Harry Houdini

By Tom Kirvan

He was America’s foremost “escapologist,” a stunt performer and illusionist who attracted worldwide attention for his various daredevil acts.

Harry Houdini was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary, one of seven children fathered by a rabbi. His original name was Ehrich Weiss and as a child, was a trapeze artist known as “Ehrich, the Prince of Air.” He adopted the Harry Houdini name when he became a magician in the 1890s, taking his act to the Vaudeville circuit at the turn of the century.

Houdini first hit it big in Great Britain, appearing in theaters all across the United Kingdom with his daring feats of escape. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia, gaining further fame as “The Handcuff King” for his knack of escaping from the restraint devices.

“My brain is the key that sets me free,” said Houdini of his miraculous maneuvers.

His popularity soared as he freed himself from chains, ropes, and straightjackets, often while hanging from a rope in front of street audiences.

Harry Houdini*

“What the eyes see, and the ears hear, the mind believes,” said Houdini, who in the later stages of his career revealed that many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force.

In one of his most bizarre stunts, Houdini was handcuffed and shackled inside the carcass of a 1,500-pound whale that had washed ashore in Boston, escaping with relative ease before a mob of spectators.

When he died of peritonitis in 1926 at the age of 52, Houdini left behind a parting shot for non-believers: “Magic is the sole science not accepted by scientists, because they simply can’t understand it.”

*Campbell-Gray, Ltd., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons