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| Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini :
Biography
Born Erich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in
Budapest, Hungary, young Harry Houdini moved with his family to Appleton,
Wisconsin, where he later claimed he was born. Fascinated with magic, he began
performing and drew attention for his daring feats of escape. In 1893, he married
Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who became his onstage partner as well. Houdini
continued performing escape acts until his death, on October 31, 1926, in
Detroit, Michigan.
Early Life
Famed magician/entertainer Harry
Houdini was born Erich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. One of
seven children born to a Jewish rabbi and his wife, Erich moved with his family
as a child to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he later claimed he was born. When he
was 13, Erich moved with his father to New York City, taking on odd jobs and
living in a boarding house before the rest of the family joined them. It was
there that he became interested in trapeze arts.
In 1894, Erich launched his career as
a professional magician and renamed himself Harry Houdini, the first name being
a derivative of his childhood nickname, "Ehrie," and the last an
homage to the great French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Though his magic
met with little success, he soon drew attention for his feats of escape using
handcuffs. In 1893, he married fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who
would serve as Houdini's lifelong stage assistant.
Commercial
Success
In 1899, Houdini's act caught the
attention of Martin Beck, an entertainment manager who soon got him booked at
some of the best vaudeville venues in the country, followed by a tour of
Europe. Houdini's feats would involve the local police, who would strip search
him, place him in shackles, and lock him in their jails. The show was a huge
sensation, and he soon became the highest-paid performer in American
vaudeville.
Houdini continued his act in the
United States in the early 1900s, constantly upping the ante from handcuffs and
straightjackets to locked, water-filled tanks and nailed packing crates. In
1912, his act reached its pinnacle, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which would
be the hallmark of his career. In it, Houdini was suspended by his feet and
lowered upside-down in a locked glass cabinet filled with water, requiring him
to hold his breath for more than three minutes to escape. The performance was
so daring and such a crowd-pleaser that it remained in his act until his death
in 1926.
Exploits Outside
of Magic
Houdini's wealth allowed him to
indulge in other passions, such as aviation and film. He purchased his first
plane in 1909 and became the first person to man a controlled power flight over
Australia in 1910. He also launched a movie career, releasing his first film in
1901, Merveilleux
Exploits du Célébre Houdini Paris, which documented his escapes. He
starred in several subsequent films, including The Master Mystery, The Grim Game
and Terror
Island. In New York, he started his own production company, Houdini
Picture Corporation, and a film lab called The Film Development Corporation,
but neither was a success. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka &
Co., America's oldest magic company.
As president of the Society of
American Magicians, Harry Houdini was a vigorous campaigner against fraudulent
psychic mediums. Most notably, he debunked renowned medium Mina Crandon, better
known as Margery. This act turned him against former friend Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, who believed deeply in Spiritualism and Margery's sight.
A Mysterious
Death
Though there are mixed reports as to
the cause of Henry Houdini's death, it is certain that he suffered from acute
appendicitis. Whether his demise was caused by a McGill University student who
was testing his will by punching him in the stomach (with permission) or by
poison from a band of angry Spiritualists, it is unknown. What is known is that
he died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix on October 31, 1926, at the age
of 52, in Detroit, Michigan.
After his death, Houdini's props and
effects were used by his brother Theodore Hardeen, who eventually sold them to
magician and collector Sidney H. Radner. Much of the collection could be see at
the Houdini Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, until Radner auctioned it off in
2004. Most of the prized pieces, including the Water Torture Cell, went to
magician David Copperfield.
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