The Mystery of Houdini

Houdini was born with the name Erich Weiss on March 24, 1874. As a child he lived in Appleton, Wisconsin after moving here from Budapest, Hungary when he was four. He moved here with his four brothers, and his parents, Samuel and Cecilia. His family was very poor and they were always changing homes to avoid bill collectors. All of the children began to work at very young ages. Houdini was selling newspapers and worked as a bootblack at the age of eight. When he was about eleven years old his father took him to see Dr. Lynn, a traveling magician, this is where it all started. When he was twelve years old he ran away from home to pursue his magic career. He called himself “Eric the Great” and made a little money performing at circuses and side shows. When Houdini was about thirteen he returned home to his parents to their new home in New York City.

Harry Houdini’s father died in October of 1892. To help the family

Houdini met a man by the name of Martin Beck who ran the Orpheum circuit, the largest chain of vaudeville theaters in the country. Beck then signed the Houdini act, which brought great success to Houdini and the theaters. The only thing that the public really wanted to see was illusions and great escapes, so Houdini stopped doing little tricks and concentrated on the big things. He would even ask the police to lock him in their toughest jails and he would still escape. This brought much attention to Houdini’s act and he began to make better money. In 1900 Houdini and his wife, Bess took a trip to London to perform their first ever show in Europe. There he escaped from a pair of handcuffs at England’s famous Scotland Yard which brought him great publicity. He also jumped into the Seine River with handcuffs on and escaped yet again. The European people absolutely loved Houdini and he became the highest paid entertainer in Europe making over two-thousand dollars per week.

In 1919 Houdini began his acting career and acted in a series of movie thrillers. He was also a film producer and a stuntman, creating the Houdini Pictures Corporation. He acted in films like Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, The Master Mystery, and The Grim Game. He was not very successful with these films and his career was pretty short.

out Houdini worked many jobs in the city. He worked as a cutter in a necktie factory called Richter and Sons; he was a messenger, an electrical driller, a photographer, and an apprentice to a locksmith. This is where he learned how to pick locks, something that would make him much money in the future.

Many people believe that Harry Houdini died on stage attempting to perform the Water Torture Cell Illusion but he did not. In the popular 1953 movie, Houdini, he did die performing but it is not the truth. His real death is a whole different story with many unanswered questions. He was in the middle of his U.S tour in the fall of 1926 when he and his wife, Bless, began to experience severe stomach pains. He refused to get treatment because he did

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