Didi Houdini Die From A Punch In The Stomach?

Doctor In New Book Tells A Different Story

Harry Houdini (l) with Senator Arthur Capper at Senate hearings on spiritualism February 26, 2926,  photo: National Photographic Company via LOC

If Harry Houdini is not still the world’s most famous magician, I’m not quite sure who is. David Copperfield? David Blaine? Penn and Teller?

To add to Houdini’s fame as an entertainer, he spent many year’s of his life debunking spiritualists and psychics. Houdini believed spiritualists were con artists and parasites preying upon the troubled and grief-stricken.

It is ironic that seances are now held every Halloween to try and communicate with Houdini on the anniversary of his death October 31, 1926.

Houdini And A Punch

The story of the event that reportedly led to Houdini’s death remain murky.

Before a performance at a vaudeville show in Montreal on Friday, October 22, magician and escape artist Harry Houdini was being visited by two students from McGill University in his dressing room at the Princess Theatre. Samuel J. Smilovitch, was sketching Houdini. and Jacques Price was along with him. Soon to join them was McGill library worker Joscelyn Gordon Whitehead who had asked for an interview with Houdini.

Whitehead and Houdini conversed for a while. The subject got around to health and feats of strength. There is much controversy about what happened next. The legend is that Houdini was asked by Whitehead if it was true he could take a hard punch to the stomach. Whitehead would claim that Houdini invited him to hit him to prove he could control his stomach muscles and be hit with no ill effect.

If Houdini was asked by Whitehead if he could take a punch, Houdini may have said yes. Some versions of the story disagree as to Houdini’s understanding of the question or if he responded at all. But, before Houdini was ready and could prepare himself, the 29-year-old Whitehead suddenly threw a series of punches into Houdini’s abdomen.

Whitehead said Houdini instructed him to hit him in the abdomen. To further confuse the issue in his sworn affidavit Whitehead states the punch occurred not on October 22, but the day before on Thursday, October 21.

On Sunday, October 24 Houdini held his final performance at Detroit’s Garrick Theatre. Houdini checked himself into Grace Hospital the next day.  On Halloween, Houdini died, after undergoing two operations during the week. The official cause was streptococcus peritonitis and a ruptured appendix (possibly caused by being punched).

New Research Tells A Different Story

Harry Houdini January 20, 1926, nine months before his death at age 52, photo: National Photographic Co. via LOC

Dr. Larrian Gillespie, author of the new book Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice, (Cipher House Books, 2026) says there is evidence Houdini’s death was not caused by a punch. Furthermore, it’s very possible Houdini did not die on October 31.

In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning Gillespie said, “There’s something very wrong with this death certificate, I see numbers were copied and then rewritten over. This was a cover-up.”

Dr. Gillespie says what ultimately did Houdini in was due to an intestinal blockage and last-minute surgery. The stomach-punch story was blamed in part to get a bigger insurance payment.

Houdini had a double indemnity life insurance policy. If Houdini died as a result of an accident, the payout would double.

Gillespie added, “I can put forth a very strong case that he died on October 30th and not the 31st,” she said. “By moving the date over to the next day, every time Halloween came up, you would remember that Houdini coincidentally died that day.”

Regardless of when or how he died Houdini’s fame endures. Houdini is one of the few entertainers who is still well known 100 years after his death.