Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American
escapologist,
illusionist, and
stunt performer noted for his escape acts.
Houdini first attracted notice in
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
in the United States and then as Harry "Handcuff" Houdini on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed
milk can with water in it.
In 1904, thousands watched as Houdini tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'', keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake
spiritualists, pursuing a personal crusade to expose their fraudulent methods. As president of the
Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts.
Houdini made several movies but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator and became the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia.
Early life
Weisz was born in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
to a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family. His parents were
Rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
Mayer Sámuel Weisz (1829–1892) and Cecília Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was fourth of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), who was Houdini's half-brother by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870–1927); Gottfried William (1872–1925);
Theodore (1876–1945); Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882–1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident.
Weisz arrived in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
on July 3, 1878, on the SS ''Frisia'' with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. The family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Ehrich became Erik. The family lived in
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...
, where his father served as
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation.
According to the
1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street in an area that is now known as Houdini Plaza. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his job at Zion in 1882, Rabbi Weiss and family moved to
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
and fell into dire poverty. In 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where they lived in a boarding house on
East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once Rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old
trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air." He was also a champion
cross country runner in his youth.
Magic career
When Weisz became a professional
magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician
Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
in 1890. Weisz incorrectly believed that an ''i'' at the end of a name meant "like" in French. However, "i" at the end of the name means "of or from" in Hungarian. In later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to American magician
Harry Kellar, whom he also admired, though it was likely adapted from "Ehri", a nickname for "Ehrich", which is how he was known to his family.
When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician
Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club.

Houdini began his magic career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman
Emil Jarrow. He performed in
dime museum
Dime museums were establishments that grew in popularity starting from 1870 that were used to display freak show performers, human anatomy exhibitions, dioramas, oddities, and moral lectures to the general public.Sears, Clare. “Electric Brillia ...
s and sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft.
He soon began experimenting with
escape acts.

In the early 1890s, Houdini was performing with his brother "
Dash
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
" (Theodore) as "The Brothers Houdini".
The brothers performed at the
Chicago World's Fair in 1893 before returning to New York City and working at Huber's Dime Museum for "near-starvation wages".
In 1894, Houdini met a fellow performer,
Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. Bess was initially courted by Dash, but she and Houdini married, with Bess replacing Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis". For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant.

Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager
Martin Beck in
St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
. Impressed by Houdini's
handcuffs
Handcuffs are Physical restraint, restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a Link chain, chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm whi ...
act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the
Orpheum vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini's British agent
Harry Day helped him to get an interview with C. Dundas Slater, then manager of the
Alhambra Theatre. He was introduced to
William Melville and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...
. He succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the Alhambra for six months. His show was an immediate hit and his salary rose to $300 a week ().

Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia and became widely known as "The Handcuff King". In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with
shackle
A shackle (or shacklebolt), also known as a gyve, is a U-shaped piece of metal secured with a clevis pin or Bolt (fastener), bolt across the opening, or a hinged metal loop secured with a quick-release locking pin mechanism. The term also appl ...
s and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first
stripped nude and searched. In
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, he escaped from a
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
n prison transport van,
claiming 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 ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Houdini sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who alleged that he made his escapes via
bribery
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he later said the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
. 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 at 278 W. 113th Street in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
, New York City.
While on tour in Europe in 1902, Houdini visited
Blois with the aim of meeting the widow of Emile Houdin, the son of
Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, for an interview and permission to visit his grave. He did not receive permission but still visited the grave.
[ Steinmeyer, Jim. (2004). ''Hiding The Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible''. Da Capo Press. pp. 152–153. ] Houdini believed that he had been treated unfairly and later wrote a negative account of the incident in his magazine, claiming he was "treated most discourteously by Madame W. Emile Robert-Houdin".
In 1906, he sent a letter to the French magazine ''L'Illusionniste'' stating: "You will certainly enjoy the article on Robert Houdin I am about to publish in my magazine. Yes, my dear friend, I think I can finally demolish your idol, who has so long been placed on a pedestal that he did not deserve."
In 1906, Houdini created his own publication, the ''Conjurers' Monthly Magazine''. It was a competitor to ''
The Sphinx'', but was short-lived and only two volumes were released until August 1908. Magic historian
Jim Steinmeyer has noted that "Houdini couldn't resist using the journal for his own crusades, attacking his rivals, praising his own appearances, and subtly rewriting history to favor his view of magic."
From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and
straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets,
mail bags, and even the belly of a
whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...
that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer.
Many of these challenges were arranged with local merchants in one of the first uses of mass
tie-in marketing
Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce.
Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...
. Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the
Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via
dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers.
After much research, Houdini wrote a collection of articles on the history of magic, which were expanded into ''
The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin'' published in 1908. In this book he attacked his former idol Robert-Houdin as a liar and a fraud for having claimed the invention of automata and effects such as
aerial suspension, which had been in existence for many years. Many of the allegations in the book were dismissed by magicians and researchers who defended Robert-Houdin. Magician
Jean Hugard would later write a full rebuttal to Houdini's book.

Houdini introduced the
Chinese Water Torture Cell at the Circus Busch in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, on September 21, 1912. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, holding his breath for more than three minutes. He would go on performing this escape for the rest of his life.
During his career, Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood. 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 or keys. When tied down in ropes or
straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his
body.

His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. Houdini's brother (who was also an escape artist, billing himself as
Theodore Hardeen) discovered that audiences were more impressed when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. On more than one occasion, they both performed straitjacket escapes while dangling upside-down from the roof of a building in the same city.
For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
. 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 the
New York Hippodrome, when he vanished a full-grown elephant from the stage. He had purchased this trick from the magician
Charles Morritt. 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 ( S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926. Houdini was magic's greatest visionary: He sought to create a large, unified national network of professional and amateur magicians. Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense. He said "The Magicians Clubs as a rule are small: they are weak ... but if we were amalgamated into one big body the society would be stronger, and it would mean making the small clubs powerful and worthwhile. Members would find a welcome wherever they happened to be and, conversely, the safeguard of a city-to-city hotline to track exposers and other undesirables".
For most of 1916, while on his vaudeville tour, Houdini had been recruitingat his own expenselocal magic clubs to join the S.A.M. in an effort to revitalize what he felt was a weak organization. Houdini persuaded groups in Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City to join. As had happened in London, he persuaded magicians to join. The Buffalo club joined as the first branch, (later assembly) of the Society. Chicago Assembly No. 3 was, as the name implies, the third regional club to be established by the S.A.M., whose assemblies now number in the hundreds. In 1917, he signed Assembly Number Three's charter into existence, and that charter and this club continue to provide Chicago magicians with a connection to each other and to their past. Houdini dined with, addressed, and got pledges from similar clubs in Detroit, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the biggest movement ever in the history of magic. In places where no clubs existed, he rounded up individual magicians, introduced them to each other, and urged them into the fold.
By the end of 1916, magicians' clubs in San Francisco and other cities that Houdini had not visited were offering to become assemblies. He had created the richest and longest-surviving organization of magicians in the world. It now embraces almost 6,000 dues-paying members and almost 300 assemblies worldwide. In July 1926, Houdini was elected for the ninth successive time President of the Society of American Magicians. Every other president has only served for one year. He also was President of the Magicians' Club of London.
In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "Three Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed".
Notable escapes
''Daily Mirror'' challenge

In 1904, the London ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. 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. At one point he asked if the cuffs 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 cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a
penknife and, holding it 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. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. 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. At the time, Houdini said it had been one of the most difficult escapes of his career.
After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in
Will Goldston's book, ''Sensational Tales of Mystery Men'', admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the ''Mirror'' representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book ''The Secret Life of Houdini'' that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the ''Mirror'' challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship.
James Randi believes that the only way the handcuffs could have been opened was by using their key, and speculates that it would have been viewed "distasteful" to both the ''Mirror'' and to Houdini if Houdini had failed the escape.
This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's ''
Mysteries at the Museum'' in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum.
A full-sized construction of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the
Bramah style key for them, are on display to the public at
The Houdini Museum in
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
.
This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display.
Milk Can Escape
In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape.
In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited 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.
Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother,
Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant into the 1940s.
The
American Museum of Magic has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini.
After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was protected by copyright and in 1906, brought a case against
John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators. The matter was settled out of court and Clempert agreed to publish an apology.
Chinese water torture cell

Around 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 were locked in
stocks
Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...
, and he was 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 were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed 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 done to obtain
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
protection for the effect, and establish 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
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926.
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 drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought 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
subway. After flinging his body in the air, he 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 him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape. Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
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 named
Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
's Empire Theatre.
Overboard box escape

Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's
East River
The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...
on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he 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 the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside.
Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a tank was specially built, and later at the
New York Hippodrome.
Buried alive stunt
Houdini performed at least three variations on a
buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while 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".
Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had 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, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes.
Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "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 on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
to New York following his death on
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
.
Film career
In 1906, Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, he presented a short film called ''Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt''.
Georg Hackenschmidt was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost. In 1909, Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled ''Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Houdini à Paris'' (Marvellous Exploits of the Famous Houdini in Paris). It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. That same year Houdini got an offer to star as
Captain Nemo in a silent version of ''
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas
''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may inclu ...
'', but the project never made it into production.
It is often erroneously reported that Houdini served as special-effects consultant on the Wharton/International cliffhanger serial ''The Mysteries of Myra'', shot in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...
, because Harry Grossman, director of ''The Master Mystery'' also filmed a serial in Ithaca at about the same time. The consultants on the serial were pioneering
Hereward Carrington and
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
.
In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer
B. A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part
serial, ''
The Master Mystery'' (released in November 1918). 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/
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
, for whom he made two pictures, ''
The Grim Game'' (1919) and ''
Terror Island'' (1920).
''The Grim Game'' was Houdini's first full-length movie and is reputed to be his best. Because of the flammable nature of
nitrate film
Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitration, nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitri ...
and their low rate of survival, film historians considered the film lost. One copy did exist hidden in the collection of a private collector only known to a tiny group of magicians that saw it. Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had seen it twice on the invitation of the collector. After many years of trying, they finally got him to agree to sell the film to
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
, who restored the complete 71-minute film. The film, not seen by the general public for 96 years, was shown by TCM on March 29, 2015, as a highlight of their yearly 4-day festival in Hollywood.
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
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, Houdini rented a home in
Laurel Canyon. 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 was a major investor. In 1919 Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a residence owned by
Ralph M. Walker. The Houdini Estate, a tribute to Houdini, is located on 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously home to Walker himself.
The Houdini Estate is subject to controversy, in that it is disputed whether Houdini ever actually made it his home. While there are claims it was Houdini's house, others counter that "he never set foot" on the property. It is rooted in Bess's parties or seances, etc. held across the street, she would do so at the Walker mansion. In fact, the guesthouse featured an
elevator connecting to a tunnel that crossed under Laurel Canyon to the big house grounds (though capped, the tunnel still exists).
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".
In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including ''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.
Aviator
In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French
Voisin biplane for $5,000 () from the Chilean aviators and Emilio Eduardo Bello, and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. After crashing once, he made his first successful flight on November 26 in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany.
The following year, Houdini toured Australia and brought along his Voisin biplane with the intention to be the first person to fly in Australia.
::
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
people will shortly have an opportunity of witnessing the ascent of a flying machine, for Houdini, whose Voisin bi-plane has arrived, has determined to make a flight before his season closes at the
Opera House">ewOpera House
n Melbourne, at the end of March The 60 to 80 horse-power motor used is of the
E.N.V. pattern. The machine has been erected at Diggers' Rest. ''Table Talk'', March 3, 1910.
Australian flights
March 18, 1910
On Friday, March 18, 1910, following more than a month of delays due to inclement weather conditions, Houdini completed one of the first powered aeroplane flights ever made in Australia. He made three flights in his Voisin biplane, at the Old Plumpton Paddock at
Diggers Rest, Victoria, ranging from 1 minute to 3½ minutesreaching an altitude of 100 ft in one of his flights, and travelling more than two miles in another. Nine of the 30 spectators present on that day signed a certificate verifying Houdini's achievement.
March 20, 1910
Hampered by the windy conditions on the Saturday, and unable to fly safely, Houdini took to the air again early on Sunday morning, 20 March 20, 1910:
::After a short preliminary flight, lasting 26 sec., Houdini took wing again, and, amid loud applause from the hundred or more spectators, who were on the ground, described three circles at altitudes, varying from 20ft to over 100ft, covering a distance of between three and four miles in 3min 45½sec. ''The Argus'', 21 March 1910.
March 21, 1910
On Monday morning, 21 March 1910, some 30 spectators witnessed Houdini make an extended flight at Diggers Rest of 7min. 37secs., covering at least 6 miles, at altitudes ranging from 20 ft. to 100 ft. Australian aviator
Basil Watson's father, mother, and younger sister, Venora, were among the spectators; and their names were included in the list of 16 spectator signatures on the certificate that verified Houdini's achievement.
After Australia
After completing 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 and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again.
Debunking spiritualists

In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking
psychics and
mediums in order to show how they were taking advantage of the bereaved,
a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by
stage magicians since the late nineteenth century.
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
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'' committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate
supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
abilities. None were able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium
George Valiantine of
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "medium-buster" grew, Houdini took to attending
séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and a police officer. Possibly the most famous medium he debunked was
Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery".
Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to
read handwriting or numbers on
dice
A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...
through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium
Nino Pecoraro, who he considered to be fraudulent.
Houdini's exposure of phony mediums inspired other magicians to follow suit, including
The Amazing Randi,
Dorothy Dietrich,
Penn & Teller, and
Dick Brookz.
Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, ''A Magician Among the Spirits'', co-authored with
C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
. Doyle, a firm believer in
spiritualism during his later years, refused to give credence to any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using those abilities to block the powers of the mediums that he was supposedly debunking. This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Doyle came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy.
Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. "Rosabelle" was their favorite song. Bess held yearly
séances on
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through
Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues.
Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. 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. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man."
The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by
Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the
Excalibur
Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...
nightclub by "
necromancer"
Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the
Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician
Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's
Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers
Walter B. Gibson and
Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original séance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Séances to Dorothy Dietrich.
In 1926, Harry Houdini hired
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Born in Provi ...
and his friend
C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called ''
The Cancer of Superstition.'' Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for ''Cancer'' does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project.
Appearance and voice recordings
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 give his height as , 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 1997 biography ''Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss'', author
Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career:
Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice 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. They are part of the
David Copperfield
''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...
collection.
Legal issues
In September 1900, Houdini was summoned by the German police prior to his first performance in the country who suspected his act was fake. Subsequently in Berlin, he was stripped naked and forced to perform an escape routine in front of 300 policemen. Houdini was tightly restrained with "thumbscrews, finger locks, and five different hand and elbow irons". He was able to escape in 6 minutes, and later used the stunt in advertising. Subsequently in 1901, a newspaper in Cologne accused him of attempting to bribe a police officer in order to rig an escape attempt, and paying a civilian police employee to aid him with another performance. Houdini sued the newspaper and the police officer for slander. As part of the trial, Houdini was asked to open without the aid of tools one of the police officer's handcrafted locks, for which the officer had said that Houdini had tried to bribe him. Houdini was able to do so, and won the case.
Personal life
Houdini became an active
Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City.
In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 () for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic."
In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor.
In 1918, he registered for
selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini.
Death
Houdini died on October 31, 1926 at the age of 52 from
peritonitis (swelling of the abdomen), possibly related to
appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...
and possibly related to punches to his abdomen he had received about a week and a half earlier.

Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
on October 22, 1926, speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (1895–1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen.
The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated each other. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself.
[
Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He had ]insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...
and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. 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 . Despite the diagnosis, 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 where he died from peritonitis on October 31, aged 52.[
It is unknown if the blunt trauma Houdini sustained contributed to his eventual death.][ Although rare, acute appendicitis which follows after direct abdominal trauma has been observed. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and he might have taken his abdominal pain more seriously had he not coincidentally received blows to the abdomen.][ According to Adam Begley, it is more likely that Houdini was suffering the effects of appendicitis prior to the punch, and his reluctance to seek medical care delayed potential treatment.
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
''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...
.
Houdini grave site
Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery.
The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves.
Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration.
Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...
, as her Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery.
Proposed exhumation
On March 22, 2007, Houdini's great-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo) George Hardeen announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography ''The Secret Life of Houdini''.
In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the ''Post'' reported, it was orchestrated by the book's authors William Kalush and Larry Sloman, who had hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote the book.
In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation.
Legacy
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. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...
. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008.
Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...
, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004.
Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. Houdini's book collecting has been explored in an essay in ''The Book Collector
''The Book Collector'' is a London-based journal that deals with all aspects of the book.
It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritag ...
.''
In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's ''Discoverie of Witchcraft'' and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online.
A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield
''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...
purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors.
In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
at 7001 Hollywood Blvd.
The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991. The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini.
Cultural depictions of Houdini
There have been multiple depictions, references, homages, and tributes in pop culture entertainment/media, with some taking liberties with biographical accuracy.
Television
*In 1976, ABC broadcast a television film called '' The Great Houdinis'', starring Paul Michael Glaser as Harry and Sally Struthers
Sally Anne Struthers (born July 28, 1947) is an American actress and activist. She played Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie Bunker, Archie and Edith Bunker in ''All in the Family'', for which she won two Emmy Awards, and Babette on ''Gilmor ...
as Bess Houdini. It also featured Ruth Gordon as Houdini's mother, Cecilia Weiss, and Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress best known for playing landlady Ethel Mertz on the sitcom ''I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the 1953 Primetime Emmy Award for Outs ...
as Minnie, Bess's nurse (as well as the narrator).
*A 1998 telefilm biopic, '' Houdini'', aired on TNT, starring Johnathon Schaech as adult Harry Houdini and Emile Hirsch as young Houdini, Erik Weisz. It also starred Grace Zabriskie as Cecilia; Mark Ruffalo
Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor. He began acting in the late 1980s and first gained recognition for his work in Kenneth Lonergan's play ''This Is Our Youth'' (1996) and drama film ''You Can Count on Me'' (2000) ...
as his brother, Theodore Hardeen; Stacy Edwards as his eventual wife, Bess; and David Warner as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Houdini appears twice in the Canadian television
Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, ...
period detective series ''Murdoch Mysteries
''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...
''.
**In episode 4 of season 2 " Houdini Whodunit" (February 24, 2009), he is portrayed by Joe Dinicol—performing escapes with another of his brothers, Leopold, and explaining the nature of illusion.
**In episode 11 of season 13 " Staring Blindly into the Future" (January 13, 2020), he is portrayed by Grisha Pasternak—assisting the police when famous scientists disappear.
*In 2014, the History Channel
History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
premiered a two-parter miniseries
In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
biopic, '' Houdini'', about his life. Adrien Brody starred as Houdini, while Kristen Connolly portrayed Bess, and Evan Jones played one of his magician's assistants, Jim Collins.
*A 2016 TV series, '' Houdini & Doyle'', concentrated on the real-life friendship between Houdini and Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
detective literature series. Michael Weston portrayed Houdini and Steven Mangan portrayed Doyle. The series was cancelled after one season.
Film
*The 1953 biopic film '' Houdini'' (loosely adapted from the 1928 semi-biographical novel by Harold Kellock) featured real-life husband and wife, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh)—as Harry and Bess, respectively—in a fictionalized outline of his life.
*Houdini's character is one of many real-life figures portrayed amongst the ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to the po ...
of Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech Americans, Czech-American film film director, director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the Uni ...
's 1981 film, ''Ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...
''. He is played by Jeffrey DeMunn.
*The 2007 film '' Death Defying Acts'', directed by Gillian Armstrong
Gillian May Armstrong (born 18 December 1950) is an Australian feature film and documentary film director, director, best known for ''My Brilliant Career (film), My Brilliant Career'' (1979), ''Mrs. Soffel'' (1984), ''High Tide (1987 film), Hi ...
, starred Guy Pearce as Houdini, alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, Saoirse Ronan, and Timothy Spall. It featured a fictional storyline of a mother/daughter con-artist team who make Houdini their mark during his quest for a medium to contact his deceased mother, paralleling his real-life crusade to debunk charlatans.
Play
*A 2013 play, also titled '' Houdini'', focused on "The Brothers Houdini" and starred Stuart Brennan, who also wrote the play, as Theodore. Magician Jim Nichols portrayed Harry, while Bess was portrayed by Evanna Lynch.
Residency
*From 1995–2002, an extravaganza titled '' EFX'' featuring Houdini as one character of a leading quadruple role, established a residency at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
. Over the span of eight years, in chronological order, the show's headliners were Michael Crawford, David Cassidy, Tommy Tune, and Rick Springfield.
Music
*Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...
recorded a song titled " Houdini" on her 1982 album, '' The Dreaming''—in which the cover art
Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...
paid homage to Houdini as well.
*Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards.
Lipa worked as a model before v ...
released a 2023 single, " Houdini", from her '' Radical Optimism'' (2024) album.
*Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
also released a 2024 single, " Houdini", from his twelfth album, '' The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)''.
Publications
Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow
The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...
).
''The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals''
(1906)
* ''Handcuff Secrets'' (1907)
''The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin''
(1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities.
* ''Magical Rope Ties and Escapes'' (1920)
''Miracle Mongers and Their Methods''
(1920)
''Houdini's Paper Magic''
(1921)
''A Magician Among the Spirits''
(1924)
''Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery"''
(1924)
* '' Imprisoned with the Pharaohs'' (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Born in Provi ...
.
''How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers''
article for ''Popular Science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
'' (November 1925)
''How I do My "Spirit Tricks"''
article for ''Popular Science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
'' (December 1925)
''Conjuring''
(1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
's 13th edition.
Filmography
* ''Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris''Cinema Lux (1909)playing himself
* '' The Master Mystery''Octagon Films (1918)playing Quentin Locke
* '' The Grim Game'' Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
(1919)playing Harvey Handford
* '' Terror Island'' Famous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920)playing Harry Harper
* '' The Man from Beyond''Houdini Picture Corporation (1922)playing Howard Hillary
* '' Haldane of the Secret Service''Houdini Picture Corporation/ FBO (1923)playing Heath Haldane
Posters
File:Mastermystery-1919poster.jpg,
File:Grim game.jpg,
File:Haldane of the Secret Service.jpg,
File:Houdini as ghostbuster (performance poster).jpg,
File:Terror Island (1920) - Ad 1.jpg,
See also
* List of magic museums
* List of magicians
References
Bibliography
*
*
* Gresham, William Lindsay ''Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls'' (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1959).
* Henning, Doug with Charles Reynolds. ''Houdini: His Legend and His Magic'' (New York: Times Books, 1978). .
*
* Kellock, Harold. ''Houdini: His Life-Story'' ''from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini'', ( Harcourt, Brace Co., June 1928).
* Kendall, Lance. ''Houdini: Master of Escape'' (New York: Macrae Smith & Co., 1960). .
* Meyer, M.D., Bernard C. ''Houdini: A Mind in Chains'' (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976). .
*
*
*
* Williams, Beryl & Samuel Epstein. ''The Great Houdini: Magician Extraordinary'' (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1950).
Further reading
* "Why Is Houdini?" by Fred Lockley, ''Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film fan magazines, its title another word for screenplay. It was founded in Chicago in 1911. Under early editors Julian Johnson and James R. Quirk, in style and reach it became a pacesetter for fan m ...
'', June 1920, p. 50.
*
An Interview with Harry Houdini
by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, ''Haldeman-Julius Monthly'' Vol. 2.5 (October 1925), pp. 387–397.
* ''Houdini's Escapes and Magic'' by Walter B. Gibson, ''Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks'' Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1930. Reveals some of Houdini's magic and escape methods (also released in two separate volumes: ''Houdini's Magic'' and ''Houdini's Escapes'').
* ''The Secrets of Houdini'' by J.C. Cannell, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1931. Reveals some of Houdini's escape methods.
* ''Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship'' by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Albert & Charles Boni, Inc., NY, 1932.
* ''Sixty Years of Psychical Research'' by Joseph Rinn, Truth Seeker Co., 1950, Rinn was a long time close friend of Houdini. Contains detailed information about the last Houdini message (there are 3) and its disclosure.
* ''Houdini's Fabulous Magic'' by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young. Chilton, NY, 1960. Excellent reference for Houdini's escapes and some methods (includes the Water Torture Cell).
* ''The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report'', Magico Magazine (reprint of report by The Society of American Magicians), 1972. Concludes Houdini was born March 24, 1874, in Budapest.
* ''Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead'' by Allen Spraggett with William V. Rauscher, 1973, pp. 152–165, Chapter 7, "The Houdini Affair" contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure.
* ''Mediums, Mystics and the Occult'' by Milbourne Christopher, Thomas T. Crowell Co., 1975, pp. 122–145, ''Arthur Ford-Messages from the Dead'', contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure.
* ''Houdini: A Definitive Bibliography'' by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1991. A Description of the Literary Works of Houdini, includes pamphlets from Weltman's collection
* ''Believe'' by William Shatner and Michael Charles Tobias, Berkeley Books, NY, 1992.
* ''Houdini: Escape into Legend, The Early Years: 1862–1900'' by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1993. Examination of Houdini's childhood and early career.
* ''Houdini Comes to America'' by Ronald J. Hilgert, The Houdini Historical Center, 1996. Documents the Weiss family's immigration to the United States on July 3, 1878 (when Ehrich was 4).
* ''Houdini Unlocked'' by Patrick Culliton, Two volume box set: ''The Tao of Houdini'' and ''The Secret Confessions of Houdini'', Kieran Press, 1997.
* ''The Houdini Code Mystery: A Spirit Secret Solved'' by William V. Rauscher, Magic Words, 2000.
* ''Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle'' by Massimo Polidoro
Massimo Polidoro (born 10 March 1969) is an Italian psychologist, writer, journalist, television personality, and co-founder and executive director of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences (CICAP).
Early lif ...
, Prometheus Books, 2001.
* ''The Man Who Killed Houdini'' by Don Bell, Vehicle Press, 2004. Investigates J. Gordon Whitehead and the events surrounding Houdini's death.
* ''Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century'' by Matthew Solomon, University of Illinois Press
The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, thirty-three scholarly journals, and several electroni ...
, 2010. Contains new information about Houdini's early movie career.
* ''Houdini Art and Magic'' by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jewish Museum, 2010. Essays on Houdini's life and work are accompanied by interviews with novelist E. L. Doctorow, Teller, Kenneth Silverman, and more.
* ''Houdini—the Key'' by Patrick Culliton, Kieran Press, 2010. Reveals the authentic working methods of many of Houdini effects, including the Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. Limited to 278 copies.
* ''The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini'' by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2019.
* ''Harry and the Highwire''. A fun and inspirational children's book about the young Harry Houdini's attempts to walk the tightrope. Green Bean Books, 2024.
External links
*
*
*
*
Archival material collections
Harry Houdini Papers
Harry Houdini Collection
at the Harry Ransom Center in the University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
Correspondence relating to psychical research: From Houdini to Harry Price
from Harry Price Archive, held at Senate House Library, University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
The Harry Houdini Collection (archived 2022)
From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
Harry Houdini Collection (Library of Congress)
from The Online Books Page
Harry Houdini: Topics in Chronicling America
A research guide from the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
Search result of "houdini"
in the New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
digital collections
Miscellaneous
Timeline of Houdini's life
from the ''Houdini'' episode of '' American Experience'' produced by PBS
The Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania
Houdini Escapes the Smithsonian
from Smithsonian Institution Blog
*
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