1. Walford Bodie performed an act of "Bloodless Surgery", claiming he could use electricity, hypnosis and manipulation to cure "all kinds of ailments and disabilities".
11 Facts About Walford Bodie
1. 2.
Walford Bodie's performances were enormously popular in the early 20th century, and inspired both Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin.
3.
Walford Bodie's touting of medical skill displeased the medical profession of the time, who labelled him a 'quack,' and took him to court over the use of the word 'doctor.
4.
The son of William Walford Bodie, and Margaret Bodie, nee Murphy, Samuel Murphy Bodie was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 11 June 1869.
5.
Walford Bodie advertised freely; his show posters even including the invitation 'Send Your Cripples.
6.
Walford Bodie claimed that he had inadvertently left off the suffix 'USA' and was given a slap over the wrist.
7.
Walford Bodie was forced to take a year off to recover, write books, and reinvent his act.
8.
Walford Bodie made a recovery of sorts in 1912, when he outdrew the great Harry Lauder in Aberdeen, and held his own until the 1920s, when his variety-based 'Bodie Show' began to take root again.
9.
The mid 1930s depression, though, told a different story, when Walford Bodie was forced to perform at smaller venues.
10.
Walford Bodie collapsed on stage in 1939, and died on 19 October 1939, at the age of 70, after the end of a season at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
11.
Walford Bodie's body was returned to and buried in Macduff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.