Harry and Rudy (and Mae)

A few weeks back I did a post about some media pairings of Houdini and Rudolph Valentino. Today I have a sequel! As you may know, the two superstars died within months of each other in 1926; Valentino on August 23 and Houdini on Halloween. It can actually be hard to tell the different between their funerals (above).

Mediums were quick to recruit Harry and Rudy and had them both appearing in seance chambers before you could say believe. Below is a clipping from the Nov. 30, 1926 Bridgeport Telegram dealing with spirit messages and their respective widows.

Believe it or not, it was Dr. Le Roi Crandon, the Houdini-hating husband of medium Mina Crandon a.k.a. Margery, who shot down these reports of messages. Here's what the doctor had to say:

The Indianapolis Star, Dec. 2, 1926.

Five years was too long to wait for any man, and in 1928 Mae West (yes, the Mae West) and her gal pal Tex Guinan invited the ghosts of Harry and Rudy to come up and see them at Tex's New York night club. Mae West conjuring the ghost of Houdini? How have we not heard about this before!?

Des Moines Tribune, July 31, 1928.

For a more serious article linking Houdini and Valentino in a discussion about Peritonitis--which killed them both--check out my collection of Harry & Rudy research as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon below.

Related:

• Harry and Rudy (and Mel)
• Houdini and Valentino
• Houdini vs. Margery II: The rematch that wasn't