Dorothy Dietrich
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dorothy Dietrich is a female magician. She is one of very few women who have performed the bullet catch and is noted for performing a straight jacket escape suspended high in the air from a burning rope. The Columbia Encyclopedia (Columbia University Press) included Dietrich among their 8 most noted magicians of the late 20th century.
In addition to escapes and large scale stunts Dietrich has performed tricks with live animals such as doves, rabbits, poodles and ducks. She also does an updated version of the classic Miser's Dream, plucking coins from the air, nose, ears and pockets of a youngster from the audience.
Dietrich studied under "Coney Island Fakir" Al Flosso, a regular performer on the Ed Sullivan television show, Jack London (for the bullet catch) and Lou Lancaster with the Straight Jacket escape.
She was a founder of New York's Magic Towne House, a magic show spot in New York City. For many years she held the Houdini Seances in New York as a tribute to the legendary magician, continuing a tradition started by Houdini's wife and perpetuated by Walter B. Gibson. She currently heads up the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania where she performs on a regular basis.
Dietrich was co-editor, contributor and publisher of Hocus Pocus Magazine along with magician/mentalist Dick Brooks.
Television shows she has appeared on include:
- What's My Line with Garry Moore
- The World's Greatest Escapes a Home Box Office Special starring Tony Curtis
- The Tom Snyder Show along with Kiss
- Evening Magazine
- The Montel Williams Show
- Twice with Rich Little on Ripley's Believe It Or Not
- Real People
- The Travel Channel's Magic Road Trip
- Exploring The Unknown
- Biography Channel's Dead Famous-Houdini
- Just For The Record, The Best of Everything
- Behind The Scenes with Jonathan Winters
- Man and His Mysteries with Dick Van Patton
[edit] Further reading
- Twelve Have Died!, the story of the Bullet Catch
- The Guide to Magic As A Hobby
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, Columbia University Press, (2006)
[edit] External links
- "Presto! Female magicians starting to appear in greater numbers", March 4, 2002
- Article on Dorothy Dietrich taping a segment for the Montel Williams Show on 4 Feb 1998. MagicTimes.com. Retrieved on March 12, 2007.
- Dorothy Dietrich's page
- The Houdini Museum
