In 1917, Houdini and Leopold had a falling out when Leo married Sadie Glantz, the Hungarian ex-wife of another Weiss brother, Nathan. The precise details of the family drama are not entirely known, but Houdini's displeasure took many forms, including cutting Leo's head out of family portraits and forbidding his burial in the Weiss family plot. Even after death, Houdini struck. His Will stipulated that Leo would receive nothing if he was still married to the dreaded Sadie.
A census taken in 1935 shows Leo still married to Sadie; but at some point, she vanishes from his life, either by death or divorce. Leo retired from his lucrative practice in 1949 due to increasing blindness (some say caused by repeated X-ray exposure). His fortune declined, and on October 5, 1962, he committed suicide by leaping from the roof of his apartment building in Inwood.
Leo left all his worldly goods to his long-time former nurse, Marguerite Elliott. But Marguerite's husband forbid her from accepting, so all that was left of the last living Weiss sibling was thrown out.
Even though Houdini had excommunicated him, Leopold was buried in the family plot in Machpelah cemetery, though today his gave is unmarked due to vandalism.
The doctor, the nurse, and the Bible of Ehrich Weiss
Here are the missing headstones for Gladys and Leopold Weiss
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