LINK: In 1926, Houdini Spent 4 Days Shaming Congress for Being in Thrall to Fortune-Tellers

Atlas Obsucra has a post today by Alicia Puglionesi about Houdini's lively 1926 testimony before Congress in support of a bill to outlaw fortune telling in the District of Columbia.

The congressional hearings on the matter careened on for four raucous days. Order in the chamber disintegrated, police were repeatedly summoned, and the husband of a medium nearly punched Houdini in the face. Meanwhile, newspapers nationwide had a field day with headlines like “Hints of Seances at White House” and “Lawmakers Consult Mediums”.

Click the headline above to have a read at  Atlas Obsucra. Below are links to more about when Houdini went to Washington.

Related:

• Guest blog: Mr. Houdini Goes to Washington, Part I
• Guest blog: Mr. Houdini Goes to Washington, Part II
• Guest blog: Mr. Houdini Goes to Washington, Part III

The Witch of Lime Street released in paperback

Today sees the release of David Jaher's The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World in paperback from Broadway Books Crown.

This non-fiction work examines Houdini's spiritualistic investigations and his famous battle with Mina Crandon aka Margery. The book was released last year in hardcover to excellent reviews, including one from myself.

STX Entertainment purchased the movie rights to the book last year and is currently developing a movie with author David Jaher writing the screenplay and Andres Muschietti attached to direct.

Purchase The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World paperback Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Related:

• REVIEW: The Witch of Lime Street is no fraud
• STX acquires The Witch of Lime Street
• The Margery Files

The Essential Houdini with William Pack, Oct 31

Here's another October event to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Houdini's death.

The Beloit Public Library in Beloit, Wisconson will feature magician and lecturer William Pack in a special Halloween presentation of his acclaimed lecture "The Essential Houdini."

THE ESSENTIAL HOUDINI-HALLOWEEN PROGRAM
Monday, October 31, 2016 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Join William Pack, Magician, Mentalist, Entertainer and Storyteller, for a great Halloween Program all about Harry Houdini. Mr. Pack will go beyond the myth and bring to life the true story of this American icon.

William Pack's self-published lecture companion book, The Essential Houdini, is available for purchase at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

If you have news of any other upcoming Houdini October events, please send me the details and I will gladly add it to my calendar.

Related:

• William Pack presents 'Houdini His Life & Legend' in Woodstock

Paul Michael Glaser – the Houdini of '76

This profile of actor Paul Michael Glaser appeared in newspapers around the time of The Great Houdinis first airing 40 years ago. While there isn't much about Houdini or the movie here, it's a great little time capsule. It was clearly written by a publicist, carefully crafted to pitch Glaser as a potential movie star. For the record, Glaser would eventually break into feature films, but as a director.

Actor Michael Glaser

Breaking Out in Houdini Film

HOLLYWOOD (UPI) - Paul Michael Glaser plays detective Starsky in the "Starsky and Hutch" series, busts out of the stereotyped television image to start in "The Great Houdinis," a video special.

It is but a first, not-too-tentative step away from plasticized type casting for Glaser who seethes with a fine determination to excel. And one definitely gets the feeling the square jawed actor will succeed.

At 33, Glaser is a newcomer to the tube, but he's no babe in the woods.

He is a veteran of five years in summer stock, who was seasoned on Broadway in earned a master's degree in fine arts at Boston University.

There is a subliminally dangerous glint in his green eyes. He possesses an arresting, almost hostel quality which grabs attention on and off screen. 

The big tough guy has a clear shot at major stardom. And he plans to take it.

Glaser can be compared to Steve McQueen who jumped out of "Wanted: Dead or Alive" after a single TV season to tackle movies. Glaser is imbued with the same restlessness ambition and drive.

And like McQueen, he doesn't give the appearance of a man who romances a girl. He has the macho quality which draws women like a candle flame does moths.

But bachelor Glaser is more than a talented, attractive actor. He is a highly intelligent, sensitive man carefully evaluating his career, seeking the right timing to make the break to the big screen.

He was restless between scenes of his ABC-TV series the other day but he spoke coolly of his plans for the future.

"This Houdini film (to be aired be ABC October 8) is a step in the right direction," he said. "It gives the industry a chance to see me do something besides Starsky. And that's what I need.

"Naturally, I prefer to make movies because an actor can paint on a larger canvas. There's more money, more selectivity and fame in movies.

"But I keep in mind the fact that movies are the director's medium, television is the producer's medium and the theater is the actor's medium. And there is a great deal of conflict involved.

"Making a film is a beautiful and painful experience. Once it is over it becomes 'mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all?' I mean that's when an actor's gifts and art are in jeopardy.

"In a play when the curtain is running down the exhilaration is done with his done and over with. It's fleeting. But in movies it is preserved and thrown up to the actor again and again. So he tries to put a yardstick to his essence. That shouldn't be measured – just experienced.

"That's the danger in films. It's worse in television. The show is packaged by Kellogg's and the actor is swarmed by teeny boppers in gauged by ratings. It's a package with ribbons and dollar bills. How could any man survive that?"

One feels that plays a role do more than survive the idolatry thrust upon him by the ABC series. He will build on it to become a super movie star.

His problem is beating the G force of television. He must generate enough power and a large enough audience, willing to buy theater tickets, to escape television's gravity.

He is keenly aware precious few television stars have made the transition.

I've met Paul Michael Glaser briefly twice. The first was during the course of my real-world work in 1996. I was part of a small group gathered to screen Kazaam at the Technicolor Film lab at Universal Studios. Much to my surprise, into the screening room walked the director of the film, Paul Michael Glaser. What a treat it was to see Houdini himself suddenly appear. He was friendly and shook each of our hands. When he was told we would be doing the quality control on the release prints of his film, he said jokingly, "Well there's a lot of quality here to control."

The second occasion was when he appeared at The Hollywood Show in Burbank in 2012. It was there he helped me solve a long-time Great Houdinis mystery, as I reported in THIS POST.

Hope you enjoyed these 40th anniversary memories of The Great Houdinis.

Related:

• The Great Houdinis 40th anniversary
• Superlove Starsky is Houdini
• Paul Michael Glaser is alive and well

The Great Houdinis 40th anniversary

It was 40 years ago tonight on October 8, 1976 that The Great Houdinis aired as the ABC Friday Night Movie. The made for TV film starred Paul Michael Glaser and Sally Struthers and was the first Houdini biopic since the classic Tony Curtis Houdini of 1953.

The original TV Guide ad for the October 8, 1976 broascast.

In some markets The Great Houdinis aired from 8-10; others from 9-11 (including Los Angeles). Competition that night was from the 1975 John Wayne movie Brannigan on CBS and The Rockford Files with James Garner on NBC. In some markets, the film's final line, "I believe the son-of-a-bitch loved her," was edited out.

Even though the movie took liberties with the truth, I've always been a fan of The Great Houdinis. The casting alone makes it a standout, not just among Houdini biopics, but '70s television movies in general. It also came at a special time. Along with the coffee tables books of Christopher and Gibson and the Doug Henning "World of Magic" specials of the seventies, The Great Houdinis was one of the pop culture events that helped bring about a resurgence of interest in the Handcuff King that remains to this day. As the final minutes of the movie portrayed, Houdini did indeed return that night!

The promo below is from the second airing on April 6, 1977 (when the title was changed to The Great Houdini). But this is the same promo that played before the '76 broadcast. So click below and experience what audiences who tuned in to ABC saw 40 years ago tonight.

Were you watching 40 years ago tonight? If so, share your memories in the comments below.

Tomorrow I'll continue my look back at The Great Houdinis with: Paul Michael Glaser – the Houdini of '76.

Related:

• The Great Houdinis (1976)
• Why today is October 8, 1976
• 'Great Houdinis' title mystery solved

FLASHBACK: Making The Great Houdinis

This weekend I'll celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Great Houdinis, the 1976 television biopic starring Paul Michael Glaser and Sally Struthers. I thought I'd kick things off with a flashback to this 2011 post about the making of the movie. This was one of my first big research projects for WILD ABOUT HARRY, so I have a soft spot for it, as I do the film itself. Enjoy.

MAKING THE GREAT HOUDINIS

FairyTale now streaming on Netflix

The 1997 movie FairyTale: A True Story is now available for streaming on Netflix. The movie features Harvey Kietel as Houdini and Peter O'Toole as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle investigating the infamous Cottingley Fairies phenomena.

If you've never seen the movie, it's well worth watching. It features wonderful performances by its two young leads, and also what I think is the most accurate portrayal of Houdini on film (maybe the only accurate portrayal). Actor Harvey Keitel strove for authenticity. He even spent time with Dorothy Young, who was last living person to have performed with Houdini, and from her learned how Houdini moved and spoke. I expect he also studied Houdini's silent films, because in many parts of the movie he appears to be almost mimicking Houdini's body movements.

The clip below shows Keitel nicely channeling Houdini with actress Florence Hoath.

CLICK HERE TO STREAM 'FAIRYTALE' ON NETFLIX

Thanks to Mark Willoughby for the alert.

Related:

• FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
• Dorothy Young remembers her days with Houdini
• The real story of Houdini & Doyle

Houdini and I spook the Castle tonight

Tonight I will be giving a talk on Houdini Among the Spirits at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. This "Castle Perk" starts at 8PM in the Inner Circle and is open to all AMA members.

At the conclusion of the talk, I plan to reveal a long lost piece of Houdini history that I've been holding back from this blog. But don't worry. I will share it here later this month.

Hope to see some of you tonight!

ROUGH RIDERS #6

Aftershock Comics has released Adam Glass's ROUGH RIDERS #6. The series teams Houdini with famous notables such as Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Edison and Annie Oakley. TR is featured on the cover of this latest issue.

Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders find themselves in the belly of the beast, as they must battle a monstrosity that is not of this earth...yet IS. But to defeat this enemy the team must first conquer their past and the demons that haunt them. The stakes are not just their own, but the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

ROUGH RIDERS #6 can be purchased at ComiXology and Amazon. The series is set to run for seven issues. A collected edition will be released in December.

UPDATE: I just discovered that there is a variant "horror cover" by Andrew Robinson for this issue with nice Houdini imagery. This can be purchased at Midtown Comics.

Related:

• A Rough Rider in Griffith Park
• Houdini covers ROUGH RIDERS #2
• Houdini and the Presidents

New French series kicks off with 'Metamorphosis'

The first in what promises to be a new series of French books featuring the adventues of Houdini as "Magicien et détective" has been released by Le Masque.

Metamorphosis by Vivianne Perret is set in San Francisco in July 1899. In it, Houdini is asked by a rich silk merchant to help find his kidnapped niece, whom he fears has been sold into the brothels in Chinatown. Over Bess's objections, Houdini agrees to investigate. But what Bess doesn't know is that Harry is also on a secret mission for the U.S. government.

Continuing books in the series will follow Houdini to various locations worldwide.

The Houdinis were indeed in San Francisco in July 1899, so I like that this book appears to be a bit more rooted in reality than most Houdini fiction. I'm hoping other books in the series will also place him in historic reality, at least as far a time and place are concerned. I could easily imagine continuing books set in London, Germany, Russia, France and Australia. Fun stuff.

Unfortunately, it appears Metamorphosis is only available in French (for now).

The paperback and eBook are available via the French Amazon.fr and Amazon.co.uk. The Canadian Amazon.ca shows an October 12 release date. There are listings for the eBook only on the U.S. Amazon.com showing a release date of Nov. 9.

UPDATE: Author Vivianne Perret tells me her next book "will place Houdini and Bess in Berlin, at the Wintergarten in October and November 1900." Nice.

Related posts:

• The Chronicles of Young Houdini
• The Harry Houdini Mysteries
• Houdini in 1899

See The Grim Game in Austin TONIGHT

TCMs restoration of Houdini's The Grim Game will screen TONIGHT at the Harry Ransom Center's Charles Nelson Prothro Theater at 7:00 PM. Eric Colleary, Cline Curator of Theater and Performing Arts, will introduce the film. The screening is open to the public and FREE.

The Grim Game is currently the only Houdini movie not available on DVD, so screenings like this are the only way to currently see what is by far Houdini's best film.

The Harry Ransom Center is located at The University of Texas at Austin and holds one of the largest collections of Houdini material in the world. The center is celebrating the 90th anniversary of Houdini's death with several special events this month.

For more information about tonight's screening of The Grim Game CLICK HERE.

Related:

• Ransom Center cooks up Houdini treats for October
• Rick Schmidlin (Part I): Finding The Grim Game
• Rick Schmidlin (Part II): Saving The Grim Game

American Museum of Magic to hold Houdini seance

The American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan have revealed plans for a special Halloween Houdini seance to mark the 90th anniversary of the great magician's death. Their seance will include nods to the first Houdini seance held at the museum back in 1978. Below is the full press release.

American Museum of Magic plans lox-and-bagel séance to lure Houdini's spirit

MARSHALL – Halloween will be an especially spooky day at the American Museum of Magic – especially if the ghost of the late magician Harry Houdini makes an appearance.

Halloween is the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini at Grace Hospital in Detroit and the 38th anniversary of the first Houdini séance at the museum – the largest repository of magicians' materials and memorabilia on public display in the Western Hemisphere.

“Just as we did in 1978, we're going to tempt Houdini to show up by setting up a lox-and-bagel sandwich for him, and locking it inside his own escape apparatus,” said Susan Collins, who chairs the board of directors of the museum at 107 E. Michigan Ave. “We're told that it was his favorite snack, so we're going to make it tough for him to ignore us.”

Shortly after 2 p.m. on the afternoon of Oct. 31, select members of the museum's staff and supporters will sit in a séance circle around artifacts that once belonged to Houdini, and make their second attempt in 38 years to contact his ghost – if it exists. The public is invited to attend and observe the free event, but no children under age 8 will be admitted.

Houdini died at 1:26 p.m. on Halloween Day, Oct. 31, 1926, at Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. Since then, magicians worldwide have celebrated October as “magic month.”

“This year, we'll be under daylight saving time on Halloween Day, and our panel of advisors tells us that – because of the time adjustment – it will be exactly 90 years since the death of Harry Houdini at 2:26 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time,” Collins said.

“When we shifted ahead by an hour last spring for daylight saving time, it put our clocks an hour ahead of Houdini’s time in 1926, and we won't 'fall back' to standard time until the following weekend,” she said. “So, at 2:26 p.m. on Halloween under daylight saving time, we'll hit the actual 90-year mark. That's when we will go silent and call for Houdini to give us a sign.”

The séance itself will be supervised by Marshall magician Phillip Hagerty, following a script prepared by John C. Sherwood, also a Marshall magician. The script will follow the format that the museum's late owner, Robert Lund, established for the 1978 event, which Hagerty and Sherwood attended.

Those who wish to observe should arrive at the museum by 1:45 p.m., Collins added. Sentries will guard the museum's locked doors to prevent unauthorized tomfoolery, and those attending will be invited to inspect the museum for any hidden accomplices. All museum telephones will be rendered silent during the event.

Houdini made no sign of returning in 1978. At the time, Lund said the failure may have been because the bagel he'd provided wasn't kosher. Lund also speculated whether adding cream cheese might have helped.

“We’re going to try to correct some of those oversights this time,” Collins said.

Houdini's late wife Bess frequently spoke of making a compact with her husband that they would attempt to contact each other’s spirit, if it were possible.

“Although she and her husband had become skeptics about the reality of such psychical events, Bess seems to have made several serious attempts to carry out that compact,” Sherwood said. “At one time, she even thought that the medium Arthur Ford had given her the message that she longed to hear, but she later renounced the experience as an error.”

As was done in 1978, the museum will hold its séance-style ceremony around Houdini’s own Milk Can Escape, an artifact acquired by Lund about a half-century ago, and a “spirit horn” once owned by the magician.

“Just as we did before, we plan to place a lox-and-bagel sandwich into or near the Milk Can and ask Houdini to take a bite out of it,” Collins said. “Or maybe he'll just tip it over – or something. We'll settle for any kind of unusual sign.”

Sherwood said Houdini's spirit will be given a variety of opportunities to make its presence known, perhaps by whispering through the spirit horn, extinguishing a candle, or opening a lock or set of handcuffs.

“We'll be able to see precisely what might happen because we're not going to turn off the lights,” Sherwood said. “As Bob Lund described him, Houdini was the enemy of darkness and – in his honor – all the lights will be on, including our brand-new array of track lighting. If anything is going to happen, we'll see it clearly.”

Collins was present for the 1978 séance and will join the circle in place of one of the initial circle-sitters, her late husband, John Collins, a former president of the Michigan Historical Society. Two other members of the 1978 circle will be present again – Sherwood and Norman Kinney of Marshall. A third living member of the 1978 circle, former Marshall resident Douglas Collins (no relation to the other Collinses), will be unable to participate.

Several other individuals are being selected by the museum's staff and board members join the séance circle on Halloween, Susan Collins said.

An empty chair in the circle will honor Lund, and a remembrance candle will be lighted in memory of John Collins as well as three of Lund's now-deceased friends who joined the 1978 circle – Royal Oak television producer Dan Waldron, and District Judge Dale Riker and his wife, Evelyn, both of Flint.

“If anyone has an advantage in bringing Houdini back, we have it at this museum,” said Sherwood, who also is a member of the museum's board of directors. “This is one of the few repositories in the nation that honors Houdini by displaying his own magical equipment, posters and other memorabilia.

“Countless artifacts safeguarded here were owned by Houdini and his friends, and by those who were inspired by him to embark on the hobby and profession of theatrical magic,” he said. “Over the decades, hundreds if not thousands of magicians – famous or not – have visited here to remember Houdini and the other performers who are honored here.”

Sherwood and Hagerty insisted that no magical shenanigans will be permitted during the event.

“You will not experience any trickery, theatrical deception or fraud during this gathering,” Hagerty said. “If anyone plans some form of nonsense, we'll find them out and denounce them.”

“We aren't Spiritualists or ghost hunters, either,” Sherwood said. “We aren't necessarily believers in the claims of those who trust in the spiritual return of the departed. Under no circumstances are we conducting a religious ritual in any way. Instead, this is an experiment — an expression of hopefulness and honor.

“Bess Houdini's seances — and her failure to produce her husband's spirit — actually had a intellectual, logical purpose,” Sherwood said. “After years of investigation and research, she and Houdini had become skeptics about psychic phenomena, and Bess actually believed the séances extended Houdini’s efforts in life — to stop the spread of superstition and unwarranted belief in nonsensical, magical thinking.”

“We simply plan to pay tribute to the most famous magician who ever lived,” said Susan Collins. “At the same time, we'll be honoring the memory of Bob and Elaine Lund, who made this museum possible.”

The museum will open at 10 a.m. that day, and a reception will begin at 1 p.m. Refreshments will be available before and after the séance. The museum itself will remain open until 4 p.m. that day. Additional information about the museum is available by calling (269) 781-7570 or by visiting americanmuseumofmagic.org.

PHOTO: Staff and supporters of the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Mich., will conduct a 90th anniversary séance on Halloween Day to contact the spirit of magician Harry Houdini, who died in Detroit on Oct. 31, 1926. From left are Susan Collins, who chairs the museum's board of directors; Cindy Lake, the museum's administrator; John C. Sherwood, a museum board member and longtime Marshall magician; and séance supervisor Phillip Hagerty, also a longtime Marshall magician. Items Houdini once owned will be used during the event, including his Milk Can Escape apparatus (at center) and mediumistic “spirit horn.”

For the record, I've never heard of lox-and-bagels being Houdini's "favorite snack." Maybe they should have gone with Farmer's Chop Suey, the dish Houdini had a "hankering for" on his death bed.

The American Museum of Magic will hold several other escape-themed events throughout the month of October.

Related:

• LINK: Magic in Marshall's air for Halloween
• American Museum of Magic shares collection online
• REPORT: The Midwest Magic History Weekend 2015

The Houdini-Weiss exedra turns 100

It was 100 years ago today that Houdini unveiled the exedra that fronts the Weiss family plot at Machpelah cemetery in Queens. Houdini dedicated the monument in a special ceremony on Sunday, October 1, 1916.

The creation of the exedra (resting place) had taken over a year. Houdini entrusted the task to Oscar Teale, a past president of the Society of American Magicians whom Houdini employed as a private secretary. Teale worked throughout 1915-16 while Houdini was on tour. The job was not an easy one. The contractors deviated from Teale's model, a marble seat developed a crack, and faulty drilling broke large slabs of stone which had to be replaced. In the end, it cost Houdini a whopping $40,000 (that's close to a million dollars today).

The finished exedra was cut from a thousand tons of Vermont granite and ornamented with figures hewn from Italian marble. The original headstones for Houdini's parents were placed inside each end of the exedra. On the back was etched:

Erected By

HOUDINI

1916

In Sacred Memory

Of His

BELOVED PARENTS

About 250 people attended the dedication ceremony, which was conducted by Rabbi Bernard Drachman and Rabbi A.B. Tinter. Newspapers from as far away as Pittsburgh covered the event. The new plot had the Weiss family laid out under uniform headstones made from the same granite as the exedra, with Houdini's headstone in place beside his mother.

The exedra that was unveiled 100 years ago is slightly different from the one we know today. It did not have the bust nor the cut glass mosaic emblem of the Society of American Magicians. Those would be added a year after Houdini's death and unveiled during a special memorial service attended by Bess. I've never seen a close-up image of the original exedra, but glimpses of it can be seen in photos taken during construction and Houdini's funeral. (Which you can see below.)

Houdini's ambition to build a lasting monument to his family (and himself) can be counted as one of his great achievements. The Houdini grave site and exedra have become a place of pilgrimage for many, and each year the S.A.M. conducts a wand breaking ceremony at the grave near the anniversary of Houdini's death.

However, the grave site has also seen rough times and controversy. In April 1975, the grave became the focus of attention when escape artist and Houdini provocateur Norman Bigelow claimed to have "deciphered a complex code" that revealed Houdini had hidden his secrets inside the exedra. That same month, cemetery revelers, high on PCP, dislodged and broke the original grave bust. The timing lead some, including James Randi, to believe Bigelow had committed the vandalism in an attempt to prove his theory.

The bust was replaced by the S.A.M. in a special ceremony on March 24, 1976, in time for the 50th anniversary of Houdini's death (Saturday Night Live would do a "broadcast" from the gravesite that year). However, the second bust was stolen in 1983. After two more replacements were stolen, the S.A.M. decided it was best to leave the monument headless. Then, on May 25, 1994, the entire gravesite experienced extreme vandalism with the destruction of two stone benches and the headstones of Leopold and Gladys Weiss.

With help from magicians, including generous donations from David Copperfield and James Randi, the S.A.M. repaired the gravesite (although Gladys and Leopold's headstones have yet to be replaced). In 2007, the site once again became of the center of controversy when a plan to exhume Houdini's body to test for poisoning drew nationwide attention. It was later dismissed as a publicity stunt.

In 2011, Dorothy Dietrich, Dick Brookz and Steve Moore of the Houdini Museum in Scranton took it upon themselves to restore the long missing Houdini bust with a reproduction made at their own expense. They also oversaw the upkeep of the gravesite during a time of dispute between the S.A.M. and the cemetery over costs.

But all disputes have now been settled, and the S.A.M. has resumed the upkeep of the grave of their "Most Illustrious" past president. In fact, this past May, the S.A.M. concluded a major cleaning and restoration of the entire exedra, just in time for its 100th anniversary today.

Below are photos of the exedra throughout the years.

Houdini takes a seat during construction.

The dedication on October 1, 1916.

Houdini's funeral, November 4, 1926.

Hardeen and Bess in the 1930s.

Elsie Hardeen, Gladys Weiss, and Marie Hinson in 1954.

On Saturday Night Live, October 30, 1976.

Me with the headless exedra in 2005.

The bust is restored by the Houdini Museum in 2011.

Last Monday, September 26, our magical friend Colleen Bak visited the gravesite and took these beautiful photos (as well as the image at the top of this post), giving us a nice look at the 100-year-old Houdini-Weiss exedra as it proudly stands today.

Background on the building of the exedra from Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman.

Timeline:

• 1904: Houdini buys plot for $450. Moves grandmother, father, and half-brother Herman.
• 1916: Houdini dedicates exedra in memory of his parents on October 1st.
• 1926: Houdini is buried on November 4.
• 1927: S.A.M. holds memorial service and unveils Houdini bust and S.A.M. emblem.
• 1975: Houdini bust is smashed by vandals on night of April 8-9.
• 1976: S.A.M. replaces Houdini bust with replica on March 24.
• 1983: Second Houdini bust is stolen on August 14. Replaced by S.A.M. with replica.
• 1987: Machpelah Cemetery goes into bankruptcy. State takes ownership.
• 1988: Third Houdini bust is stolen. Replaced.
• 1990: Fourth Houdini bust is stolen in November. Not replaced.
• 1994: Benches are smashed and Gladys/Leopold headstones damaged on May 25.
• 1996: Grave is restored with funds raised by S.A.M. with help from David Copperfield and James Randi. Bust and Gladys/Leo headstones are not replaced.
• 2002: Police recover bust stolen in 1983. (Returned to S.A.M. in 2011 and now on display at the Houdini Museum of New York.)
• 2007: S.A.M. stop paying for the upkeep of the plot over dispute with cemetery owners.
• 2007: Book authors announce plan to exhume Houdini's body to check for poisoning.
• 2011: Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz replace Houdini bust with replica on September 29.
• 2013: S.A.M. announces it will resume paying for the upkeep of the gravesite.
• 2016: S.A.M. rededicates the cleaned and restored exedra on May 9.
• 2016: Exedra celebrates 100th anniversary on October 1st.

Related posts:

• Machpelah before the exedra
• LIVE from Machpelah Cemetery, it's Saturday Night!
• HOUDINI'S ORIGINAL GRAVE BUST REVEALED
• Here are the missing headstones for Gladys and Leopold Weiss
  
• S.A.M. rededicates Houdini's gravesite
• Houdini in 1916