Voting Station

Arthur Ford

Please vote to return to collections.

Psychic/Fraud

The Resume

    (January 8, 1896-January 4, 1971)
    Born in Titusville, Florida
    Former Disciples of Christ minister
    Spiritualist medium
    Founded the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship (1955)
    Gained national recognition for relaying to Bess Houdini a message from her late husband Harry in the secret code from their magic act (1929)
    Also contacted the dead son of Bishop James A. Pike in a televised seance (1967)

Why he might be annoying:

    He frequently changed the details of his life's story, with one friend commenting 'I don't think he knew what was true and what wasn't.'
    His breaking the Houdinis' code became rather less impressive after it was discovered that the code had been revealed in a biography one year before the seance.
    When he contacted Harry Houdini at the seance, the magician declared, 'I expect to use this instrument [Ford] many times in the future,' but never did show for a return engagement.
    Bess Houdini repudiated him, saying 'There was a time when I wanted intensely to hear from Harry. I was ill, both physically and mentally, and such was my eagerness that spiritualists were able to prey upon my mind and make me believe that they had really heard from him.'
    After his death, it was discovered that he had kept extensive files of press clippings about his clients, suggesting a less than supernatural source for the personal info he revealed in seances.
    His spirit was reportedly contacted repeatedly by his protégé, Ruth Montgomery. (Oddly, none of his messages to her were, 'Wait, this stuff works? Dang, I could have saved all that time I spent studying files.')

Why he might not be annoying:

    The car he was driving was hit by a truck, killing his sister and badly injuring him (1931).
    During a tour of England, Arthur Conan Doyle declared, 'One of the most amazing things I have ever seen in 41 years of psychic experience was the demonstration of Arthur Ford.'
    He still has believers who argue that even if he cheated sometimes, it doesn't mean he cheated all the time.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 30 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying