Furthermore, he thinks Houdini was not struck unexpectedly.

He believes Houdini's appendicitis was caused by Whitehead's blows. In fact, the most recent Houdini biography, The Secret Life of Houdini, goes as far as to say that traumatic appendicitis as a medical condition 'has never existed' (page 518).īut Houdini author and expert Patrick Culliton has pushed back hard against this thinking in recent years. This opinion has been stated in many Houdini documentaries (even by yours truly), and even appears on the official McGill University website. But did those punches kill him?Īfter Houdini's death, it was widely reported that the punches (frequently misreported as a single punch) were the cause of his fatal illness - 'traumatic appendicitis.' But in the past few decades, historians have questioned this on medical grounds, saying that it's more likely Houdini was suffering from appendicitis before the attack and the punch only worked to cover-up the serious infection developing in his abdomen. Those punches marked the start of a chain of events that would culminate in Houdini's death on Halloween eight days later. Gordon Whitehead in the dressing room of the Princess Theater in Montreal. It was 87 years ago today that Houdini was punched in the stomach by J.

Houdini room