Bess Houdini

Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner (January 22, 1875 – February 11, 1943), known as Bess, was the stage assistant and wife of Harry Houdini. They had no children.

Biography

There are many stories of how Bess and Houdini met. One version is that in 1893, while performing with his brother "Dash" at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini," Harry met and married fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner. She was performing as the "Floral Sisters." Bess replaced Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis".Fact|date=September 2008 Bess's version of the story is that Houdini performed at her high school in 1894, and during the performance, mistakenly splashed acid on Bess's dress. Embarrassed and apologetic, Houdini had his mother sew a new dress for Bess. Thrilled and charmed by Houdini's thoughtfulness, Bess snuck out of her house to spend the day at Coney Island with him. Later that same day, Houdini proposed and they were married. By all accounts. they had a happy marriage.Lutes, Jason and Bertozzi, Nick. "Houdini: The Handcuff King". Hyperion, 2007.]

For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess would work as his co-performer and stage assistant, and she was indispensable to Houdini's success.

Houdini died on October 31, 1926, and Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle beside a photograph of Houdini. In 1943 she said "ten years [was] long enough to wait for any man." [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Harry Houdini |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774270,00.html |quote=The late, great prestidigitator Harry Houdini, famed foe of phony mediums, and his wife Beatrice agreed before his death to try to get in touch with each other afterwards. Gravely ill last week in Hollywood, his widow announced that she had not only given up trying but had her doubts about the existence of a hereafter. She had held seances every year for ten years, unsuccessfully. "Ten years," observed patient Mrs. Houdini last week, "is long enough to wait for any man." |work=Time (magazine) |date=February 15, 1943 |accessdate=2008-07-31 ]

Bess Houdini died on February 11, 1943, 17 years after her husband, in Needles, California, aboard an eastbound train traveling from Los Angeles to New York City. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Died |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774340,00.html |quote=Beatrice Rahner Houdini, 67, widow of Prestidigitator Harry Houdini, famed escape artist, exposer of phony mediums; of a heart ailment; in Needles, Calif., aboard an eastbound train from Los Angeles. |work=Time (magazine) |date=February 22, 1943 |accessdate=2008-07-31 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Mrs. Harry Houdini. For Ten Years Tried to Hear From Him From Spirit World. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50C15F83C581B7B93C0A81789D85F478485F9 |quote=Mrs. Harry Houdini, widow of the magician, died tonight aboard a train taking her to New York. Her age was 67. The frail, whitehaired former partner of ... |work=New York Times |date=February 12, 1943 |accessdate=2008-07-31 ] She was not permitted to be interred with her late husband at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York because she was a gentile. She is interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

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