A century ago tonight, Harry Houdini walked onto a Detroit stage for the final time.
It was Oct. 24, 1926, and the 52-year-old magician was booked at the Garrick Theatre. He was already seriously ill when he arrived, running a fever of 104 degrees. Doctors had diagnosed acute appendicitis, but Houdini performed anyway.
His troubles had started nearly two weeks earlier. On Oct. 11, while performing in Albany, New York, a faulty piece of equipment struck his leg. Then came the moment that has fueled speculation ever since.
On Oct. 22, in Montreal, a student named Gordon Whitehead punched Houdini in the stomach several times before he had a chance to tense his muscles. The young man had been testing Houdini’s claim that he could withstand hard blows to the abdomen.
Houdini brushed it off and went on to perform four more shows in Montreal, but he began suffering stomach cramps. He felt worse the next day as he boarded a train for Detroit.
Doctors urged him to go to the hospital, but he refused and insisted on performing. He started the night with a few vanishing acts, but the pain began to show. Somehow, he finished the entire performance before collapsing again afterward.
He was taken to Detroit’s Grace Hospital, where doctors found he had appendicitis and peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal lining. He died a week later, on Oct. 31, 1926, with his wife, Bess, and his two brothers by his side.
The man who had escaped chains, straitjackets and locked crates couldn’t escape this one. He died on Halloween.
A century later, the exact cause is still debated. The Montreal punch makes for a dramatic story, but many historians consider it a myth, because a blow to the stomach isn’t generally believed to cause appendicitis. Others argue his refusal to see a doctor until he collapsed in Detroit is what sealed his fate.
Born Erik Weisz in Hungary, Houdini made his name escaping from shackles, ropes, handcuffs and straitjackets. In 1912 he introduced his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He had a history with Detroit too: in 1907, he was lowered in a packing crate into the icy Detroit River.
Today, almost nothing from his final week remains. The Garrick Theatre, Grace Hospital and the Statler Hotel where he stayed have all been torn down. The Garrick closed in 1928 and was demolished early the following year.
But Houdini still draws a crowd every Halloween. For several years after his death, Bess held an annual “Houdini séance” to try to reach him, and magicians and fans still keep the tradition going on Halloween.
A hundred years on, they’re still waiting for his greatest escape.
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