Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 - October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American magician Magic is a performing art that entertains an audience by creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats, using purely natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects or illusions and escapologist Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks and other perils, often in combination, stunt performer These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be. There is an inherent risk in the performance of all stunt work in film, television and stage work. Daredevil performers are distinct from stunt performers and stunt doubles, as they perform their, actor and film producer A film producer or movie producer is someone who selects a screenplay, initiating the process of film making. The title Executive Producer is normally reserved for a producer with a financial interest in the production. The producer oversees the whole process including co-coordinating, supervising and controlling matters such as fund-raising,. He was also a skeptic Contemporary skepticism is loosely used to denote any questioning attitude, or some degree of doubt regarding claims that are elsewhere taken for granted who set out to expose frauds purporting to be supernatural The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to being above or beyond what one holds to be natural. In the case of one who has strong scientific and atheist beliefs, the supernatural is anything unexplainable by natural law or phenomena. While one who holds mystical or heavenly beliefs may have no conception of supernatural phenomena, he or she phenomena.

Contents

Early life

Harry Houdini was born as Erik Weisz (he would later spell his birth name as Ehrich Weiss) in Budapest, Hungary Budapest (pronounced /ˈbuːdəpɛst/, also /ˈbʊdəpɛst/, /ˈbjuːdəpɛst/ or /ˈbuːdəpɛʃt/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] ; names in other languages) is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre and is on March 24, 1874.[1] From 1907 on, however, Houdini would claim in interviews to have been born in Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton is a city in Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, on the Fox River, 100 miles north of Milwaukee. The population was 70,087 at the 2000 census. Appleton is the principal city of the Appleton, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin Combined, on April 6, 1874.

His parents were Rabbi The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic era, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. In more recent centuries, the duties of the rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian Minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis", and in 19th century Mayer (Mayo) Samuel Weisz (1829–1892) and his wife Cecilia Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), Nathan J. (1870–1927), Gottfried William (1872–1925), Theodore "Theo" (1876–1945);[2] Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Gladys Carrie (1882-?)

Weisz came to the United States on July 3, 1878, sailing on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers.[3] The family changed the spelling of their Hungarian surname into Weiss and the spelling of their son's name into Ehrich. Friends called him "Ehrie" or "Harry".

They first lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as Rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street.[4] On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his tenure at Zion in 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City. They lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. They were joined by the rest of the family once Rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, next becoming a champion cross country Cross country running is a sport in which runners compete to complete a course over open or rough terrain. The courses used at these events may include grass, mud, woodlands, hills, flat ground and water. It is a popular participatory sport, and usually takes place in temperate regions during the autumn and winter when soft conditions underfoot runner. He made his public début as a 9-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the prince of the air". Weiss became a professional magician Magic is a performing art that entertains an audience by creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats, using purely natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects or illusions and began calling himself "Harry Houdini" because he was heavily influenced by the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin was a French magician. He is widely considered[weasel words] the father of the modern style of conjuring, and his friend Jack Hayman told him, erroneously, that in French, adding an "i" to Houdin would mean "like Houdin" the great magician. In later life, Houdini would claim that the first part of his new name, Harry, was a homage to Harry Kellar Kellar was the predecessor of Harry Houdini and the successor of Robert Heller. He was often referred to as the "Dean of American Magicians" and performed extensively on five continents. One of his most memorable stage illusions was the levitation of a girl advertised as the "Levitation of Princess Karnack" . Kellar was a, whom Houdini admired.

In 1918 he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini.[5]

Magic career

"My Two Sweethearts" - Houdini with his mother and wife, ca. 1907

Initially, Houdini's magic career resulted in little success. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "the Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini initially focused on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". But he soon began experimenting with escape acts Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks and other perils, often in combination. In 1893, while performing with his brother "Dash" at Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsula, formerly an island, in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The neighborhood of the same name is a community of 60,000 people in the western part of the peninsula, with Seagate to its west; Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east; and Gravesend to the north as "The Houdini Brothers", Harry met fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice (Bess) Rahner, whom he married. Bess replaced Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis." For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess would work as his stage assistant.

Harry Houdini's "big break" came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in rural Woodstock, Illinois. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge or in the case of rigid cuffs, a bar. Each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a person's wrist. Without the key, the handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe.

Houdini became widely known as "The Handcuff King." He toured England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia. In each city, Houdini would challenge local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, Houdini would first be stripped nude and searched A strip search is the stripping of a person to check for weapons or other contraband. In Moscow, Houdini escaped from a Siberian prison Siberia , is a vast region, constituting almost all of Northern Asia and currently the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, as it was in the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire since the 16th century transport van. Houdini publicly stated that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne Cologne (German: Köln, pronounced [ˈkœln] ; Kölsch dialect: Kölle [ˈkœɫə]) is Germany's fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who claimed he made his escapes via bribery.[6] Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he would later say the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth and success, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria Victoria was the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, and her reign is the longest of any female. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000, a brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also understood to be a terraced house clad in this material at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem was annexed to New York City in 1873, New York.[7] The house still stands today.

From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He would free himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with overlong sleeves and which is typically used to restrain a person who may otherwise cause harm to him/herself and others. The ends of the sleeves can be tied to the back of the wearer, so that the arms are kept close to the chest with possibility of only little movement, often while hanging from a rope in plain sight of street audiences. Because of imitators and a dwindling audience, on January 25, 1908, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his challenge escape act — in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him — to include nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into the water), riveted boilers, wet-sheets, mailbags, and even the belly of a Whale Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale. The other Cetacean suborder that washed ashore in Boston. Brewers challenged Houdini to escape from his milk can after they filled it with beer.[8] Many of these challenges were prearranged with local merchants in what is certainly one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing. Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers Ira Erastus Davenport and William Henry Davenport (February 1, 1841–July 1877), known as the Davenport Brothers, were American magicians in the late 1800s, sons of a Buffalo, New York policeman. The brothers presented illusions claimed to be supernatural and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing Teleportation is the transfer of matter or energy from one point to another, at speeds faster than the speed of light. Currently, scientists have successfully transported only the quantum information of atoms and photons, but over distances of at least 600 metres (1,969 ft),[9] although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers.

Poster promoting Houdini taking up the challenge of escaping an "extra strong and large traveling basket"

In 1912, Houdini introduced perhaps his most famous act, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, in which he was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water. The act required that Houdini hold his breath for more than three minutes. Houdini performed the escape for the rest of his career. Despite two Hollywood movies depicting Houdini dying in the Torture Cell, the escape had nothing to do with his demise.

Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood throughout his career. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks Lock picking is the skill of unlocking a lock by analyzing and manipulating the components of the lock device, without the original key. Although lock picking can be associated with criminal intent, it is an essential skill for a locksmith. Lock picking is the ideal way of opening a lock without the correct key, while not damaging the lock, or keys, being able to regurgitate small keys at will. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with overlong sleeves and which is typically used to restrain a person who may otherwise cause harm to him/herself and others. The ends of the sleeves can be tied to the back of the wearer, so that the arms are kept close to the chest with possibility of only little movement, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body With regard to living things, a body is the physical body of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death. The study of the workings of the body is physiology, and then dislocating his shoulders. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. However, Houdini's brother, who was also an escape artist billing himself as Theodore Hardeen, after being accused of having someone sneak in and let him out and being challenged to escape without the curtain, discovered that audiences were more impressed and entertained when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. They both performed straitjacket escapes dangling upside-down from the roof of a building for publicity on more than one occasion. It is said that Hardeen once handed out bills for his show while Houdini was doing his suspended straitjacket escape. This enraged Houdini as people thought it was Hardeen in suspension and not himself.

For the majority of his career, Houdini performed his act as a headliner in vaudeville Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at New York's Hippodrome Theater when he vanished a full-grown elephant (with its trainer) from a stage, beneath which was a swimming pool. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as President of the Society of American Magicians (aka S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "3 Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed."

Notable escapes

The Mirror Handcuff Challenge

In 1904, the London London is a leading global city being the world's largest financial centre alongside New York City, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence in politics, finance, education, entertainment, media, Daily Mirror The Daily Mirror is a British tabloid newspaper founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is usually referred to in popular parlance. The circulation of the Daily Mirror in March 2010 was 1,247,073 copies daily newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from a special handcuff that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham Birmingham (pronounced /ˈbɜːmɪŋəm/ , BUR-ming-əm, locally /ˈbɝːmɪŋɡəm/ BIIR-ming-gəm) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. It is the most populous British city outside London with a population of 1,016,800 (2008 estimate), and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the United, seven years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theater. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion, he asked if the cuff could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuff was unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a pen-knife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. It is believed that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuff. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career.[10]

After Houdini's death, his friend, Martin Beck , published in his book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, that Houdini was bested that day and appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldstone goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. However, it was stated in the book "The Secret Life of Houdini" that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was 6" long, and so could not be smuggled to Houdini via a glass or his wife's mouth.

Goldstone offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuff itself) that the entire Mirror challenge was pre-arranged by Houdini and the newspaper, and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship.[11] In support of this, it has been reported that the sterling silver replica of the Mirror cuffs presented to Houdini in honor of his escape was actually made the year before the escape actually took place (again from "The Secret Life of Houdini").

The Milk Can

In 1901, Houdini introduced his own original invention, the Milk Can escape.[12] In this effect, Houdini would be handcuffed and sealed inside an over-sized milk can filled with water and make his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini would invite members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation.[13] Houdini soon modified the escape to include the Milk Can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked, and even inside another Milk can. Houdini only performed the Milk Can escape as a regular part of his act for four years, but it remains one of the effects most associated with the escape artist. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the Milk Can (and the wooden chest variation)[14] into the 1940s.

The Chinese Water Torture Cell

Houdini performing the Chinese Water Torture Cell

In 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his Milk Can act with the Chinese Water Torture Cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet would be locked in stocks, and he would be lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks would be locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain would conceal his escape. In the earliest version of the Torture Cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult (the cage prevented Houdini from turning), the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break.

The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators (which he did). While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Despite two Hollywood movies depicting Houdini dying in the Torture Cell, the escape had nothing to do with his demise.

Suspended straitjacket escape

One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini would draw thousands of onlookers who would choke the street and bring city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the New York subway. After flinging his body in the air, Houdini escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took Houdini two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage of Houdini performing the escape in The Library of Congress. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary.

The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy called Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895- Dec 5 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre.

Overboard Box Escape

Another one of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts(Dalton) was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into the water. Houdini first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so Houdini hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into water. Houdini escaped in fifty-seven seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found to still be intact with the manacles inside. Houdini would perform this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden (where a 5,500-gallon tank was specially built), and later at the New York Hippodrome.[15]

Houdini

Buried Alive

Throughout his career, Houdini performed three variations on a "Buried Alive Animals and humans may be buried alive intentionally , voluntarily (as a stunt, with the intention to escape or as a form of suicide), accidentally (e.g., under rubble due to a disaster or collapse of a building or cave), or unintentionally (in the mistaken belief that the living person is dead). Live burial is said to be one of the most" stunt/escape. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1917, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicky trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing."[16]

Houdini's second variation on Buried Alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer, Rahman Bey, who claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one hour and a half. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing.[17] Houdini repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester MA on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes.[18]

Houdini's final Buried Alive was an elaborate stage escape that was to feature in his full evening show. The stunt would see Houdini escape after being strapped in a strait-jacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While there are posters advertising the escape (playing off the Bey challenge they boasted "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed Buried Alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died in October 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for Buried Alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit back to New York following his death on Halloween Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.[19]

Movie career

"The Houdini Serial", 1919 "The Grim Game", 1919 Houdini swims above Niagara Falls The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. The falls are 17 miles north-northwest of Buffalo, New York and 75 miles (120 km) south-southeast of Toronto, Ontario, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and in a scene from The Man from Beyond (1922)

In 1906 Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In Boston he presented a short film called Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman and professional wrestler. Born in Estonia and living most of his life in London, England, he was nicknamed "The Russian Lion" (Estonia was part of the Russian Empire for much of his life) was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost.[20] In 1909 Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris (The Adventures of Houdini in Paris).[21] It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. In 1916 he served as special-effects consultant on the Pathé thriller, The Mysteries of Myra. That same year he got an offer to star as Captain Nemo Captain Nemo is a fictional character featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island (1874). Nemo, one of the most famous Anti-heroes in fiction, is a mysterious figure. He is a scientific genius who roams the depths of the sea in his submarine, the Nautilus, which he helped build on a deserted in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1869. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax. The first illustrated edition (not the original edition which had no illustrations) was published by Hetzel, but the project never made it into production.[22]

In 1918 Houdini signed a contract with film producer A film producer or movie producer is someone who selects a screenplay, initiating the process of film making. The title Executive Producer is normally reserved for a producer with a financial interest in the production. The producer oversees the whole process including co-coordinating, supervising and controlling matters such as fund-raising, B.A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials or Film serials, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film that were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction. Known as "chapter plays," they were extended motion pictures broken into a number of segments called "chapters" or ", The Master Mystery (released in January 1919). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B.A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created from the merger of the Famous Players Film Company and the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company on July 19 1916. The deal, guided by president Adolph Zukor, eventually resulted in the incorporation of eight film production companies, making the Famous/Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon is a canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was first developed in the 1910s, and became a part of the city of Los Angeles in 1923.

Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation". He produced and starred in two films, The Man From Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also founded his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini’s brother, Theodore Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar Kellar was the predecessor of Harry Houdini and the successor of Robert Heller. He was often referred to as the "Dean of American Magicians" and performed extensively on five continents. One of his most memorable stage illusions was the levitation of a girl advertised as the "Levitation of Princess Karnack" . Kellar was a was a major investor.[23]

Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager". But his celebrity was such that, years later, he would be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an 18-block series of sidewalks along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA that serves as a permanent public monument to achievement in the entertainment industry. More than 2,400 5-pointed terrazzo and brass stars are embedded at 6-foot intervals over a combined 1.7 miles (at 7001 Hollywood Blvd).

As of 2007 only The Man From Beyond had been commercially released on DVD. Incomplete versions of The Master Mystery and Terror Island were released by private collectors on VHS. Complete 35 mm prints of Haldane of the Secret Service and The Grim Game exist only in private collections. Haldane of the Secret Service was screened in Los Angeles in 2007.[24]

In April 2008 Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent movies. The set includes The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923, and a section from Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris (although it is not identified as such).[25]

Pioneer aviator

In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5000 and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. Houdini painted his name in bold block letters Writing in block letters , is use of the simple letters, written separately. In English speaking countries children are first taught to write in block letters only to advance to cursive (joint) writing later. In comparison other countries (Poland, Italy) focus on the cursive writing from the first grade on the Voisin's sidepanels and tail. After crashing once, Houdini made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany.

In 1910, Houdini toured Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by the British. He brought along his Voisin biplane and made the first powered flight over Australia on March 18 at Diggers Rest, Victoria (near Melton), north of Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographic region and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area—of which Melbourne is the common name. In 2008, it had a population of approximately 3.[26] Colin Defries preceded him, but he crashed the plane on landing.[27] Houdini proudly claimed that though the world might forget him as a magician and escape artist, it would never forget him as an pioneer aviator.

Following his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next Music Hall tour, but for whatever reason Houdini never flew again.[28]

A celebration of the centenary of Houdini’s first flight was held at Diggers Rest in 2010. The event included the dedication of a new monument, a Houdini-Centenary air-show, magic performances, and the display of a one-third scale model of Houdini’s Voisin.[29]

Debunking spiritualists

Houdini demonstrates how a photographer could produce fraudulent "spirit photographs" that documented the apparition and social interaction of deceased individuals[30]

In the 1920s, after the death of his mother, Cecilia, he turned his energies toward debunking self-proclaimed psychics and mediums, a pursuit that would inspire and be followed by later-day conjurers. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None was able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valentine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was the Boston medium Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits.

These activities cost Houdini the friendship of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle, a firm believer in Spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Conan Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was 'debunking' (see Conan Doyle's The Edge of The Unknown, published in 1931, after Houdini's death). This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists.

Bess Houdini, the magician's widow, held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death, but Houdini never appeared. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death, later saying in 1943 that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues by magicians throughout the world to this day; the Official Houdini Séance is currently organized by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from upstate New York.[31] Yearly Houdini Séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excaliber nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians;[32] and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich who previously held them at New York's famous Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Walter B. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the tradition. Before he died Walter passed on the tradition to Dorothy Dietrich.

Appearance and voice

Heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey mock punching Houdini (held back by lightweight boxer Benny Leonard)

Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers peg his height as 5'5", but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1996 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career:

“ They stressed his smallness – "somewhat undersized" – and angular, vivid features: "He is smooth-shaven with a keen, sharp-chinned, sharp-cheekboned face, bright blue eyes and thick, curly, black hair." Some sensed how much his complexly expressive smile was the outlet of his charismatic stage presence. It communicated to audiences at once warm amiability, pleasure in performing, and, more subtly, imperious self-assurance. Several reporters tried to capture the charming effect, describing him as "happy-looking", "pleasant-faced", "good natured at all times", "the young Hungarian magician with the pleasant smile and easy confidence."[33] ”

The only known recording of Houdini's voice reveals it to be heavily accented. Houdini made these recordings on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970.[34] They are currently part of the David Copperfield collection.

Artifacts

Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the Water Torture Cell.[35] Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. While the Water Torture Cell was reported to have been destroyed, its metal frame remained, and the cell was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan.[36] Many of the props contained in the museum such as the Mirror Handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a Milk Can, and a straight-jacket, survived the fire and were auctioned off in 1999 and 2008.

Radner archived the bulk of his collection at the Houdini Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but pulled it in 2003 and auctioned it off in Las Vegas on October 30, 2004.[37]

Death

Houdini and his wife Bess

Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix. It has been speculated that Houdini was killed by a McGill University student, J. Gordon Whitehead, who delivered multiple blows to Houdini's abdomen while he was in Montreal, in order to test Houdini's claim that he was able to take a blow to the body above the waist without injury.

The eyewitnesses were students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), whose accounts generally corroborated one another. The following is Price's description of events:

Houdini was reclining on his couch after his performance, having an art student sketch him. When Whitehead came in and asked if it was true that Houdini could take any blow to the stomach, Houdini replied groggily in the affirmative. In this instance, he was hit three times before Houdini could tighten up his stomach muscles to avoid serious injury. Whitehead reportedly continued hitting Houdini several more times and Houdini acted as though he were in some pain.

Houdini stated that if he had time to prepare himself properly he would have been in a better position to take the blows.[38]

Houdini had apparently been suffering from appendicitis for several days prior and yet refused medical treatment. His appendix would likely have burst on its own without the trauma.[39] Although in serious pain, Houdini continued to travel without seeking medical attention.

When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of 104°F (40°C). Despite a diagnosis of acute appendicitis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital.[40] Houdini died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at 1:26 p.m. in Room 401 on October 31, at the age of 52.

After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity.[38]

Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926 in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance.[41] He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his gravesite. To this day the Society holds a broken wand ceremony at the grave site in November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died in February 1943 and expressed a wish to be buried next to him but instead was interred at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester, New York. She was not permitted to be interred with him because she was not Jewish.[42]

The gravesite of Harry Houdini

The grave marker at Harry Houdini's burial site

Proposed exhumation

On March 22, 2007, his great-nephew (the grandson of Houdini's brother Theo) George Hardeen announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body. The purpose was to look for evidence that Houdini was poisoned by Spiritualists, as suggested in The Secret Life of Houdini.[43] In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini, who had no legal standing in the matter, opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book.[44] The Washington Post added to the furor by "revealing" that the press conference was not orchestrated by the family of Houdini, but by Secret Life authors William Kulash and Larry Sloman, who hired the PR firm Dan Klores Communications to promote the book.[45] In 2008 it was revealed the parties involved never filed legal papers to perform an exhumation.[46]

Legacy

Publications

Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter Brown Gibson, the creator of The Shadow):[54]

Filmography

Films starring Houdini:

Biographical films:

Notes

  1. ^ Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss, American self-liberator, Europe's eclipsing sensation, world's handcuff king & prison breaker by Kenneth Silverman, Harper Collins, New York 1996, ISBN 0-06-016978-8. p. 8. A copy of his birth certificate was found and published in The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report. (1973)
  2. ^ "Hardeen Dead, 69. Houdini's Brother. Illusionist, Escape Artist, a Founder of Magician's Guild. Gave Last Show May 29.". New York Times. June 13, 1945, Wednesday. "Theodore Hardeen, a brother of the late Harry Houdini, illusionist and a prominent magician in his own right, died yesterday in the Doctors Hospital. His age was 69."
  3. ^ US National Archives Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: 413; Line: 38; List number: 684.
  4. ^ 1880 US Census with Samuel M. Weiss, Cecelia (wife), Armin M., Nathan J., Ehrich, Theodore, and Leopold.
  5. ^ "Larger Images". Archives.gov. http://www.archives.gov/southeast/exhibit/popups.php?p=4.1.5. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  6. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1996, page 81.
  7. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1996, p. 109.
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, 2006.
  10. ^ Houdini's Mirror Handcuff Challenge, Getting Closer to the Truth by Mick Hanzlik, 2007, reproduction in full of Daily Mirror article "Houdini's Great Victory" March 18, 1904.
  11. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1996, pp. 59–62.
  12. ^ Houdini: His Life and Art by James Randi and Bert Sugar, 1976, pp. 175–178.
  13. ^ Houdini: His Life and Art by James Randi and Bert Sugar, 1976, Milk Can poster on page 177.
  14. ^ Houdini A Pictorial Life by Milbourne Christopher, 1976, p. 54.
  15. ^ Houdini His Legend and His Magic by Doug Henning, 1977, p. 160.
  16. ^ Houdini: The Untold Story by Milbourne Christopher, 1969, p. 140.
  17. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1997, pp. 397–403.
  18. ^ "Uncovering Houdini’s second underwater test". http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2010/1/26_Uncovering_Houdinis_second_underwater_test.html. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  19. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1997, p. 406.
  20. ^ "Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt and other revelations from Disappearing Tricks". http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2010/1/31_Houdini_Defeats_Hackenschmidt_and_other_revelations_from_Disappearing_Tricks.html. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  21. ^ Disappearing Tricks by Matthew Solomon, 2010, p. 95.
  22. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1996, p. 205.
  23. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1996, pp. 226–249.
  24. ^ "Haldane wows at LA screening". http://web.mac.com/zencato/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2007/1/12_Haldane_wows_at_LA_screening.html. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
  25. ^ "Houdini’s silent movies coming to DVD". http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2008/1/18_Houdini_silent_movies_coming_to_DVD.html. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  26. ^ Australian National Aviation Museum - Early Australian Aviation at www.aarg.com.au.
  27. ^ Australian Aviation Pioneers, 1850-2000 at www.ctie.monash.edu.au
  28. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1996, pp. 137–154.
  29. ^ "Diggers Rest gears up for Houdini celebrations". http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2009/12/12_Diggers_Rest_gears_up_for_Houdini_celebrations.html. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  30. ^ Notes to Houdini and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, Library of Congress. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
  31. ^ Houdini Facts from the History Museum at the Castle.
  32. ^ Houdini's Halloween from WGN-TV and Red Eye, October 28, 2005
  33. ^ Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman, 1996, p. 31.
  34. ^ Houdini Up To Old Tricks Through Magic of Edison, Los Angeles Times, July 4, 1970.
  35. ^ "In Sadness, Prime Houdini Artifact Collector Puts Items on Auction Block". New York Times. October 29, 2004. "... Mr. Radner, aka Rendar the Magician, owns one of the world's biggest and most valuable collections of Harry Houdini artifacts, including the Chinese Water Torture Cell, one of Houdini's signature props from 1912 until his death in 1926. Most of the items were given to Mr. Radner in the 1940s by Houdini's brother, another escape artist who went by the stage name Hardeen. Hardeen considered Mr. Radner, then a student at Yale with a reputation for jumping from diving boards in handcuffs, as his protégé. Until early this year, the collection was on display at the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, where Houdini's father was the town rabbi in the 1870s. But after a rancorous falling out between Mr. Radner and museum officials, the 1,000-piece collection was packed up and shipped here, where it will be auctioned on Saturday in the windowless back room at the Liberace Museum and on eBay. ..."
  36. ^ "The Mystery of the Two Torture Cells". Houdini Lives!. http://web.mac.com/zencato/iWeb/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/19A4B856-4024-450B-80F9-B8721F851DCB.html. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  37. ^ houdini auction.
  38. ^ a b The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicule Press, 2004.
  39. ^ Benoit, Tod (May 2003). Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die?. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 469. ISBN 1-57912-287-6.
  40. ^ Houdini laid on his death bed for eight days after being given just seven hours to live with a ruptured appendix and a 105 degree fever.Urban Legends Reference Pages: Death of Houdini.
  41. ^ Final Escape for the Master of Illusion? Houdini's Family Press for Exhumation.
  42. ^ Bess Houdini dies in 1943.
  43. ^ "Grandnephew seeks to 'set record straight' about Houdini's death". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2007/03/23/houdini-exhume.html. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  44. ^ "Family Statement re: exhumation". http://houdini.org/HoudiniFamilyLetter.html. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  45. ^ Segal, David (March 24, 2007). "Why Not Just Hold a Seance?". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301850.html. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  46. ^ "So when do we start digging?". http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2008/3/16_So_when_do_we_start_digging.html. Retrieved March 16, 2008.
  47. ^ The Great Escape: Hollywood's Struggle to Bring Houdini Back to Life by John Cox, MAGIC Magazine, October 2006.
  48. ^ HOUDINI'S HALLOWEEN | Morning News | WGNTV.com | WGN TV | Chicago's CW.
  49. ^ USPS Press Release (October 31, 2001) Harry Houdini Returns To World Stage, usps.com.
  50. ^ "Summit set to turn Houdini into action hero". Houdini Lives. http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2009/3/27_Summit_set_to_turn_Houdini_into_action_hero.html. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  51. ^ "Australia mints coin commemorating Houdini’s first flight". Houdini Lives. http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2009/11/5_Australia_mints_coin_commemorating_Houdini_first_flight.html. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  52. ^ "100 years ago today Harry Houdini showed Australia that a man can fly". http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2010/3/18_100_years_ago_today_Houdini_showed_Australia_that_a_man_can_fly.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  53. ^ "Jewish Museum plans Houdini exhibition". http://www.houdini-lives.com/Houdini_Lives/NEWS/Entries/2010/3/20_Jewish_Museum_plans_Houdini_exhibition.html. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  54. ^ James Randi's Swift - July 14, 2006 at www.randi.org.

References

Further reading

External links

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Beliefs Core beliefs : Theism · Survivalism · Mediumship · Séances · Spiritual Healing · Spirit world · Variant beliefs : Reincarnation · Christianity · New Age
Important Figures Emanuel Swedenborg · Franz Mesmer · Fox sisters · Eva Carrière · Andrew Jackson Davis · Cora L. V. Scott · Achsa W. Sprague · Paschal Beverly Randolph · Emma Hardinge Britten · Allan Kardec · Camille Flammarion · William Stainton Moses · Amy and Isaac Post · Arthur Conan Doyle · W. T. Stead · Chico Xavier · Helen Duncan · Doris Stokes · Colin Fry · Danielle Egnew · Derek Acorah · "Margery" · Harry Houdini · Jane Roberts · Arthur Findlay
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Persondata
NAME Houdini, Harry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weiss, Ehrich (birth name); Weisz, Ehrich (birth name, alternate spelling)
SHORT DESCRIPTION magician, escapologist, and stunt performer
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest, Hungary
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1926
PLACE OF DEATH Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

Categories: 1874 births | 1926 deaths | People from Budapest | Hungarian Jews | American aviators | Magicians | American magicians | American skeptics | Escapologists | American performance artists | American people of Hungarian descent | Hungarian immigrants to the United States | American Jews | Jewish actors | People from Appleton, Wisconsin | Vaudeville performers | Professional magicians | Deaths from peritonitis | Premature burials | Woodstock, Illinois

 

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2002 . harry houdini. ~ magician #3651 Plate Block of 4 x 37 cents US Postage Stamps - On July 3, 2002 in New York, NY the USPS honored . Harry Houdini. , a Jewish-Hungaria​n-American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film ...

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What was Harry Houdini's favorite food?
Q. I want to know what was Harry Houdini's favorite meal and dessert.
Asked by Isabella - Wed Jul 9 23:36:50 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments

A. A mystery meat casserole (The Master of Mystery) and a glass of milk (The Milk Can Escape), followed by Upside down cake (as he was in the 'Chinese Water Torture Cell') Totally tongue-in-cheek... I dont know what his REAL favorites were.
Answered by andrewkpdx - Wed Jul 9 23:52:38 2008

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