Personal Life
Mandrake was married twice, both times to his chief on-stage assistants. In 1939, he married Narda ("Princess Narda"). Princess Narda also appeared in the Mandrake the Magician comics of the time. When his first marriage ended in 1946, Leon also lost his main assistant. In December 1946, Leon Mandrake's manager, Bernard Abrams, paired him with Louise Salerno, who was an actress, line-dancer and former assistant to well-known magician Blackstone. Leon gave her the stage name Velvet and she became his new assistant. Having grown up on the road with her parents, Vaudeville musicians Betty and Frank Salerno, this was a lifestyle familiar to Leon's new 20-year old assistant. After two weeks on the road together, Velvet and Leon were married. It was a small marital ceremony, and only two hours later, they were again on stage performing the first of two acts for the evening. They later honed a two-hour magic show for nightclubs during the 1940s and into the 1950s. Their four children, Lon, Ron, Kimball and Geelia were all born on the road. Lon in Illinois, Ron in Florida, Kimball in Ohio, and Geelia in Oregon. In 1958, after Geelia was born, they brought the children to Vancouver B.C., Canada to go to school. The children often stayed with a nanny as Leon and Velvet continued to travel.
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