Of course, in this timeline, Houdini grew up in the Neath and not the US. However, the quest to find an honest medium inevitably turned Houdini into an anti-fraud crusader, and he went public with several books condemning the practices of charlatans." "Still, Houdini craved contact with his mother, so he continued to seek out mediums that offered the possibility of allowing him to talk to her once again. The memories of his mother in the house were too overwhelming."
(He saved the original letters, directing his relatives to use them as stuffing for the pillow in his own coffin when he died.) Houdini also found himself unable to dwell in the Harlem house he had shared with his wife and mother. He had all of the letters his mother had sent him over the years retyped and bound in a book that he would pore over incessantly, crying. "At night, he would sometimes wake up calling for her. In letters to his brother, Houdini wrote that “I can’t seem to get over it…my heart will always ache for our darling mother…my heart of hearts went with her.” " Audiences who admired Houdini’s daring little suspected the sadness that underlay his performances. "This was the period when Houdini began hanging upside down from skyscrapers in straightjackets and nearly drowning himself in his “Chinese water torture” box.
Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (on the right) (from ).A bit of history about the real world counterpart of the Debunker, which I felt added more to the story: Houdini’s words couldn’t have been more prophetic. On OctoHoudini broke his ankle during a show. Ever the showman, he refused to get medical attention choosing instead to continue his travels to Montreal where he was scheduled to speak on the fakery of mediums. While in Montreal Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead, a student at McGill University, asked Houdini if he could punch him, as the illusionist was famous for withstanding a punch to the gut. Of course, this required physical preparation by Houdini – tensing his abdomen muscles, etc. – but without warning, Whitehead punched Houdini (reportedly more than once) which sent the magician writhing to the floor in pain.
Doctors discovered his appendix had ruptured and immediately had it surgically removed, but by then it was too late.Īgain, rather than seek medical attention, Houdini soldiered on with his shows until his wife, Bess convinced him to go to the hospital once her husband developed a 104 degree fever. The seemingly “undefeatable” Harry Houdini died of sepsis on Halloween, 1926. “Houdini Ruins” off Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, ca. These are no longer visible from the street. Purportedly, people still hold seances on Halloween night near where Harry Houdini was living in Los Angeles.
The property is referred to as “Houdini’s Estate” even though the property had been owned by one of his friends, Ralf Walker not Houdini. Located on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, the original mansion and guest house, where the Houdinis likely stayed, burned down in 1959 leaving what eventually became overgrown ruins. Attracted by reported sightings of Houdini’s ghost, I made a visit to the site in 1990 with a group of friends. We didn’t see Houdini’s ghost, but we did find burned out candles and the like, evidence that the magician’s admirers were still trying to “make contact.” The property was sold in 1997 and the new owner cleaned up all the debris and began a restoration. The property has been sold a few more times since then and can now be rented for film shoots and private events: The Houdini Estate. Lady Jean Doyle and one of Sir Arthur’s sons sit for a spirit photograph one year after Doyle’s death.
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