Doug Henning - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Henning died aged 52 in February 2000 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles five months after being diagnosed with liver cancer. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off Redondo Beach, California.

James Randi, a fellow magician and prominent skeptic, was critical of Henning's involvement with Transcendental Meditation (TM). In 2008, Randi asserted in his blog, SWIFT, that TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had "caused the death of my friend Doug Henning". He claimed that Henning had immersed himself so thoroughly in TM that he "abandoned regular medical treatment for liver cancer, continued to pursue his diet of nuts and berries, and died of the disease."

In a strange turn of events, in 2005 a handwritten letter, from Doug Henning to James Randi, was placed for auction on eBay, unbeknownst to Randi. When Randi learned of it, he announced on his blog that the letter had been "stolen" from his files. A week later, Randi wrote that he "managed to have the sale stopped", and that the letter was back in his possession, but did not elaborate on further details of the controversy.

On June 8, 2010, it was announced that he would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. His "Zig Zag Girl" illusion is housed at the American Museum of Magic.