Occupation Theatre manager | Died 8 July 1912 | |
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Charles Dundas Slater (1852–1912) most well known as C. Dundas Slater was a British theatre manager.
Slater helped to manage London's Empire Theatre (1889-1895) and was the business manager of Alhambra Theatre until 1907. He later managed the London Coliseum until ill health and a failing eyesight affected his ability to work and he was dismissed on June 29, 1912. He briefly appeared in the Auguste and Louis Lumière film Londres, Entrée du cinématographe in 1896.
In June, 1900 Harry Day had helped the magician Harry Houdini arrange an interview with Slater at the Alhambra Theatre. Slater noted that escape feats were not original as Samri Baldwin had performed an escape from handcuffs as early as 1871. He requested a demonstration and challenged Houdini to perform a handcuff escape in the jail section at Scotland Yard. Houdini successfully escaped from the handcuffs with ease, impressing William Melville the first chief of the British Secret Service Bureau. Houdini was booked into the Alhambra Theatre and his magic show was an immediate hit, his salary rose to $300 a week.
On 8 July 1912 Slater ordered a taxi to drive him to Charing Cross Hospital. Whilst on the journey in the back seat, Slater shot himself in the head with a revolver. A suicide note was found on his body. It was suggested that his suicide was the result of "temporary insanity" after being dismissed from his post as manager at the London Coliseum.