The Playbill Lie: How a Dead Headliner Was Framed

The Playbill Lie: How a Dead Headliner Was Framed

Danger hides in plain paper: a playbill dated December 9 names The Great Harmon as that night's headliner, yet the man pinned to a dressing-room floor had been dead for 18-30 hours. Two other identical playbills from Kansas City and Memphis would reveal doctored type and a deliberate attempt to place a dead performer onstage - so who forged the show that never happened?

In this episode, we follow the start-to-finish of an investigation built around documents and small details. You will hear how a records-minded detective traced altered playbills, telegrams and booking ledgers to unravel the question: who manufactured a false performance to cover a murder?

Person: Larry Bowers
Age: 61
Date: December 9-10, 1923
Person: Harvey Zeller
Investigator: Nancy Thorpe

- The body had been dead between 18 and 30 hours when found on the morning of December 10.
- Larry Bowers was 61 years old and had lived in St. Louis for 15 years.
- A playbill dated December 9 was pinned outside the dressing corridor listing The Great Harmon as headliner.
- A second performer using the stage name The Great Harmon began appearing in spring 1921; Harvey Zeller was 43 in December 1923.
- Nancy Thorpe compared three playbills (Tulsa, Kansas City, Memphis) and found two had lettering fractionally narrower and were altered after printing.

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