Saturday, January 21, 2012

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...

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

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...