted on his own website several photos of other women said to have been "sometimes associated with Houdini." But no names. That's for us to figure out.

Click here to check out the mystery women at Houdini's Ghost. You can also join the discussion at The Magic Cafe forum, which includes some criticism that we shouldn't be delving into Houdini's (alleged) extramarital adventures. Your thoughts?

Adrienne Barbeau on seducing Houdini

Here's one from the old site that I thought was worth reposting here.

In 2006 horror movie website The Terror Trap interviewed the great Adrienne Barbeau. While she's had an illustrious career in films such as The Fog and Escape from New York, Houdini buffs know her best as the seductress Daisy White in the 1976 TV movie The Great Houdinis (a movie we love around here).

The following is an excerpt from the interview in which Adrienne recalls her days playing the "other woman" in Houdini's life.

TT: We're going to jump ahead a few years to The Great Houdini, a supernatural-tinged Made-for-TV movie that you made in 1976...

AB: Oh yes...

TT: We love Houdini. It's very rare, having never been put out on video, but we have a copy and remember seeing it when it aired. Do you recall how the role of Daisy came your way?

AB: That was an offer. I had just signed with Creative Artists. I didn't even know who they were. They were just getting started, but through a series of coincidences, I ended up signing with them. And they called one day and said "we've got this offer for you to do this part." It was the first film that I had ever done and I knew nothing about films. I had only done stage and tape up until that time. We did Maude the same way you do a stage play. We just rehearsed for 4 1/2 days and then did it for an audience straight through, no stops or anything. So we did the master...the first establishing shot...on Houdini...and I didn't know that people did close-ups. I went off and started to change clothes to do the next scene! (Laughs.)

TT: That's funny. You know, in particular one of the things that strikes us about The Great Houdini is that you got to work with such a fantastic cast: Paul Michael Glaser, Ruth Gordon, Sally Struthers, Peter Cushing...that must have been a very fascinating experience for you.

AB: My husband would remind you that we had Vivian Vance on that one...he's a big I Love Lucy fan!

TT: Yes!

AB: I've had a fascinating career...because I've worked with so many wonderful actors and interesting people. I knew Sally, of course, because she was doing All in the Family at the time. Unfortunately, I didn't have any scenes with Ruth or Peter, so I didn't get to spend any time with them. As I said, it was my first film experience and a real learning process.

With Paul Michael Glaser in The Great Houdinis

Head on over to Terror Trap to read the full interview with Adrienne Barbeau. Also check out her official website: www.abarbeau.com.