About Patrick Culliton
WHY I'M HOUDINI'S GHOST
I've been an actor for
forty-five years. Back in the
seventies, I subsidized my
acting career by doing a
lecture on Houdini for
colleges and universities.
Around that time, I began to
collect writings by Houdini.
I made the observation that if
somebody were to string all
of Houdini's autobiographical
statements together, it could
amount to an autobiography
of Harry Houdini, a task he
started but never finished.
So, I gathered a quarter of a
million of Houdini's words
into a chronological story of
Houdini's life--told by
himself. Only I was the "as
told to" scribe.
I was Houdini's
"ghost-writer" and I took to
signing the book (the Tao of
Houdini) "Patrick
Culliton--Houdini's Ghost."
I've acted on the stage for
45 years. My favorite roles
are the King in Hamlet,
Harold Hill in the Music Man
and Petruchio in Kiss Me
Kate. The photo is from a
production of Kiss me Kate
in which I co-starred with
Tracey Williams.
My greatest experience as
a stage actor was acting in
W. E. B. DuBois' play Haiti
under the direction of the
pioneer black
actor/writer/director James
Edwards.
culliton@houdinisghost.com