Thursday, October 23, 2014

Larry Weeks has died

Larry Weeks, the man who called himself "Houdini's biggest fan," passed away on October 13 at age 95. He will be buried tomorrow, October 24, at Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, not far from Houdini's grave just as he wished.


Larry Weeks was born Lester Fulton Weeks on September 24, 1919 in Salem, Massachusetts. His family moved to New York where at age 10 Larry developed a talent for juggling. He performed a popular juggling act called "Juggling For Fun" in vaudeville and nightclubs in New York, Boston, and Montreal. Larry served in World War II where he performed as part of Irving Berlin's USO show, This Is the Army, and later appeared in the film version. He appeared on the cover of Genii in September 1958.

A lifelong Houdini fan, Larry amassed one of the great Houdini collections, including most of Houdini's surviving film work. He was a regular at the Official Houdini Seances and appeared earlier this year in the ITV documentary The Magic of Houdini with Alan Davies in which he spoke about seeing Houdini as a boy.

A memorial service is being planned for next month.

Thanks to Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz for this sad news.
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10 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 23, 2014 at 10:36 AM

    I'm very sorry to hear this news.

    As a teen during the 1970's, I attended Larry's regular "One-Day Magic Conventions" in NYC...that's where I met Walter Gibson, Milbourne Christopher, Amazing Randi, and Sid Radner (and had them all sign my books :-).

    Aside from a magician & juggler, Larry was a major dealer of "Escape Artist Equipment" during the 1950's and 60's.

    I know that he lived his entire adult life at his same Brooklyn address.

    I'm glad that I got to meet Larry once more - at the Las Vegas Radner-Houdini Auction, a dozen years ago.


    RIP

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    Replies
    1. John CoxOctober 23, 2014 at 10:51 AM

      I'm really sad that I missed my chance to meet Larry. He was supposed to come to the Official Seance in 2012 in Fort Worth, but that was the week of Hurricane Sandy and his travel plans had to be canceled.

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  2. Dorothy Dietrich Dick BrookzOctober 23, 2014 at 11:29 AM

    Hi John,
    I spoke to the Machpelah Cemetery staff and was told that the funeral service will be at the Cemetery at 11:30 am.
    Machpelah Cemetery
    Queens, NY
    Machpelah Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located in Glendale, Queens, New York. It is the final resting place of, amongst many others, magician Harry Houdini and his brother Theodore Hardeen.
    Address: 8230 Cypress Hills St, Flushing, NY 11385
    Hours:
    Open today · 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
    Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz

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  3. John CoxOctober 23, 2014 at 12:03 PM

    BTW, buried on the 88th anniversary of Houdini's last performance. Not bad, Larry. :)

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  4. AnonymousOctober 23, 2014 at 12:35 PM

    What did he say concerning the Houdini performance he saw?

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  5. Kevin ConnollyOctober 23, 2014 at 6:42 PM

    I'm pretty sure he will be buried next to or near Houdini.

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  6. Rick SchmidlinOctober 23, 2014 at 9:19 PM

    This was sad news to hear.

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  7. AnonymousOctober 24, 2014 at 4:47 AM

    Could Larry have been the last living person to have seen Houdini perform? He was only 6-7 years old so his memories must not have been vivid. Does anyone know what he said he remembered about that performance?

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  8. Jeff 68October 25, 2014 at 8:45 AM

    I have memories of meeting Larry at the 50th Anniversary of Houdini's death at Machpelah Cemetery - he was a wonderful and important to the past.

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