Friends, relatives and colleagues gathered Monday evening. at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre for a memorial service in honor of Milt Larsen, who co-founded Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle in the early 1960s.
Larsen died in his sleep May 28 at the age of 92.
Larsen was a magician himself and a writer for television game shows including “Truth or Consequences.” He founded the Magic Castle in 1963 with his brother, William Larsen Jr., and William’s wife Irene.
Milt Larsen was the last living founder of the Magic Castle.
Members of the Larsen family have performed magic since the 1920s. Milt’s father William Larsen Sr. was a Los Angeles attorney who became disillusioned with law and left practice to pursue magic. His mother Geraldine was also a performer, who became the first female magician to appear on television — as a children’s entertainer known as The Magic Lady on KTLA in the late 1940s.
The Larsen family operated the Castle for decades, leasing a gothic home on 7001 Franklin Ave. from owner Thomas O. Glover and turning it into an exclusive clubhouse for magicians, where members and their guests could dine and enjoy magic shows.
Larsen, his brother and his sister-in-law all performed magic themselves on Castle stages and at other venues.
Larsen also wrote stage revues and musicals, which were performed among other venues at the Mayfair Music Hall in Santa Monica and the Variety Arts Theater in downtown Los Angeles, both of which he owned and operated.
He produced TV specials for ABC, CBS and NBC and was the creative consultant for the $50 million Caesars Magic Empire at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Larsen was also a member of SAG-AFTRA who worked in radio, opened for The Amazing Johnathan in Las Vegas, and appeared on television in commercials and on the 1980s’ series “Hart to Hart.”
He authored five joke books and co-authored three books about The Magic Castle. He was also known for his collaborations with songwriter Richard M. Sherman on comedy albums.
A long-time resident of Montecito, Larsen divided his time between Los Angeles and the coastal town. In addition to his wife Arlene, he is survived by his niece Erika Larsen, president of Magic Castle Enterprises Inc.; his nephew Dante Larsen; and great-nieces Jessica Hopkins and Liberty Larsen.