Harry Houdini Part II

 

Australian flights

March 18, 1910

On Friday, March 18, 1910, following more than a month of delays due to inclement weather conditions, Houdini completed one of the first powered aeroplane flights ever made in Australia. He made three flights in his French Voisin biplane, at the Old Plumpton Paddock, at Diggers Rest, Victoria, ranging from 1 minute to 3½ minutes – reaching an altitude of 100 ft in one of his flights, and travelling more than two miles in another. Nine of the 30 spectators present on that day signed a certificate verifying Houdini's achievement.

March 20, 1910

Hampered by the windy conditions on the Saturday, and unable to fly safely, Houdini took to the air again early on Sunday morning, 20 March 20, 1910:

After a short preliminary flight, lasting 26 sec., Houdini took wing again, and, amid loud applause from the hundred or more spectators, who were on the ground, described three circles at altitudes, varying from 20ft to over 100ft, covering a distance of between three and four miles in 3min 45½sec. The Argus, 21 March 1910.

March 21, 1910

On Monday morning, 21 March 1910, some 30 spectators witnessed Houdini make an extended flight at Diggers Rest of 7min. 37secs., covering at least 6 miles, at altitudes ranging from 20 ft. to 100 ft. Australian aviator Basil Watson's father, mother, and younger sister, Venora, were among the spectators; and their names were included in the list of 16 spectator signatures on the certificate that verified Houdini's achievement.

After Australia

After completing his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next music hall tour and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again.

Debunking spiritualists

In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking psychics and mediums in order to show how they were taking advantage of the bereaved, a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by stage magicians since the late nineteenth century.

Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds that had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None were able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "medium-buster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and a police officer. Possibly the most famous medium he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery".

Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium Nino Pecoraro, who he considered to be fraudulent.

Houdini's exposure of phony mediums inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz.

Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician among the Spirits, co-authored with C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, a firm believer in spiritualism during his later years, refused to give credence to any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using those abilities to block the powers of the mediums that he was supposedly debunking. This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Doyle came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy.

Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. "Rosabelle" was their favorite song. Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues. Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man."

The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excalibur nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original séance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Séances to Dorothy Dietrich.

In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition. Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (equivalent to $1,291 in 2023). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for Cancer does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project.

Appearance and voice recordings

Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers give his height as 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m), but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1997 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career:

They stressed his smallness – "somewhat undersized" – and angular, vivid features: "He is smooth-shaven with a keen, sharp-chinned, sharp-cheekboned face, bright blue eyes and thick, curly, black hair." Some sensed how much his complexly expressive smile was the outlet of his charismatic stage presence. It communicated to audiences at once warm amiability, pleasure in performing, and, more subtly, imperious self-assurance. Several reporters tried to capture the charming effect, describing him as "happy-looking", "pleasant-faced", "good natured at all times", "the young Hungarian magician with the pleasant smile and easy confidence".

Harry Houdini's voice

Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are part of the David Copperfield collection.

Legal issues

In September 1900, Houdini was summoned by the German police prior to his first performance in the country who suspected his act was fake. Subsequently in Berlin, he was stripped naked and forced to perform an escape routine in front of 300 policemen. Houdini was tightly restrained with "thumbscrews, finger locks, and five different hand and elbow irons". He was able to escape in 6 minutes, and later used the stunt in advertising. Subsequently in 1901, a newspaper in Cologne accused him of attempting to bribe a police officer in order to rig an escape attempt, and paying a civilian police employee to aid him with another performance. Houdini sued the newspaper and the police officer for slander. As part of the trial, Houdini was asked to open without the aid of tools one of the police officer's handcrafted locks, for which the officer had said that Houdini had tried to bribe him. Houdini was able to do so, and won the case.

Personal life

Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City.

In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 (equivalent to $847,778 in 2023) for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic."

In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both, sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor.

In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini.

Death

Houdini died on October 31, 1926 at the age of 52 from peritonitis (swelling of the abdomen), possibly related to appendicitis and possibly related to punches to his stomach he had received about a week and a half earlier.

Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theater in Montreal on October 22, 1926, speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (1895–1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen.

The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated each other. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself.

Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He had insomnia and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of 102 °F (39 °C) and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan, on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of 104 °F (40 °C). Despite the diagnosis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital where he died from peritonitis on October 31, aged 52.

It is unclear whether the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, as the relationship between blunt trauma and appendicitis is uncertain. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and he might have taken his abdominal pain more seriously had he not coincidentally received blows to the abdomen.

After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity.

Houdini grave site

Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery.

The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves.

Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration.

Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, and while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, as her Catholic family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery.

Proposed exhumation

On March 22, 2007, Houdini's grand-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo) George Hardeen announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. The Washington Post stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the Post reported, it was orchestrated by the book's authors William Kalush and Larry Sloman, who had hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote the book.

In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation.

Legacy

Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulate that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the water torture cell. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, and milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008.

Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004.

Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. Houdini's book collecting has been explored in an essay in The Book Collector.

In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online.

A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors.

In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd.

The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991.

The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, features Houdini séances performed by magician Misty Lee.

The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe.

The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini.

In McSorley's Old Ale House, there are many items of historical paraphernalia, including a pair of Houdini's handcuffs, which are connected to the bar rail.

In popular culture

Houdini appeared as himself in Weird Tales magazine in three ghostwritten fictionalizations of sensational events from his career (issues of March, April, and May–June–July 1924). The third story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs," was written by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft based on Houdini's notes. The Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration was envisioned to continue, but the magazine ceased publication for financial reasons. When it resumed later in 1924, Houdini no longer figured in its plans.

Houdini (1953) – played by Tony Curtis

Man of Magic – a 1966 musical about Houdini's life, produced by Harold Fielding. Stuart Damon played the title role in the show, which opened at the Opera House in Manchester on 22 October 1966 before transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre in London where it opened on 15 November and ran for 135 performances. Music was by Wilfred Josephs, under the pseudonym Wilfred Wylam.

The Great Houdini a.k.a. The Great Houdinis (1976) – played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie)

A Magician Amongst the Spirits, a 1982 BBC radio drama about Houdini's life written by Bert Coules

"Houdini" (1982) – sung by Kate Bush (Song), a song which explores Bess Houdini attempting to contact Houdini after his death using the secret code they formed together for this purpose.

"Simon and Simon" "The Grand Illusion" (1983) the Brothers investigate an illusionist death and the recovery of Houdini's stolen book of magic secrets.

"The Real Ghostbusters" "The Cabinet of Calamari" (1987) – the ghost of Houdini escapes the Ghostbusters traps in order to recover his stolen book of magic secrets.

"Young Harry Houdini" (1987) – A highly fictionalized portrayal of Houdini during his childhood, portrayed by Wil Wheaton, as part of The Disney Sunday Movie series.

FairyTale: A True Story (1997) – played by Harvey Keitel, a film about the Cottingley Fairies hoax.

Houdini (1998) – played by Jonathon Schaech (TV Movie)

Death Defying Acts (2007) – played by Guy Pearce.

"Houdini" (2012) – sung by Foster the People (Song)

Houdini (2014) – played by Adrien Brody (TV miniseries)

Michael Weston played Harry Houdini in the short-lived 2016 TV series Houdini & Doyle

The Ministry of Time—Episode 6, Season 2, Tiempo de magia (2016), played by Gary Piquer

Mentioned by name in the Sci-fi Netflix series Dark (2017-2020) - Episode 5, Season 1.

Doctor Who – Harry Houdini's War (2019) – played by John Schwab (Big Finish audio play)

d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical – The Audio Theater Experience (2020) – played by Julian R. Decker (Album musical/audiobook)

"Houdini" (2023) – sung by Dua Lipa (Song)

"Houdini" (2024) – sung by Eminem (Song)

Publications

Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow)

The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals (1906)

Handcuff Secrets (1907)

The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities.

Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920)

Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920)

Houdini's Paper Magic (1921)

A Magician among the Spirits (1924)

Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery" (1924)

Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft.

How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers, article for Popular Science (November 1925)

How I do My "Spirit Tricks”, article for Popular Science (December 1925)

Conjuring (1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica's 13th edition.

Filmography

Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris – Cinema Lux (1909) – playing himself

The Master Mystery – Octagon Films (1918) – playing Quentin Locke

The Grim Game – Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount Pictures (1919) – playing Harvey Handford

Terror Island – Famous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920) – playing Harry Harper

The Man from Beyond – Houdini Picture Corporation (1922) – playing Howard Hillary

Haldane of the Secret Service – Houdini Picture Corporation/FBO (1923) – playing Heath Haldane