HARRY HOUDINI

Houdini’s actual name was Ehrich Weiss The performer known world wide as Harry Houdini was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest. Although Houdini often claimed to be born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Houdini actually came to the United States when he was four years old. To this day many connected with the small town of Appleton still claim the untruth that Houdini was born there strictly to attract tourists. It is clear from copies of birth records and early family records on file at the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania in the Pocono region, that Houdini was in fact born in Budapest, on March 24, 1874. Historians are now finally agreed on this fact. In later years, in a magazine interview, Houdini said about Appleton, "the greatest escape I ever made was when I left Appleton, Wisconsin." Houdini’s early years.

Houdini’s father was Mayer Samuel Weiss. Houdini’s father was a Rabbi. His father for a short time was Rabbi for the German Zoin Jewish Congregation in Appleton. His mother’s name was Cecilia Steiner Weiss. Houdini’s original family pictures are on display at the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania in the Pocono region.

On October 22, 1926, Houdini was in Montreal performing at the Princess Theater. Houdini also gave a lecture exposing spiritualism at McGill University. In his dressing room at the theater, while lying on a couch backstage, an young athlete from McGill University, asked if Houdini could actually withstand punches to the stomach as he had heard. Before Houdini could prepare himself by tightening his stomach muscles, the student began to punch the legendary magician in the mid section. Houdini did not know it, but his appendix was ruptured. Houdini did several more shows in Montreal and then headed for Detroit.

Houdini did one performance there and then collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. Houdini did not die in an escape or fail in some final escape as many believe. The greatest "ghost buster" of all time died on October 31, 1926, Halloween of peritonitis ( an inflammation (-it's) of the peritoneum, the lining of the abdominal cavity), a kind of internal Gangrene.

Houdini loved his fellow magicians and promoted magic and the Society of American Magicians all over the world. Houdini was its president for some ten years until the day he died. He also left quite a bit of money for the Society of American Magicians in his will (we have a copy in our collection at the museum). He had the crest of the Society of American Magicians on his gravesite. He also throughout his life paid for the repair of famous magicians around the world whose graves were in disrepair. No other famous magician worked as hard as Houdini to promote his craft and those around him.

Houdini today is one of the best know performers and promoters in theatrical and film history and Houdini's name has come to mean the ability to escape from any restraint or difficult situation. He always insisted that all he did was by natural means, and that he had no supernatural powers of any kind. One of his last inventions was to escape after being buried alive, a stunt he did very few times. For some twenty six years Houdini was a major headliner. Houdini not only earned a place in history but in the dictionary as well.

VIDEO: HARRY HOUDINI - SCAPE