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!

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

The Grave of William Fay

William Marion Fay was a partner in the Davenport Brothers act. He joined them in 1864 as tour manager and would fill in for the often sick, William Henry Davenport. He clearly had a bigger role than just a fill-in however because his name actually appears on the billing as "The Davenport Brothers and Fay".

In 1873, Fay left the Davenport Brothers and went with fellow employee Harry Kellar to start FAY & KELLAR. Some books say that the brothers were retiring, others claim that Kellar had a falling out with William Davenport and left and took Fay with him. Regardless, the two went off on their own and performed together until they lost all of their props and money in a shipwreck in the Bay of Biscay.

William Fay rejoined the Davenports in 1873 and stayed with them until William Henry Davenport died in Australia in 1877. Fay remained in Australia and purchased a farm. He came out of retirement briefly to try and resurrect the Spirit Cabinet act with Ira Davenport, but it was unsuccessful.

He died on July 16th, 1921. William Fay is buried in Melbourne General Cemetery, Church of England grave number NN214, 215. To find the grave, enter by the south gate to South Avenue. Turn off South Ave into path directly opposite the grave of Amalia Hirshfeld which is on the right hand side of South Ave coming from the south gate.

The Davenport Brothers with William Fay (center

)

 The photos are courtesy of Kent Blackmore. To read more about the Davenport Brothers and William Fay check out this article by Kent. http://www.sydneymagic.net/history/davenport.html

Also to get a slightly more in depth biography of William Fay, check out my blog: 

http://deancarnegie.blogspot.com/2011/02/who-was-william-fay.html