Quick Facts
- NAME: Harry Houdini
- OCCUPATION: Magician
- BIRTH DATE: March 24, 1874
- DEATH DATE: October 31, 1926
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Budapest, Hungary
- PLACE OF DEATH: Detroit, Michigan
- Full Name: Erik Weisz
- Nickname: "Ehrie"
- AKA: Harry Houdini
- Nickname: "Harry Handcuff Houdini"
- AKA: Ehrich Weiss
Best Known For
Harry Houdini's grand illusions and daring, spectacular escape acts made him one of the most famous magicians of all time.
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Harry Houdini - Death (2:19)
Harry Houdini - Water Torture Escapes
Get an inside look at Harry Houdini's many attempts and successes at one of his signature acts, the water torture escape.
Harry Houdini - Straight Jacket Escapes
Get an inside look at Harry Houdini's many attempts and successes at one of his signature acts, the straightjacket escape.
Harry Houdini - Reaching Out From Beyond
Prior to his death, Harry Houdini gave his wife a keyword that he would use to contact her if he could reach out from beyond the grave.
Harry Houdini - Death
After two students take up Houdini on one of his famous boasts of strength, Houdini accepts a challenge that will ultimately take his life.
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Play NowHarry Houdini. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:38, Jun 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056.
Harry Houdini. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056 [Accessed 18 Jun 2013].
"Harry Houdini." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 18 2013, 07:38 http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056.
"Harry Houdini," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056 [accessed Jun 18, 2013].
"Harry Houdini," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056 (accessed Jun 18, 2013).
Harry Houdini [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 18] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056.
Harry Houdini, http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056 (last visited Jun 18, 2013).
Harry Houdini. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/harry-houdini-40056. Accessed Jun 18, 2013.
In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company.
As president of the Society of American Magicians, Harry Houdini was a vigorous campaigner against fraudulent psychic mediums. Most notably, he debunked renowned medium Mina Crandon, better known as Margery. This act turned him against former friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who believed deeply in Spiritualism and Margery's sight.
A Mysterious Death
Though there are mixed reports as to the cause of Henry Houdini's death, it is certain that he suffered from acute appendicitis. Whether his demise was caused by a McGill University student who was testing his will by punching him in the stomach (with permission) or by poison from a band of angry Spiritualists, it is unknown. What is known is that he died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix on October 31, 1926, at the age of 52, in Detroit, Michigan.
After his death, Houdini's props and effects were used by his brother Theodore Hardeen, who eventually sold them to magician and collector Sidney H. Radner. Much of the collection could be see at the Houdini Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, until Radner auctioned it off in 2004. Most of the prized pieces, including the Water Torture Cell, went to magician David Copperfield.
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