Monday, July 2, 2012

Houdini contacts a Kennedy

Here's a nice item from the current Magic Castle newsletter. Actress Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bobby Kennedy Jr. recently attended a Houdini Seance in celebration of casting director Tony Sepulveda's birthday. With the help of medium Leo Kostka, Houdini returned! (Wouldn't you for Cheryl Hines?) The Castle reports that:
Each in their own way, they were enthralled by the many Houdini artifacts displayed elegantly in the Séance Room and the mysteries behind the man himself.

www.magiccastle.com

There is actually another Houdini-Kennedy family connection. In 1923 Joseph Kennedy, father of the Kennedy clan, joined the board of directors of the Film Booking Office of America (FBO). That same year FBO distributed Houdini's final film, Haldane of the Secret Service. Kennedy later took full control of the studio and helped arrange the merger of FBO with RCA and Keith-Albee-Orpheum (Houdini's old vaudeville circuit) to form RKO Studios (Radio-Keith-Orpheum).

I've long hoped to turn up some correspondence between Houdini and Kennedy, or even a mention by Kennedy of the Houdini film. Of course, Houdini believed he had been cheated by FBO, so maybe he had something to say about that at the seance?

Maybe not.

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