Leslie Flint (1911 – 16 April 1994)Alexander Walker. (10 May 1994). ''Obituary: Leslie Flint''. The Independent. p. 16. was a British self-proclaimed

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

who is credited as having been one of the last psychics to use direct-voice mediumship.Graeme Smith. (22 May 2004). ''The medium taped some messages; Voices from beyond the grave come to rest in Manitoba''. The Globe and Mail. pp. A11. He has been described by

spiritualists Spiritualism is the metaphysics, metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and Mind-body dualism, dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spir ...

as the most renowned psychic of the 20th century.

Skeptics Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

have pointed out a number of alleged frauds Flint perpetuated during his career.Melvin Harris. (2003). ''Investigating the Unexplained: Psychic Detectives, the Amityville Horror-mongers, Jack the Ripper, and Other Mysteries of the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. p. 26.

Biography

Flint was born in London in 1911 and reached the peak of his fame from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was famous for claiming to contact the spirits of dead celebrities, and would often record his sessions. He claimed his

familiar In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to r ...

, ''Mickey'', was the spirit of a child who had been killed in 1910. Flint claimed to have seen his first spirit at the age of seven when his dead uncle appeared to him in his home.Theresa Cheung. (2006). ''The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World''. Harper Element. pp. 214–116. He conducted his first

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...

at the age of 17. In his early life, he worked as a cinema usher and a cemetery gardener. Flint was a conscientious objector in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, serving in the

Non-Combatant Corps The Non-Combatant Corps (NCC) was a corps of the British Army composed of conscientious objectors as privates, with NCOs and officers seconded from other corps or regiments. Its members fulfilled various non-combatant roles in the army during the ...

before being seconded to coal-mining. The first public séance performed by Flint was in 1955, just after he formed an association called the Temple of Light. Flint was an avid fan of Rudolph Valentino and acquired the only known copy of footage from ''

The Young Rajah ''The Young Rajah'' is a 1922 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino. The film was based on the book ''Amos Judd'' by John Ames Mitchell. Plot After fifteen years, Joshua Judd ( Charles Ogle) tells his adopted son, Amos (Valentino), that his re ...

''. Flint was wealthy and lived in a mansion house at Westbourne Terrace near

London Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great W ...

. The mansion had been formerly occupied by the actor

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

. During

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...

for the 1973 film ''

Don't Look Now ''Don't Look Now'' ( it, A Venezia... un Dicembre rosso shocking, lit=In Venice... a shocking red December) is a 1973 English-language film in the thriller genre directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from the 1971 short story by Daphne du Mauri ...

'', director

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976 ...

and actress

Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...

were invited by Flint to a

he was holding for some American parapsychologists who were coming to observe him. Roeg and Christie attended and sat in a circle in the pitch dark and joined hands. Flint instructed his guests to "uncross" their legs, which Roeg subsequently incorporated into the film.

Style of mediumship

When taking part in séances with Flint, participants would report hearing the voices of the dead surrounding them in the room.Uri Gellar. (13 May 1998). ''Lend an Ear to the Dead''. The Times. Flint would perform bound and gagged in an attempt to prove that he was not throwing his voice. He claimed that he was able to conjure ectoplasm from which he could then reconstruct

vocal cords In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speec ...

. However, Flint always insisted on performing in the dark, so séance-goers were unable to see him during the performances. He would sometimes even perform in a cupboard. Amongst those who Flint claimed to have contacted were:The Great Wraiths. The Globe and Mail. 25 May 2004. pp. A22.Maurice Leonard. (2008). ''People from the Other Side: The Enigmatic Fox Sisters and the History of Victorian Spiritualism: A History of Spiritualism''. The History Press. * Archimedes *

Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...

* Frédéric Chopin *

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

* Arthur Conan Doyle *

Elizabeth Fry Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

Harry Price Harry Price (17 January 1881 – 29 March 1948) was a British psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent spiritualist mediums. He is best known for ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock a ...

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

* Rudolph Valentino * Oscar Wilde *

Sir Oliver Lodge Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, (12 June 1851 – 22 August 1940) was a British physicist and writer involved in the development of, and holder of key patents for, radio. He identified electromagnetic radiation independent of Hertz's proof and at his ...

The recordings of Flint's séances are now stored at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba. The collection contains around 2,000 audiotapes and 300 books.

Alleged fraud

The photograph depicting the ectoplasm "voice-box" on the shoulder of Flint looked like it was made from

cheesecloth Cheesecloth is a loose-woven gauze-like carded cotton cloth used primarily in cheesemaking and cooking. Grades Cheesecloth is available in at least seven different grades, from open to extra-fine weave. Grades are distinguished by the nu ...

and

Mary Roach Mary Roach (born March 20, 1959) is an American author specializing in popular science and humor. She has published six New York Times bestsellers: '' Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers'' (2003), '' Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife ...

humorously described it as the "aftermath of a cafeteria food fight". On 7 May 1948 the psychologist Donald J. West attended a

at Flint's home. West examined the cabinet before the séance and personally attached a tape to Flint's mouth. After the séance he examined the tape covering Flint's mouth and it was no longer in line with the indelible marking that he had made. West asked Flint for further testing but Flint refused.Peter H. Aykroyd, Angela Narth and Dan Aykroyd. (2009). ''A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Séances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters''. Rodale Books. pp. 80–81. Gladys Lorrimore who attended a séance denied that the supposed "spirit voice" from Flint's direct-voice mediumship was her husband as the voice did not sound anything like her husband. Another of Flint's spirit voices was supposed to be from

, however the voice had no Russian accent. Flint was accused of using prerecorded tapes to produce voices, as well as live accomplices providing a two-way voice channels. Parapsychologists from the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to co ...

who attended séances with Flint also claimed he was using

ventriloquism Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

to produce the voices that they had heard. Researcher Melvin Harris examined the

tapes Tape or Tapes may refer to: Material A long, narrow, thin strip of material (see also Ribbon (disambiguation): Adhesive tapes * Adhesive tape, any of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive * Athletic tape, pressure-sensiti ...

of Flint's direct-voice mediumship and wrote "I have to conclude that his spirits are awfully mixed up. His Valentino speaks with a stage French accent – shades of Charles Boyer – while his George Bernard Shaw sounds like an irascible English colonel, with no trace of his precise and memorable soft Irish brogue." Harris believed Flint to be a fraud and compared his mediumship to the fraudulent medium

William Roy Major-General William Roy (4 May 17261 July 1790) was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of ...

. In 1970 William Rauscher and Allen Spraggett attended a sitting with Flint in New York and said that Flint's mediumship was a disaster as the spirit voices sounded exactly like Flint. Flint once gave an interview live for the

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

. He was asked by the interviewer to try to get in contact with spirits but failed the test.Grant, John. (2015). ''Spooky Science: Debunking the Pseudoscience of the Afterlife''. Sterling Publishing. p. 45.

References

Bibliography

External links

Skeptic report on Flint's mediumship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flint, Leslie 1911 births 1994 deaths British conscientious objectors English fraudsters English psychics English spiritual mediums People from the London Borough of Hackney Personnel of the Non-Combatant Corps 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from London