Harry Houdini 1874 – 1926

Biography

Harry Houdini was the most famous escape artist who ever lived — and the hardest act in show business to follow. Born Erik Weisz in Budapest, he conquered vaudeville with handcuff escapes, straitjackets, and the terrifying Chinese Water Torture Cell, then spent his later years exposing fraudulent spiritualists who preyed on the grieving. His name became a synonym for getting out of anything. He died of appendicitis in Detroit on October 31, 1926 — Halloween, fittingly — at 52, after a ruptured appendix turned to peritonitis. He is buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York, where fans still gather at his grave every Halloween. He toured the world, escaping from jail cells, packing crates, and milk cans, and once jumped from bridges in handcuffs for roaring crowds. He was also a serious collector of magic history and served as president of the Society of American Magicians.