Biography of Macduff magician Dr Walford Bodie MD The Electrical Wizard born in Aberdeen and famed for magic tricks using electricity and an electric chair:
Walford Bodie was born on the 11 June in Aberdeen in 1869. His birth name was Samuel Murphy Bodie.
His parents tried to encourage him to become a minister or to study medicine. However he went to work for the
Scottish National Telephone Company where he learnt more about electricity as well as telephones.
The photograph below is of Dr Walford Bodie MD The Electrical Wizard on the left and on the right is Charlie Chaplin impersonating him.
Charlie Chaplin was fascinated by the performances of Dr Walford Bodie so much so that when he got his first big break in a stage revue lead by comedian Will Murray on the London Stage Charlie Chaplin took off Dr Bodie. This was in April 1906 in a performance called Casey's Court Circus. At the time Dr Walford Bodie MD The Electrical Wizard of the North was one of the biggest names in the London show business. Charlie Chaplin was aged 17 years and after this performance his stage and film career took off.
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Electrical Wizard of the North
He became a successful Music Hall performer and entertainer. Some would call him a master showman, others named
him a conman. His acts utilised comedy, magic, hypnotism, sleight of hand, telepathy, clairvoyance, ventriloquism and
the use of electricity, for which he earned the
nickname The Electrical Wizard of the North. Other nicknames Walford Bodie earned include The British Edison. His first
public performance was at Stonehaven Town Hall.
In 1897 he became the theatre manager at the Connaught Theatre of Variety in Norwich. He didn't take to this and missed
performing to a live audience on the stage and returned to performing. He changed his name to Walford Bodie MD, taking
the name Walford which was the name of his much respected brother-in-law.
Electricity Stage Performances
He would pass electrical currents of tens of thousands of volts through his body, to light lamps and bulbs which he
would hold in his hands. He also used electricity to heal medical complaints of members of his audience. His
assistant was nicknamed La Belle Electra. He called the force of electric the Bodic Force. He would often invite
the audience to inspect his apparatus and pass electric through the body of a volunteer.
Others tricks he would play on the audience would be to ask for a lady volunteer. As she came onto the stage he would
move forward and touch her hand and make her hair stand on end with static electricity. He would also ask for a couple
to kiss on stage and make their lips spark up with electricity.
Years later he extended these tricks in an act he called Bodie Electric Drug Company in which he would cure the
lame and the sick with his bloodless surgery using hypnotism and electricity through the use of what he titled
Electric Linament, Bodie's Health Spa and Electric Life Pills. What his audience did not know is that Walford
Bodie used static electricity which would appear showy and produce lots of spark - but was totally harmless and
that it is alleged that the sick and infirm were healthy people paid by Walford Bodie.
Manor House Macduff
In 1886 he met Jeannie Henry at a show in Banff and they moved to Macduff when they married. They had built a
family home in Skene Street which they called The Manor House when it was finished in 1906. He would call her Princess Rubie when she performed
with him. Her older sisters Mary (Mystic Marie) and Isabella (La Belle Electra) also helped in his shows. Both sisters
died aged in the 20s, Mary in 1906 and Isabella in 1919. Jeannie's younger sisters, Louie and Kitty also
helped in the shows as musical conductresses.
Walford and Jeannie had three children, a daughter they also named
Jeannie and a son Albert who followed in his father's footsteps and became an illusionist after a brief career as a
Solicitor. Their other son was Samuel Bodie who did not take to the stage but became a real doctor and attained a medical degree and then worked as a medical practitioner at Edinburgh Hospital.
The couple were active in the community at Macduff and had built a public swimming pool and public baths. They also
owned a house boat on the Thames and a theatrical club in London. On the 4 August 1926 he opened the Royal Tarlair
Golf Club.
The Manor House in Macduff was sold by the family in 1936 and though it has had several owners since there has been few changes made. In 2006 it was purchased
by Nicola Wood and Chris Earl. Upon moving into the Manor House they found the original drawings by the architect, stored in an old cupboard.
Electric Chair Trick
In 1890 Walford Bodie built a replica of the electric chair in which the first executed prisoner, William Kemmler
of this method of execution was killed at Sing Sing prison in America. He would stage mock executions to shock and enthral
his audiences in an act he called The Man They Could Not Electrocute. During performances he would talk to his audiences about how inhumane this method of execution was and
publicly ask for the American authorities to execute prisoners by hanging, which he considered more effective, quicker
and more humane.
Thirty years later in 1920 his great friend, Harry Houdini, purchased the actual original chair that William
Kemnler had been executed on. Harry Houdini and Dr Walford Bodie had been friends for years and kept up a string of correspondence.
The note in the picture above was signed yours aye which was the signature note of Walford Bodie.
MD Merry Devil
Though he called himself Dr Walford Bodie MD he was no Doctor - in court he claimed the MD stood for Merry Devil and
this got him off the hook. He had been taken to court by the medical profession who disliked his use of the MD and
Dr title and that he claimed to easily cure illnesses and medical complaints. Medical students would visit his shows to heckle him and through rotten
fish, eggs, vegetables and other food at him in an effort to halt his performances and healing demonstrations.
No stranger to courts he returned time and again to defend himself and his acts. He was sued by a former assistant
for misrepresentation and lost. Due to the negative publicity such court actions earned, Walford Bodie soon lost
favour in public venues such as Music Halls the Theatres and few managers would book his acts. However others enjoyed
the publicity of the newspapers and would invite him to publicly perform in their venues. One such publicly defended
case involved Walford Bodie demonstrating how he was resistance to electricity currents by showing the London Court his Death
Cage Experiment.
Macduff Magician
Macduff magician Walford Bodie would always dress smartly, sometimes flamboyantly and was easily recognised by his and waxed
handle-bar moustache and the monocle he would wear.
His shows were popular worldwide and on one voyage from India in 1916 during the First World War their ship was
torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean. Jeannie and Waldford were not reunited for several weeks because the rescue
ship he found himself on was also torpedoed.
During a tour of Ireland Macduff magician Walford Bodie was made Life Governor of the town of Cork.
He regularly performed with Scottish Music Hall Comedienne Harry Lauder.
Macduff magician Walford Bodie was so famous that Charlie Chaplin produced a comedy sketch which poked fun at his famous
twirled moustache.
His daughter Jeannie died at only 18 years old in 1909. There still stands a granite memorial on Duff Street,
near the family home, called Bodie's Fountain as a memorial to his daughter.
Albert, his son, also died young at only 26 years old in 1915. He had been a member of the Royal Society of
Illusionists.
Walford Bodie also outlived his first wife who died in 1931.
He remarried whilst in his sixties to a 22 year old dancer called Florie Robertshaw.
On the 18 October in 1939 Macduff Magician Walford Bodie died at the end of the season at Blackpool Pleasure Beach where he had been
performing at the Olympia. He was aged 70.
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Walford Bodie Books
Walford Bodie wrote several books including a book called Valuable Prescriptions and a detective story where the hero,
a hypnotist, solves crime and murders. It was compared to the popular Sherlock Holmes books.
For years after the death of Walford Bodie Macduff mothers would warn their children that if they did not behave they would get a visit from the
ghost of Walford Bodie! Some people in Macduff still pass on this legend to their children and grand children.
It is rumoured that the Manor House is haunted by the ghost of Walford Bodie though there have been no confirmed sightings. Some adults will still cross the road
rather than walk past the house - so frightened were they in their childhoods! When the current owners, Nicola Wood and Chris Earl bought the house they even had a
workman refuse to step into the house because of the alleged ghost!
It is hoped that the music room of the Manor House, Macduff will be turned into a museum about Walford Bodie, his life and his amazing electrical tricks.
In June 2007 the granddaughter of Walford Bodie, Jean Connon, now aged 69 years was on a visit back to Scotland from Canada. She used to visit Manor House during
the 1940s where her grandfather, Walford Bodie, lived. Jean Connon is the daughter of Dr Samuel Bodie. The new owner of the Manor House, Chris Earl, allowed Mrs Jean Connon to visit the home once more during her trip to Macduff. She remembered the ornamental lions that were in the garden and fondly recalled playing on the stairs of Manor House. Her grandfather died when she was one years old but Manor House remained in the family for some years.
A famous quote attributed to Dr Walford Bodie is:
I've got a living to make, to put it plainly; there's more money
in shocking and terrifying than in edifying!
Though some sources in America have cited this wrongly as being said by Walt Brodie.
My thanks to Jim Cain of Australia, a distant relative of Dr Bodie, for additional material and photos used for this Dr Walford Bodie MD The Electrical Wizard article
.