Dorothy Young’s earliest memory was sipping from the Beersheba Fountain in Ocean Grove in 1910. She was three years old, and was lifted by her father, Robert Young, a fifth generation Methodist minister. Robert purchased 5 Main Ave and took his wife and children there each summer from wherever he was assigned to preach. The Methodist retreat was a perfect place for a minister with five children to spend the summer.
Houdini’s radio trick with Dorothy
Dorothy was different from her sisters, more outgoing and fashion-forward. While her older sisters worked summer jobs at General Electric in New York City, her father allowed Dorothy to take ballet lessons. She answered an ad in Variety for dancing girls and found herself among 200 tall Broadway beauties. The petite, innocent-looking 17-year-old was selected. It was not a true dancing role. She was selected for the job of Magician’s assistant for Harry Houdini.
Her father and mother naturally said no immediately. It took an appeal from Harry and his wife, Wilhelmina Beatrice, “Bess”. Dorothy was instructed to call her “Mrs. H.” Bess convinced her parents that she would look after Dorothy as if she were one of her own. Bess performed alongside Harry on stage after they met and married in 1893.
Dorothy Young Publicity Photo (IMDB)
Harry Houdini was a legendary escape artist and magician. His showmanship and daring drew crowds as his tricks required athleticism, the ability to hold his breath for an inordinate time, and fast hands. Dorothy described them as gentle and very polished. Houdini had a tough reputation, but he was nothing but kind to the young girl.
As a true illusionist, Harry hated mediums and other charlatans and made many enemies by exposing them. His fame exploded when he was accused of fraud by the German police in Cologne in 1902. King Wilhelm cracked down on all types of fraud and entertainers in particular. Entertainers needed to submit their act 14 days in advance of performing to the police, who shut many down, tackling a few on stage to expose their tricks mid-act.
Houdini poster bragging of his German escape
Houdini had himself bound, gagged, and chained up in a demonstration to 300 officers. He broke free in less than 10 minutes. When a police chief accused him in the papers of being a fraud, Houdini sued him for libel and then did another escape for the judge to prove his abilities.
His defiance of the authoritative and anti-semitic German Government won him many fans worldwide. 20 years later, he was still touring, always keeping his act fresh. He continued to do public spectacles to enhance his legend. In 1906 he jumped from the Belle lsle Bridge into a freezing Detroit River in handcuffs and leg irons. He freed himself while underwater, then swam 100 feet to a waiting lifeboat, passed over the unlocked and open cuffs, and climbed aboard.
In 1925, he developed a stage illusion of a brand new medium.
Dorothy was the surprise of the radio illusion. Harry, using an oversized “radio of the future” would make a woman appear to be transported into the radio from the station. Dorothy explained the trick in her own words:
“Radio was quite new in 1925. The first commercial station KDKA, had gone on the air in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, just five years earlier. So a magic trick about radio was a very up-to-the-minute feature.
To present the illusion of Radio of 1950, Houdini walked around and behind an empty table in the center of the stage so the audience could see there were no mirrors underneath. Then two assistants put the "radio" on top, completely filling the table.
"I would like to present my original conception of what radio will be like in 25 years." Houdini said, "Tune in to any station and get the girl you want. No, gentlemen, it is not for sale."
He opened the entire front, which consisted of two doors, and removed a panel that held various coils and transformers and large glass tubes the size of light bulbs that were used before transistors were invented. The audience could see there was nothing else inside. He replaced the panel and closed the front.
"Now," he said, "we will tune in Pittsburgh Station KDKA." He began twisting the dials. Suddenly, a voice from the radio speaker announced, "Miss Dorothy Young, doing The Charleston." That was my cue. As the orchestra started playing that popular jazz dance, I threw open the lid, popped up my head at one end, and kicked one leg up in the air. I kicked the other leg, clicked my feet together, jumped up, and curtsied. Houdini opened the front of the radio, lifted me down, and I went into a wild Charleston as the audience laughed and applauded.”
After a year with Houdini, he was killed by a punch to the gut. A student at McGill University in Montreal asked if he could really absorb any punch. Houdini said, “As a matter of fact, it is true”. Houdini needed time to prepare, and the man immediately struck him, bursting his appendix. Houdini died a few weeks later. By this time, Dorothy had married Robert Perkins, who was supportive of her continuing her career. Together, they had one child.
Dorothy had gotten the show business bug, and she continued doing vaudeville as Dorothy and Gilbert. Gilbert Kiamie was the son of a Syrian silk pioneer. Silk lingerie took off in the 1920s. When Gilbert’s father died and his $10 million estate was tied up in court, Gilbert needed work.
Gilbert was significantly taller than Dorothy, and the height difference made their smooth Latin dance routine seem even more spectacular. They did a combination of the Rumba and Bolero and became internationally famous, even performing in a Fred Astaire movie. When Perkins died from liver problems, Dorothy married Gilbert. Her parents approved of and appreciated her work. Her father was a teacher at Drew College, and when her father died, she bought the Ocean Grove house.
Dorothy painted after her dance career ended, and she had showings and was invited into a prestigious artist group. She was one of Ocean Grove’s most famous summer residents for 40 years. She wrote an autobiography, Dancing on a Dime and it was made into a movie. She moved to the Grove full-time in 1992 after Gilbert died. Wealthy from performing and Gilbert’s eventual silk inheritance, Dorothy donated $10 million to Drew University, and they created the Dorothy Young Arts Center.
Dorothy was sought after for interviews by magic historians. Anyone interested in magic acts has great reverence for anything related to Houdini, and Dorothy was the last living person to have worked with the master. She died in a Tinton Falls assisted living center in 2011 at the ripe old age of 103, leaving a son.
The Monmouth County Library interviewed her in 2000 for their oral history project. The Transcript is here https://www.visitmonmouth.com/oralhistory/bios/YoungDorothy.htm