The longtime entertainer from Los Angeles was recently widowed and living at 71 Prospect in Westmount. He was a veteran magician/mc/comedian/drummer who toured around all over North America but rarely played Montreal.
The photos are from a collection which include amazingly brilliant shots of some of the semi-clad women has has gotten to know mixed in with all sorts of other shots of his kids.
Willie got his nickname from the Cadillacs he constantly owned and when he drove off to Toronto this morning it was, of course in a Cadillac car.
I did not know him well but he is a great storyteller and had a tale of meeting his long-time wife. She was apparently pretty hammered and he tended her to health. He himself is a non-drinker and is religious enough to have a unique phrase that he utters each time he answers the phone, as you can hear below.
One of his business cards had his image on one side and a some sort of escort on the other. He explained that if a man's wife caught him with the woman's card, he could flip it over and say, "no honey that's just Cadillac Willie's card."
He is now well into his 80s and has lived a full life and was rarely lonely. "I've had enough p.... for many lifetimes," he told me.
I actually saw Cadillac Willie live, doing his magic/pickpocket act, at the Centre Paul-Sauvé. The Montreal Psychic Fair was held all the way east back then, next to the Palestre Nationale. Cadillac cut a flamboyant figure, and as a pickpocket hewas quite good. (a lot of pickpocket acts are stooged - his wasn't, and he was announced as a pickpocket when he hit the stage. That he still managed to "steal" stuff on stage unbeknownst to the participant was pertty amazing.
ReplyDeleteje possede la guillotine qui a appartenu a Cadillac willie si vous ete curieux de la voire cest dans mon album facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6464453073617470&set=a.6464341556961955
Deletejai entendu parler des spectacles que tu parle dans ton post quil présentai au salon des sciences occultes au centre paul - sauvé