Saturday, December 3, 2016

Hardeen eats no meats

Like his famous brother, Hardeen investigated fake spirit mediums, or so he claimed. While I've never heard of Hardeen actually becoming involved in an investigation or breaking up a seance, this article from the Wilkes-Barre Evening News for June 28, 1928 shows that he at least threw down the gauntlet.

Click to enlarge.

Another article published around this same time includes this interesting detail about Dash:


In 1936 Hardeen made a Vitaphone short called Medium Well Done in which he played a "hardbodied detective" investigating fraud mediums. This might have been his only moment on stage as a spirit debunker. The film is now lost, so we don't know if Hardeen's detective was also a vegetarian.

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2 comments:

  1. Leo HeviaDecember 3, 2016 at 7:55 AM

    For many, show business is a passion, a calling. For Dash, it was just a job. I don't believe that man ever attended a séance in his life. Maybe those post HH séances to bring back his brother.

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    1. John CoxDecember 5, 2016 at 11:20 AM

      Yeah, I think this was just publicity to further the idea that Hardeen would be Houdini Continued. The vegetarian thing is interesting. Dash had put on a fair of weight during his years running the FDC, so this might have just been a diet. Had to fit in the Milk Can!

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