Scholars Split Over Houdini Death Date Evidence
A new book challenges the official record of when and why the magician died, drawing support from his family and pushback from historians.
By Anthony Shevchenko ·
The date of Harry Houdini's death is contested a century after he died at Detroit's Grace Hospital. Official records and contemporary media accounts place his passing on Oct. 31, 1926, from diffuse peritonitis following an appendicitis diagnosis. Larrian Gillespie, a forensic medical researcher, argues in "Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice" that he actually died a day earlier, on Oct. 30. The dispute touches on how the magician's end is remembered alongside his career as an escape artist and performer.
Gillespie bases her case on medical records, his death certificate, and other documents. She writes that the actual cause was intestinal blockage, resulting from a doctor's decision to let Houdini eat a bowl of vegetables and sour cream while recovering from surgery. She also points to conflicting dates in the paperwork: a doctor's affidavit lists Oct. 30, while the state death certificate records Oct. 31. Gillespie characterizes the state certificate as highly flawed. She states that Houdini's inner circle wanted his death to fall on Halloween "so he would always be remembered."
George Hardeen, Houdini's great-nephew, told the Associated Press that he found the book "convincing and persuasive" and had "zero doubts" about the findings. Kirkus, a book industry publication, gave the work a starred review, calling it an "absorbing, argument-starting account." The book adds to a series of centennial releases, which include a Houdini coloring book and an overview of his personal library. Eric Colleary, curator of Theatre and Performing Arts at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin, released "Houdini's Library" in September. Colleary says Houdini visited the graves of other magicians and paid to have them maintained, and their families gave him scrapbooks and playbills "so that he could keep their memories alive."
Other Houdini researchers cited in Gillespie's book dispute her conclusions about the date. Bruce Averbook, a Houdini scholar, told the AP he doubted the date was altered to land on Halloween. "The family was in significant grief and not thinking about legacy," Averbook said, adding that writings from Houdini's personal assistant list the death as Oct. 31. "He had no reason to lie about this," Averbook said. John Cox, a Houdini blogger and founder of the Wild About Harry Press publishing imprint, said the book contains "some very good new information" about Houdini's career, but that a "second opinion" is still needed regarding his death.
Cox acknowledged there was "confusion about his death and a desire for clarity." He added, "But I think his death is a very small part of the story. Houdini's fame, and why he's remembered today, comes from his remarkable life." Houdini was born Erik Weisz in 1874, the son of a rabbi whose family left Austria-Hungary in part to escape antisemitism. He was a professional magician by his teens and an international celebrity by age 30. Events marking the centennial are scheduled this weekend in Budapest, Hollywood, Chicago, and Frederick, Maryland.
