![]() Lady Jean Doyle and one of Sir Arthur’s sons sit for a spirit photograph one year after Doyle’s death. ![]() 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. 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. Attracted by reported sightings of Houdini’s ghost, I made a visit to the site in 1990 with a group of friends. 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. 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. Purportedly, people still hold seances on Halloween night near where Harry Houdini was living in Los Angeles. These are no longer visible from the street. “Houdini Ruins” off Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, ca. The seemingly “undefeatable” Harry Houdini died of sepsis on Halloween, 1926. Doctors discovered his appendix had ruptured and immediately had it surgically removed, but by then it was too late. Again, 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. – but without warning, Whitehead punched Houdini (reportedly more than once) which sent the magician writhing to the floor in pain. ![]() ![]() Of course, this required physical preparation by Houdini – tensing his abdomen muscles, etc. 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. 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. On OctoHoudini broke his ankle during a show. Houdini’s words couldn’t have been more prophetic. Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (on the right) (from ). ![]()
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