"The Girl with 1000 Eyes" Comes to Charleston's Plaza Theater

Leontine DuMar was born in Rochester, NY on October 26, 1883. Although this was the same town the famous Fox Sisters hailed from, making it a modern mecca of the Spiritualist Movement, it is unknown whether or not a young Leontine also exhibited early signs of mediumistic ability. However, by the 1920′s, Leontine, now going by her stage name of Leona LaMar, would be known as one of the best mentalists in the country. Billed as “The Girl with 1000 Eyes,” she’d tour the United States, headlining vaudeville acts from city to city.

She and her husband, Walter (Hugh) Shannon, were a duo. They were signed by Terry Turner in 1910 and it is reported that they made $2500 a week off their show of mind reading and astrology, which Leona referred to as ‘mental telepathy’. In one popular act of theirs, Hugh, referred to as ‘The Professor,’ would go out into the audience and randomly select small personal articles, such as a scarf or wallet. Leona, who would be blindfolded on stage, would then have to identify the article using mind reading. Her accuracy was outstanding and thrilled audiences as she could even correctly guess dates on coins and names on calling cards. 

From my modern perspective, I assumed that Leona, aided by her husband, was a skilled cold reader. In short, cold reading is a technique used by mentalists/psychics/etc. in which they ask leading questions and follow certain visual clues in the person’s appearances/mannerisms/reactions to come up with high-probability answers to questions. And, I’m sure that to a degree, cold reading techniques WERE used in her acts. However, Joe Nickell, in his 2005 book, Secrets of the Sideshows, puts forth the explanation that Leona and Hugh had actually worked out an elaborate system of code. For example, if Hugh would say, “what am I holding?” that would signify it was a specific item, such as a scarf. But, if he said “What do I have in my hand?,” that would indicate a different item as specified by their code. 

During the week of November 24, 1919, The Girl with 1000 Eyes was the headlining performer at the Plaza Theater in Charleston, West Virginia. The Charleston Daily Mail ran an article announcing the show, and sharing a little bit about what Leona could do. It was requested that audience members have faith when asking Leona to help them find friends and lost articles or answer any other pressing questions they may have. It was suggested that tickets be bought early, as seats would surely fill up fast. And, in addition to Leona’s headlining act, this particular vaudeville show would also feature some wonderful singers, actors, and others. Phil Weir, Jack King, Margaret Ryan, Will Halliday, Curly Burns, and the ‘Parlines’ would all be there, accompanied by the Plaza Orchestra under direction of C. Raymond Minotti. 

After Hugh’s death in 1930, it seems as if Leona would still perform…just not to the same degree of touring that she and her husband undertook. Leona herself would die in 1941 at her home in Englewood, New Jersey. She was buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery. Her gravestone bears her given name of Leontine DuMar Shannon, and makes no mention of her profession as the Girl with 1000 Eyes. 

Throughout her career, Leona was often compared to and even said to have abilities far superior to Eva Fay, a contemporary medium/mentalist. Ironically, Eva Fay would be investigated by Harry Houdini for fraud, and after retiring in 1924, admitted to faking much of her work. As far as I can tell, Leona was never actually studied under controlled settings or ever really a part of any major public controversy. I don’t want to downplay her ‘abilities’ because I honestly have no idea whether the possibility of her legitimately being a psychic can be proven or disproven at this stage. I think she avoided a lot of the scrutiny from the scientific community simply because her work on the vaudeville circuit, demonstrating this fun, little ‘parlour tricks,’ made her public persona one of an entertainer and not a Spiritualist. Although she answered questions from the audience, undoubtedly some of which were from grieving survivors, she wasn’t regularly involved in seances, manifesting ectoplasm and  channeling deceased loved ones. She was telling people where their lost keys were and if her husband was holding up a hair comb or a dollar bill. She predicted the outcome of sporting events, and offered relationship advice, occasionally during special ‘women-only matinees’ held in larger cities.  And when she died, her profession was listed as ‘actress.’

Even if Leona’s ‘ability’ was strictly being really good at her novelty act and NOT actually possessing any real psychic senses, I think her story is an interesting one. It provides a glimpse into the Spiritualist movement that swept the country, especially in the years following the First World War. People were desperate for hope and desperate to have proof that life continued on after bodily death. They were also hungry for new forms of entertainment and escape from everyday monotony. While some viewed Spiritualism as a religion, others just enjoyed the novelty of the unknown. While Leona wasn’t the only mystical performer to come to Charleston, West Virginia, or even the Plaza Theater (which still stands downtown and is said to have a haunted reputation), her booking is a fun snapshot into the history of Spiritualism in Charleston and a really interesting peek into the history of the old Plaza Theater. Leona LaMar has certainly earned her spot in the spooky and weird side of West Virginia history. But, like I said, she isn’t alone! Over the course of the next few months, I have many, many more stories to share with you all about Spiritualism in Charleston and West Virginia as a whole! Until then, you may enjoy past stories I’ve shared, such as Effie Fulton: Huntington Spiritualist or Charleston’s Very Own Ouija Board.