Milt Larsen, Co-Founder of The Magic Castle in Hollywood, Dies at 92
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Milt Larsen, who wrote for the game show Truth or Consequences for nearly two decades and co-founded The Magic Castle in Hollywood, died Sunday of natural causes in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 92.
Larsen produced TV specials for ABC, CBS and NBC and wrote songs with Richard Sherman, the Oscar winner who partnered with his late brother, Robert, to create tunes for such Disney classics as Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Jungle Book.
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He also was the creator and consultant for the $50 million Caesars Magic Empire at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
In 1963, Larsen and his late brother, Bill, founded The Magic Castle in a 1909 French Chateau mansion on Franklin Avenue. With its many stages, labyrinthine corridors and old-fashioned decor, the place would become a renowned private club for magicians.
Larsen wrote five joke books and three books involving The Magic Castle, penned a weekly column for members of the club and edited a monthly newsletter. He was still president of the club’s parent company at the time of his death.
In 2000, Magic magazine polled its readership and voted Larsen as one of the 100 most influential individuals in the history of the craft. Six years later, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his annual stage show, It’s Magic!
Larsen was born in Los Angeles on April 9, 1931. His father, William W. Larsen Sr., was a performing magician and defense attorney and his mother, Geraldine, entertained children on television as “The Magic Lady.” In 1936, his parents began publishing Genii, The Conjurors Magazine, which is still in publication.
While still a teenager, Larsen was a weekly guest with Jim Hawthorne on a CBS Radio program that featured his old records and commentary by CBS founder Andrew White. He also worked as a record archivist for singer Eddie Cantor, and stars including Milton Berle, Bob Hope, Buddy Ebsen and Steve Allen often called upon him for his musical expertise.
Larsen’s first job as a professional writer was with ABC Radio on a daytime audience participation show with variety acts and a 25-piece house orchestra.
As a writer for Ralph Edwards’ TV production company, Larsen was often asked to keep the subjects of Edwards’ NBC show This Is Your Life occupied while the team set up to surprise their subject. So, Larsen was charged with entertaining the likes of Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Ed Wynn, Mack Sennett, George Burns and Jack Benny.
Edwards also was the original host of Truth or Consequences, which Bob Barker took over in 1956 and worked on through 1975.
He and Sherman wrote comical songs like “Bon Voyage, Titanic,” “We’re Depending on You, General Custer” and “When the Hindenburg Lands Today” as well as a musical, Pazzazz, that premiered at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theater in 2008.
Larsen also opened for The Amazing Johnathan in Las Vegas and lectured at the Smithsonian in Washington as well as at magic conventions around the world.
He owned and operated the Mayfair Music Hall in Santa Monica, where he produced live stage revues, and the Variety Arts Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Larsen, who hosted a radio show on CRN the Digital Cable Network, started collecting recordings of show business personalities as a teenager, and he donated his entire vaudeville collection to UC Santa Barbara.
Survivors include his wife, Arlene; nephew Dante; niece Erika; and great-nieces Jessica and Liberty.
In 2015, Larsen and his niece were embroiled in a legal battle over a 5.5 percent royalty from annual food and beverage sales at the venue (that suit was settled). A year later, a class-action lawsuit was filed that alleged the management of the club had not paid at least 100 hospitality workers’ wages in full.
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