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BORN: Milt
Larsen on April 9, 1931 in Los Angeles, CA, USA
DIED: at 12:28pm on Sunday, May 28th, in Los Angeles of Natural Causes
MILT LARSEN, the patriarch of magic, was perhaps best known for his
life-long role in the world of magic and illusion, and grew up in a family
of magicians. His father, William W. Larsen Sr.,
was a performing magician and Los Angeles defense attorney and his
mother, Geraldine, was an early TV pioneer children's entertainer
known as The Magic Lady. In 1936, Larsen's parents began publishing
Genii, The Conjurors Magazine, which is still in publication. In
1999, Magic magazine selected the Larsen Family as one of
the 100 most influential magicians in the 20th century.
AS A MAGICIAN, in 1963 he founded the world-famous private club for
magicians, the Magic Castle in Hollywood. And was the President of Magic
Castles, Inc, until his death. In the year 2000 Magic
Magazine polled their international readership and voted Milt Larsen as
one of the 100 most influential individuals in the history of
magic. He is a true renaissance man in that his career
encompasses writing, producing and performing. In September 2006 he
celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his annual stage show It’s
Magic! The event was commemorated with an all-star show at
Hollywood’s famed Kodak Theater. At that time Milt and his late
brother Bill were honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk
of Fame.
AS A WRITER, he is best known in the field of audience participation
having written Truth or Consequences starring Bob Barker for an incredible
run of eighteen years! Working as a writer for Ralph Edwards
TV Productions he was often called upon to keep subjects of his “This Is
Your Life” TV show occupied while the production team set up their
surprise for the subject. Edwards knew his young writer
respected the older stars and enjoyed talking to them. Thus
Milt entertained legends like Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Ed
Wynn, Mack Sennett, George Burns, Jack Benny and many others.
While still in High School he worked as a record archivist for
Eddie Cantor. Veteran stars Milton Berle, Bob Hope, Buddy Ebsen
and Steve Allen often called upon Larsen for his consultation on
songs and variety acts. Milt authored five joke books and three books
involving Magic Castle. He writes a weekly column for members of
the club as well as editing their monthly newsletter.
AS A SONGWRITER, the team of Sherman and Larsen had a cult comedy
following for their outrageous songs (for their time) that can be
heard currently on CD’s “Bon Voyage Titanic – Smash Flops” and
“Banned Barbershop Ballads. His credits include having written many
stage revues and musicals. A musical, “Pazzazz” Music and
Lyrics by collaborator and two-time Academy Award winning composer,
Richard M. Sherman. and Milt Larsen, had its world premiere at Santa
Barbara’s Lobero Theater March 27-30, 2008, where Milt maintained a
residence.
AS A PRODUCER, in addition to The Magic Castle and It’s Magic! Larsen
owned and operated to Mayfair Music Hall in Santa Monica producing live
stage revues for 10 years and the Variety Arts Theater, a 1200 seat
variety theater in downtown Los Angeles for 12 years. He produced
TV special for ABC, CBS and NBC. He was the creator
and consultant for the fifty-million-dollar Caesars Magic Empire at
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
AS A PREFORMER, he was an active member of SAG and AFTRA and has been seen
yanking tablecloths in films and commercials, as well as TV setires
such as “Bewitched.” He appeared on TV’s Hart to Hart (1981) and had an
uncredited cameo appearance in Disney’s Bedknobs And Broomsticks.
He appeared as the back and hands of Raul Julia as Gomez Addams, performing his
tablecloth yank at the end of Gomez and Morticia's Tango dance in Addams Family Values (1993). He
was the opening act for The Amazing Johnathan in Las Vegas and has been a
lecturer at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. as well as magic
conventions in America, Mexico, Europe and Japan.
AS A RADIO PERSONALITY, his first job as a professional writer was with
the ABC Radio network. It was a daytime audience participation show
with variety acts and a 25-piece
house orchestra. While still a teenager he was the weekly
guest with radio personality Jim Hawthorne on a CBS radio program that
featured milt’s old records and commentary by CBS
founder Andrew White. For several years Larsen was the Monday morning
guest on Ron “The Baron” Herrons popular KZBN 1290 AM Breakfast Club
Show in Santa Barbara. This led to his creating a
weekly radio feature “HEAR THEM AGAIN – for the first time,”
featuring recordings from the first half of the twentieth
century. The show was heard on CRN the Digital Cable Network
coast to coast Saturday morning at 6-7 AM and Sunday at 4-5 P.M., TV
Channel 946 and www.CRNi.net. The show
was also heard worldwide Saturday afternoons at 4:30-5:30 on Satellite
radio www.yesterdayUSA.com
AS A HISTORIAN, Milt was a well-known and respected theatre historian and
record collector. Many consider the closing of the famed
Palace Theater in New York in 1932 as the final
curtain for vaudeville. At that time Milt was
only one year old. Often claiming that he was born
when Vaudeville died, he became the keeper of the vaudeville era legacy.
As a kid and loved talking to as many of the “old-timers” still around
at the time. He was an aspiring comedy writer and
was fascinated by the comedians of the past. He started
collecting recordings of showbusiness personalities as a
teenager. His hobby grew into a passion and his collection of
thousands of vintage 78’s and LP’s is a treasure trove of variety
history. His entire Vaudeville collection has been donated to UCSB in
Santa Barbara. Larsen has been a lecturer at the Smithsonian Institute and
at magic conventions around the world. A well-known historian and collector,
Larsen curated many important
collections including extensive archives of Ed Wynn, Eddie Cantor, Earl Carroll
and others. In addition to one of the largest and most significant
magic memorabilia collections and libraries in the world, hiscollections include books, films,
recordings, scripts, orchestrations and sheet music from the early days of
variety theater. He was the founder and president of the Society for the
Preservation of Variety Arts (1975–1990).
Milt Larsen is survived by his wife, Arlene Larsen, his nephew, Dante
Larsen, niece Erika Larsen, and great-nieces Jessica and
Liberty Larsen.
Official Website for Milt
Larsen
Official Website for The
Magic Castle (direct all fan / autograph requests here)
OFFICIAL
BIOGRAPHY
CLIPS/PRESS:
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