Re: Houdini stuff

[chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (chris williams)]

Mark Mazur writes:
>  In fact the song is a fantastic condensation of the 
>most powerful themes of the film.  Unfortunately, most of those were 
>fictional.  Not also that the cause of Houdini's death was not drowning 
>in the water chamber as the song and the film recount, but as far as I 
>remember, due to intestinal hemmoraging (sp?).

   Specifically, Houdini was famous for his amazing physical control,
doing things like being able to pick locks with his toes and pick up
needles from the floor with his eyelashes (I'm *not* making this up.)
He also had the strength and muscular control to withstand almost any
blow to his body. Two collage students visited him backstage before a
show. They asked him about his claim, wanting to test it. He was busy
with something else at the time, and one of the students punched him
in the stomach before he was ready. His appendix was ruptured. He 
lingered on for a day or two, and expired on Halloween.

   Very sad, but not quite as dramatic.



                          Chris Williams of
                             Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
                               chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (his)
                                 vickie@njin.rutgers.edu      (hers)