The Other Houdini Grave

This is the grave of Jacob Hyman, the man who gave Erich Weiss his name. If you don't know the story, two teen age friends Erich Weiss and Jacob Hyman were talking about the great French magician Robert-Houdin. They were both into magic and wanted to emulate this master. Jacob suggested by adding an 'i' to the end of the name, it would mean 'like Houdin' in French, so Houdin became HOUDINI. And actually Jacob and Erich (Harry) became the Houdini Brothers.

Jacob wouldn't be with the act long before he was replaced by his brother Joe Hyman and then Theo Weiss and eventually Bess Houdini. Harry kept the Houdini name and apparently so did Jacob. When Harry found out about it, he was not too happy. Harry wouldn't even let his real brother Theo keep the name, instead giving him the name Hardeen.

Jacob eventually became a prominent physician in Beverly Hills. He died in 1942. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Graceland Section Lot 320 Space 3, Glenda, CA. The photo above is the grave of Jacob Hyman. The photo below is his brother Joe. The photos were graciously supplied by John Cox of WildaboutHarry.com You can read about his exciting trip to find the graves by clicking this link: http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/01/uncovering-grave-of-houdinis-first.html

WILD ABOUT HARRY: This is J. Gordon Whitehead

J. Gordon Whitehead, the guy who punched Houdini, gets more hits on my site than all the other magicians combined. John Cox over at Wild About Harry has posted a photo of Whitehead if you'd like to see it. It's the only known photo of Whitehead.

WILD ABOUT HARRY: This is J. Gordon Whitehead: This is the only known photo of Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead, the McGill University student who punched Houdini in his dressing room at the Pri...

Harry Houdini - Grave

 This is by far the ultimate in magic graves. It's beyond grand and probably out of place in a Jewish Cemetery. But it's all Houdini. In 1916, Harry Houdini decided have a massive marble monument built for the family plot he purchased at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, NY. He had his father and mother and older brother Herman moved to the family plot.

The entire Houdini family is here, with one exception, Bess, his wife. She is listed as being buried here but she is not. Because Bess was Catholic, she is in a different cemetery. There are two graves that have no tombstone, apparently the stones need to be repaired and have remained unrepaired for a long time. Those graves are of Leopold and Gladys.

Recently, the Houdini Museum in Scranton PA took it upon themselves to have the bust recreated and restored to the gravesite. The original has been destroyed by vandals and then a duplicate was later stolen. Suffice to say the Houdini grave has not been treated kindly over the years.

It should be noted that Houdini started the tradition of the 'Broken Wand' Ceremony. This is a ceremony conducted after the passing of a fellow magician. A magic wand is broken to signify that their earthly magic has passed on. As far as I know, the Broken Wand Ceremony is carried out every Halloween at the Houdini Gravesite by the Parent Assembly #1.

Hardeen -Theodore 'Dash' Weiss

Brother of Houdini and quite the performer in his own right. Theo, was born Feb 29th. For those unfamiliar that is leap year so he'd only have a birthday every 4 years. Today would be his birthday IF it were a leap year, but it's March 1st so no cake!

William Henry Harrison Davenport's Grave

Magician and historian Kent Blackmore at William Davenport's Grave

The Davenport Brothers were a sensation across the globe. They created something called 'The Spirit Cabinet' which was a large rectangular box which apparent spirit manifestations took place. They brothers would sit in chairs inside the cabinet and then were tied to the chairs. Next,  musical instruments were placed inside the cabinet and the doors would be closed to hide them from site. As soon as the doors closed, the instruments began to play. Yet every time the doors were opened the brothers were found to be still securely tied.

The team was made up of William Henry Harrison Davenport and Ira Erastus Davenport. William was born Feb 1, 1841 in Buffalo NY. The brothers began presenting their Spirit Cabinet shortly after some sisters also from New York, the Fox Sisters, began to claim they could communicate with the spirits of dead people. Strange rapping sounds were heard in their presence seemingly a signal from these dead spirits.

In the 1850s the two brothers took their show on the road and they were an instant sensation. Within a short time they were traveling the globe presenting this effect. It should be noted that the Davenports themselves never claimed these were supernatural feats, those claims were often made by others who had seen them. The Davenports, like good magicians, really left it up to the audience to decide.

William died rather young at the age of 36 of Tuberculosis. He was buried in Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney Australia. Over the years, many famous magicians have visited the grave including Houdini.

There is a fantastic article written about William Davenport and his grave that I discovered online. In fact, the photo above and the location of the grave below came directly from that webpage with permission of the author Kent Blackmore. The article is an  investigative story which covers some biographical information, the brothers tours of Australia and news of a special monument that was supposed to have been constructed as the grave for William Davenport but was rejected by the Cemetery authorities. Mr. Blackmore does a great job in his detective work. To read his very interesting and informative article,  http://www.sydneymagic.net/history/davenport.html

Locating the grave of William Henry Harrison Davenport

Rookwood Necropolis (Sydney), is located near Lidcombe railway.
The grave location is SECTION E, Grave 848 in the Anglican (Church of England) section.
Come up through the Lidcombe entrance, up to the road which goes in a large circle.
Look for a road on your left, clearly signposted "William Drive." This runs North from the Circle Rd. Go along William Drive about 250 meters.
Look for posts marking sections on the right.. There is a track running between the borders of section "E" and section "F", on the right hand side of the road. (There is also a sign indicating Section EE there, which is accessed from this track and lies further on.)
Go down the track, only about 20-30 metres in. On the right hand side of the track (on the side facing away from the Olympic Stadium), about four graves in, look for a low-lying extended pyramid shape. The grave is no longer white as it was originally.
For those with access to a GPS, the grave is at - 33 degrees 51.986S, 151 degrees 03.148E
Died July 1st 1877

Alan Shaw, Charles Carter and Houdini

J. Gordon Whitehead-The Man Who Killed Houdini

Mt. Royal Cemetery Montreal Canada

Joscelyn Gordon Whitehead was not a magician. He was the college student (who was in his 30s at the time) who punched Houdini several times in the abdomen in his dressing room in Montreal. This led to a ruptured appendix and Houdini's eventual death on October 31, 1926. Investigations following Houdini’s death don't accuse Whitehead of any wrong doing, but in an affidavit to the insurance company Whitehead willingly admits to punching Houdini several times. Books continue to be published that point the finger at Whitehead and a possible conspiracy of Spiritualist Mediums who were out get Houdini for his exposure shows which revealed that Mediums were fake. I don't think any positive connection has been made so far, these are only theories.

Whitehead was an odd figure. After the Houdini incident he left college. He became a recluse and a hermit. He died of malnutrition in 1954. He is buried in Montreal Canada at the Mt. Royal Cemetery in an unmarked grave. The exact location is the Hawthorne Dale Annex Plot, lot # 188, grave 75. It is an unmarked grave.

J. Gordon Whitehead, today

Dead Magicians/Conjurers

I don't know why but I am fascinated with the final resting places of the dead. Kind of a strange thing really. Maybe it was seeing photos of Houdini by grave sites when I was younger that put that into my brain, who knows. But today it's sort of a hobby, finding these graves and collecting images of them.

For the record I wanted to go with 'Dead Magicians Society' but someone had already used it and had quite a successful blog it appears. Though I think they stopped it in May of 2010, I didn't want to use a title that had been used prior. So instead I went with ' The Dead Conjurers'. Maybe I should have taken the 'dead celebrities' because I know I'll have graves of people that are not magicians on here.

I think it's important to remember these folks even though they have passed. They came before us and laid a foundation of magic that we stand on today. We should celebrate their lives even though they are not with us.

I hope you enjoy the samplings. The tomb above belongs to the man who published The Conjurers Monthly Magazine, was the first person to fly an airplane in Australia, was the highest paid act in vaudeville and is still the most famous magician of all time. Harry Houdini.

He is buried in Machpelah Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens along with the rest of his immediate family. A more extensive piece on the Houdini burial site can be found here.