Horatio G Cooke's Grave

Photo used by permission of Don Lynch

Horatio Cooke lived quite an exciting life. He was born Feb 1, 1844 in Norwich Conn. By his mid teens he was a school teacher. The break out of the Civil War interrupted his teaching and he enlisted in the Union Army. He eventually became one of President Lincoln's Federal Scouts.

Cooke met Lincoln personally at a meeting he had been called to in Washington D.C. Word had gotten around about Cooke's uncanny ability to free himself after being tied up. At this meeting, Cooke was put to the test and he passed with flying colors.

Harry Cooke went on to be an accomplished magician, escape artist and spirit debunker. Later in life he would become friends with both Harry Kellar and Harry Houdini, as well as many others in the Los Angeles magic scene.

Harry Cooke died June 17, 1924 and was buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. His grave is located in Plot: Sect 5, Lot 66, Grave 2NE.   Harry Kellar is also interned in this same cemetery.

Don Lynch, a contributor at Findagrave.com gave us permission to use the photo.

To read more about the life of Harry Green Cooke, visit
http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/08/civil-war-era-magician-part-6.html

The Kuda Bux Grave

Kuda Bux was known as The Man with X-Ray Eyes. I still vividly recall seeing one of his performances on TV and being dumbfounded by what I saw. I was told that at the time this performance took place, Kuda Bux was legally blind. I don't know if that was legit, but it sure made his exhibition even more impressive.

Kuda Bux died February 5, 1981 and is buried in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery. He is apparently buried in an unmarked grave behind the church as you enter the cemetery.

Forest Lawn Hollywood Hill Cemetery is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive Los Angeles, CA 90068
I believe the church is called The Church of the Hills, as that is the closest one to the front gate.

I want to thank Bill Bowers for graciously providing the information on Kuda's final resting place.

WILD ABOUT HARRY: Finding the grave of Edward Saint

The L.A. Houdini folks are at it again and this time they went searching for Dr. Edward Saint. He was the companion of Bess Houdini for years, instrumental in the Final Houdini Seance and frankly extremely helpful in keeping the Houdini name alive. Edward Saint is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA. Now, I don't live in LA so I didn't have the good fortune to go on the hunt for the grave myself but... watch the video in the attached link and you can experience the adventure for yourself!

WILD ABOUT HARRY: Finding the grave of Edward Saint: Embolden by our recent success at finding the grave of Jacob Hyman , my fellow Houdini buffs and I went in search of the final resting place...

Jesse Lasky's Grave

Though not a magician in the traditional sense, Jesse Lasky did have ties to the magic world. He performed for a time in Leon Herrmann's show as part of a Quick Change Act and also played the clarinet. Later he managed Herrmann. Then in 1918 and 1919 he produced two of Houdini's movies, The Grim Game and Terror Island.

Lasky though is best known as one of the founders of Paramount Pictures. He was one of the early Movie Moguls.

He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood Los Angeles County California, USA
Plot: Abbey of the Psalms, Sanctuary of Light, corridor G-3, crypt 2196

Please check out my other blog about Lasky's connection to the World of Magic.
http://deancarnegie.blogspot.com/2011/03/jesse-laskys-magic.html

Harry Kellar's Final Resting Place

photo used with permission of Mike Caveney

Harry Kellar had been suffering from pneumonia and died on May 10th, 1922. He was known as the Dean of Magicians, an official title he received from the Society of American Magicians. Prior to that he was the first world famous American born magician in the country. When he retired in 1908, he sold his show to Howard Thurston where the 'mantle of magic' was passed from Kellar to Thurston.

Caryl Fleming's Grave

photo used with permission of Allan Ellenberger

Caryl Fleming was an amateur who played a huge role within the magic community of Los Angeles in the early 20th century. Born October 13, 1894, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Over the course of his life Caryl was an actor, a director a writer, a magician, and a banker. He was one of the few who held a seat at the Inner Circle at the Final Houdini Seance on the rooftop of the Knickerbocker Hotel. He was a good friend of both Bess Houdini and Edward Saint. In fact, he was well known and liked among all the magicians in the LA area.

Caryl Fleming's remains reside at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, formerly known as "Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery". He is there among a number of very famous celebrities including Rudolph Valentino and Cecile B. DeMille.

I found this grave through Allen Ellenberger's website: http://allanellenberger.com/book-flm-news/caryl-s-fleming-at-hollywood-forever/ 

He graciously allowed me to use the grave photo above. Please check out the link because he has a lot more biographical information than I do.

Also, IBM RING 21 in Hollywood is called The Caryl Fleming Ring and they have a very good biography of Caryl on their website as well. http://www.ibmring21.org/fleminghistory.html