If you're at all familiar with Houdini, you know the story of the 'punch' in the stomach by Gordon Whitehead. You also know that Houdini died on Halloween in 1926. Let's take a deeper look into the mysterious moments during that in between time that has always remained unknown, until now.
Houdini and company boarded a train bound for Detroit following their last performance in Montreal Canada, Oct 23rd. He was due to open at at the Garrick Theater in Detroit Oct 24th. On the train, he is in a lot of pain. He is suffering from both a broken ankle and an appendicitis. They forward a telegram letting them know to have the best doctor in town waiting for Houdini at the hotel so he can be checked out prior to the show. Except, the train is running behind. Houdini chooses to go straight to the theater and bypass the hotel.
The doctor has been waiting at the hotel. They phone the theater and find out Houdini is there, so they, Dr. Leo Dretzka and Houdini's advance man, head to the Garrick. Houdini is in bad shape. Upon examining him, the Doctor says they need to call an ambulance immediately, this man has acute appendicitis. Around this time, the theater manager comes in an tells Houdini they have a sold out house. Houdini, ever the showman, stays to do the show.
It was torture for the 52 year old magician. He suffered greatly during the show, needing the help of Jim Collins on more than one occasion. During intermission, Houdini's temperature was taken and it was 104. Miraculously, he finished the show. And did he go to the hospital at this point? NO! He opted instead to head to his hotel. Bess had the hotel Doctor meet them there. This doctor called a surgeon, Dr. Charles Kennedy. He told Houdini, you must go to the hospital. Houdini refused, he would only go if his own doctor told him so. They called Houdini's NY Doctor who immediately got Houdini on the phone. Whatever was said is not known, but Houdini at this point relented and was taken to Grace Hospital in Detroit.
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| Grace Hospital Ambulance |
Houdini was operated on the following afternoon. It was said, his appendix had been so enlarged that is started on his right side and ran across his midsection into the left side of his abdomen! And it had ruptured so peritonitis had set in, a poison was seeping into his system for three days. Then, according to the Ken Silverman biography, "in trying to check the peritonitis, physicians at the hospital dosed him with an experimental serum recently developed in a Detroit laboratory." I should point out, this 'experimental serum' was first mentioned on Nov 1st, 1926 in Houdini's obituary in the New York Times. In addition, the Kalush book on Houdini gives a slightly altered version, "On Tuesday, a post-operative specialist named Dr. George LeFevre was brought to Detroit from Montreal, where he had been attending a conference. LeFevre was a homeopathist who had devised an experimental serum to combat the poison circulating through Houdini's G.I. tract." That statement is not correct. Dr. Lefevre only arrived after the serum was given and was there to report on the results. This information provided by John Cox.
FULL STOP
No one, has known what this 'experimental serum' was. The records from that time have long been destroyed. No record remained of this so called experimental serum. No one knew what it was. Until NOW.
Recently, I too went through an ordeal with a ruptured appendix. It was near the exact same time as Houdini's only 99 years later. So I was acutely aware of what he might have gone through and how he was feeling. After I got home, I did some research. I know in Houdini's case had there been antibiotics he likely would have survived. However, antibiotics were not discovered until 1928 and weren't put into affect until the late 1930s. So what did they do? Well before I tell you, let me share what this experimental serum did for Houdini.
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| Grace Hospital Detroit |
According the Ken Silverman in his book on Houdini, "it (the serum) brought his temperature down to 101 and let him spend a fairly comfortable night, although his pulse and respiration rate remained high. The following day his temperature came down to near normal." So whatever they gave him, along with his unusual physical strength had a huge impact.
On Friday, October 29th, Houdini had to be operated on again. The peritonitis though slowed down, had not stopped doing damage, he had paralysis of the bowels. His temperature shot up to 103, his heart rate doubled. Any progress had stopped and he was going down hill fast. As we know, 1:26pm on Oct 31st, Houdini breathed his final breath from Room 401 at Grace Hospital.
So what was this experimental serum? I discovered in the 1920s an experimental treatment was devised to combat peritonitis. It was called 'bacteriophage therapy'. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. The therapy involved administering preparations containing specific phages (sometimes referred to as a "serum" in lay terms) to patients. Major pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lily, Abbott Labs, and Parke-Davis all had their own versions. I believe it was Parke-Davis, which was located in Detroit, that created the 'experimental serum' for Houdini.
According to the National Institute of Health, the reason this was considered experimental was because they never were fully put through clinical trials. They had positive results on some patients, but not on others. It also was being used as a cure-all when it was not intended that way. But the most specific way it was used was to combat the symptoms resulting from peritonitis! BINGO. It would help to bring down the fever and give the patient a fighting chance to live, when it worked. This is exactly what happened to Houdini, at least initially. But he was truly too far gone. Had he not ignored his pain while he was in Montreal, he may have lived a much longer life. He delayed and delayed and delayed until it was frankly too late.
If you're wondering why no one discovered this info before? Well, when antibiotics became all the rage, and worked, in the late 1930s, the United States all but abandoned bacteriophage therapy. It was still being used in some European countries, but in the 1990s when Ken Silverman first mentions this 'experimental serum' no one remembered it. It had been out of use for 60 years. I had been scouring sources online trying to discover treatments in the 1920s when it finally came up and revealed itself. When I read the information, I knew it was the serum. And frankly, I think the only reason it came up in searches is because there is now a renewed interest in exploring bacteriophage therapies due to many bacteria today that are anti-biotic resistant. I could find no other serum treatments, and other than surgery, which was the first step, there was little that could be done in the 1920s.
Further Update: Dr. Larrain Gillespie has a different theory. I was unaware of her work on the subject and have since read through several of her articles. It does appear, as I've stated above, John Cox was actually the first to reveal the true nature of Dr. Lefevre's involvement. But Dr. Gillespie has an alternative theory on the serum which she will reveal in her upcoming book, Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice, which will come out in July 2026. I am sticking with my theory for now, but I am excited to read her book. And frankly, if nothing else we know the serum came from Parke-Davis labs in Detroit. Win win for everyone.
