Elektro tried to live
down the scandal. He continued to tour for Westinghouse for a
number of years and opened for Martin and Lewis in Atlantic City, but
he never recaptured that moment of stardom that he enjoyed in New
York. He began to smoke heavily, took to binge drinking with
Robert Mitchum and a wild crowd of Philco radio sets, and became
addicted to a Die Hard batteries; allegedly due to a painful injury to
his solenoids.
Eventually, this
constant abuse combined with his chronic depression took its toll.
Elektro was able to hide his deteriorating condition from the general
public, but this came to a tragic end when, in a bid for a comeback,
he starred as Willy Loman in the touring company version of Death
of a Salesman in Kansas City. By this point, Elektro was so
far gone that he had to have D cell batteries hidden about the stage
for him to take hits from during his scenes. During a matinee,
he suddenly suffered a massive radio valve blow out and was pronounced
"crashed" at Mercy General Hospital on 12 August 1953.
