On the appointed day at 11 a.m., Smilovitch came to visit Houdini with a friend, Jack Price. Houdini was so impressed with the drawing that he invited Smilovitch to come to the Princess Theater on Friday, October 22 to do a proper portrait. “Smiley” Smilovitch, who made a sketch of the famous magician. Wikimedia Commons Houdini prepares to escape from handcuffs - and a box thrown overboard a ship - in 1912.Īfter the lecture, he schmoozed with students and faculty, among them Samuel J. There he made appearances at the Princess Theater and held a lecture concerning spirit fraud at McGill University. He managed to push through the next several appearances against doctor’s orders and then traveled to Montreal. On October 11, Houdini broke his ankle while performing Water Torture Cell escape trick in Albany, New York. But when he toured again that autumn, everything seemed to go wrong. He toured the country in the early part of the year, performing escapes and enjoying his decades-old fame. In 1926 at age 52, Harry Houdini was at the top of his game. Houdini’s theatrics and charismatic persona seemed to be made for the burgeoning revolution of media in the early 20th century. He was allowed two minutes to escape, which he invariably did to the delight of audiences.

His most famous escape was the “Chinese Water Torture Cell” in which an upside-down, suspended Houdini is lowered into then locked into a tank of water. Houdini became known as the “handcuff king” and marveled audiences worldwide with being able to escape from almost anything. He changed his name to Harry Houdini in honor of the famous French magician, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Weisz started his career with stunts early, performing trapeze at age nine before beginning a Vaudeville career in magic in 1891. Harry Houdini was born on Maas Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary and immigrated to the United States in 1878. In another, he was heavily bound and then suspended upside down in a glass-walled water tank.Wikimedia Commons Harry Houdini performing the “Chinese Water Torture Cell” escape. In a favorite act, he was bound and then locked in an ironbound chest that was dropped into a water tank or thrown off a boat. In 1908, Houdini began performing more dangerous and dramatic escapes. Who passed away on Halloween from a ruptured appendix?Īrtist Harry Houdini Master escape artist Harry Houdini died on Halloween of 1926 from a ruptured appendix, but many of the circumstances surrounding his demise remain mysterious to this day. Illusionist, magician, stunt performer, escape artist What famous magician drowned? Gilbert Genesta Theo Hardeen even named one of his sons Harry Houdini Hardeen. Houdini and his wife, Bess, had no children, and when he died - on Halloween, 85 years ago - he willed all of his props to Theo. When did Harry Houdini die?ģ1 October 1926Harry Houdini / Date of death Did Harry Houdini have children? Houdini was the son of a rabbi who emigrated from Hungary to the United States and settled in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Harry Houdini, original name Erik Weisz, (born March 24, 1874, Budapest -died October 31, 1926, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.), American magician noted for his sensational escape acts. His last words, reportedly, were “I'm tired of fighting.” What is Harry Houdini best known for? 28, and the introduction of a new anti-streptococcal serum, the great Houdini succumbed to overwhelming sepsis.

When did harry houdini die