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American
female magician who performed a Georgia
Magnet- style resistance act, mainly in London. Her act differed
from Annie Abbott or Lulu
Hurst in that it was presented as a scientific study, with her
husband, Mr. White, acting as lecturer for her.
Early in his career,
Houdini appeared on a bill with her, and she made an impression on
him that would literally change his career. She and her husband
taught him the value of showmanship. In his book, Miracle
Mongers and Their Methods, Houdini wrote, "Some twenty
six years ago I was on the bill with Mattie Lee Price who, though
less well known, was in many ways superior to either Miss
Hurst or Miss Abbott. For a
time she was a sensation of the highest order, for which thanks were
largely due to the management of her husband, a wonderful lecturer
and a thorough showman. I think his name was White. He 'sold' the
act as no other man has sold an act before or since. We worked
together at Kohl and Middleton's, Chicago, and the following week at
Burton's Museum, Milwaukee; but when we made the next jump I found
that White was not along. They had had a family squabble, the other
apex of the triangle being a circus 'grafter'... He had interfered
between the couple, and was, I am sorry to say, quite successful as
an interferer; but he was a diabolical failure when he
attempted to duplicate White's work as lecturer, and the act, after
playing a date or two, sank out of sight and I have heard nothing
more of her professionally... This was one of the most positive
demonstrations I have ever seen of the fact that showmanship is the
largest factor in putting an act over. Miss Price was a marvelous
performer, but without her husband-lecturer she was no longer a
drawing card, and dropped to the level of an ordinary entertainer-
even lower, for the act was no longer entertaining."
She is buried in
Clements Cemetery, Fulham, England.
See also:
"Little
Lulu" Hurst
Georgia
Wonder Phenomenon
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