Why couldn't Harry Houdini live without his wife, Bess? Their love was so great that Houdini was determined that not even death could part them!
At eighteen years old, devout Catholic girl, Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, performed on Coney Island in a song-and-dance act called The Floral Sisters. There, she met Theo and Harry Houdini, who were performing a magic act called The Brothers Houdini. The two brothers fell head over heels for tiny Bessie, who was less than five feet tall and wore a size one shoe!
The brothers fought for her affection, but Bessie chose Harry, and they married two weeks later. The newlyweds proceeded to form their own magic act, and The Houdinis traveled circuses, museums, fairs, and the vaudeville circuit for a decade.
Their most famous act was METAMORPHOSIS, which they would perform throughout their lives. In Metamorphosis, Bessie would be tied up with ropes by someone from the audience, placed in a trunk, which was tied up again. Often, Houdini would invite the local police to tie the knots. Once they were sure Bessie was secure, the curtain would close, and open again, and Bessie would be outside the trunk, and Houdini would be discovered tied up inside!
During those years, Bessie and Houdini forged a bond that could not be broken until death do us part. Even though Bess was unable to have children and Houdini carried on an affair with Charmian London, wife of famed author Jack London, the Houdinis stayed married.
Apparently, Houdini did not tell anyone about the affair, which took place in 1918, just as America entered World War I. During this time, Jack and Charmian carried on their torrid affair in Greenwich Village, while Houdini was training American troops in escapes and codes and keeping secrets.
Historians and biographers, Kenneth Silverman, William Kalush, and Larry Sloman discovered the affair in Charmian London’s diaries. Only after his death did Bess discover love letters Houdini kept, which undoubtedly contained letters from Charmian, whom she considered her friend.
Discover more about the Houdinis' love and marriage in THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON.
GOLD DIGGER and SILVER ECHOES by historical novelist Rebecca Rosenberg are available now at Amazon
