Houdini Revealed
Some 80 years after his death, Harry Houdini is back in the public spotlight. This photo essay sheds light on the escape artist's life
- By Whitney Dangerfield
- Smithsonian.com, April 01, 2007, Subscribe
Born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest Hungary in 1874, the future escape artist soon immigrated to the United States with his family. A showman with great charisma, Weiss changed his name to Houdini in homage to Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, the founder of modern magic, and took off for the vaudeville stage. Here, the struggling performer met Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, then a member of the song-and-dance act The Floral Sisters. (Corbis) Before He Was Houdini
Harry Houdini freed himself from chains after jumping off a pier into Boston's Charles River, wiggled out of a strait jacket while hanging upside down in Times Square and appeared alive and well after being submerged in his Water Torture Cell. The great escape artist defied belief and entertained hundreds of thousands of people throughout the early 20th century until he died on Halloween in 1926, at age 52. His death certificate blames a ruptured appendix, but rumors circulated that he may have been murdered.
A new biography, The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, has caused many people, including the magician's great-nephew, to reconsider these rumors. Houdini, they believe, may have been poisoned by Spiritualists, a group who claimed to speak to the dead through séances. Houdini went to great lengths to debunk their practices, often exposing their tricks on the stage. In late March, forensic pathologists announced that they will exhume Houdini's body to determine once and for all what happened to the escape artist.
In this photo essay, explore the extraordinary life of Harry Houdini. To begin, click on the main image above.
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Related topics: Celebrities Early 20th Century
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Comments (5)
harry died
Posted by on December 17,2009 | 03:06 PM
has anyone ever did birb wire escape using real birb wire
Posted by Howard McLaughlin on May 10,2009 | 03:45 PM
I'm curious as to when and where this photograph was taken.
Posted by Herman Darvick on September 30,2008 | 09:01 AM
I have been searching a very long time for the picture shown here. Could anyone tell me where I can purchase this photo of Harry Houdini? Thankyou very much, Lulu Miceli
Posted by Lulu Miceli on September 16,2008 | 03:44 PM
Just curious, has anything ever came of the Houdini autopsy or is it still incomplete?
Posted by Mary Cothern on July 22,2008 | 03:05 PM
I never learned so much about Harry!
Posted by Nami on February 22,2008 | 06:30 PM