Harry Houdini secrets you might not know

Harry Houdini, (1874-1926 was known as being the greatest escape artist of all time. There are some little known facts about this magical icon and in this article 12 will be shared.

1. Evolution of his name

Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz while his family lived in Hungary. After the family moved to Wisconsin, when he was 4 years old, the spelling of the name was changed to Ehrich Weiss. The young boy was nicknamed “Ehrie” which sounded like “Harry. Houdini was fascinated with magic, and was truly amazed by the work of French conjurer Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. In the 1890s when Harry began his own career in magic he added an “i” to the name “Houdin” as a way to pay homage to the man who inspired him, and thus Harry Houdini was born.

2. Accusations

Houdini later became disenchanted with Houdin who had been his initial inspiration. Harry began accusing him of stealing his tricks from other magicians. He even wrote a book in 1908 titled“The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin”. In it, the magician made accusations that branded his namesake aa a fraud “who waxed great on the brainwork of others."

3. His first trick

Harry began his career as a famous escape artist with a trick called "Metamorphosis." In this trick, there was first an assistant, and then later his wife, who was placed into a locked box and then immediately switched places with the magician once a curtain was raised. This literally took place in a matter of seconds.

4. His brother was a successful magician in his own right

After establishing himself in Europe in the early 1900s, Houdini brought his younger brother over from Hungary. Theo was a magician who had worked as his older sibling's partner early in Houdini's career. Theo began performing his brother’s tricks under the stage name “Hardeen.” The duo even created a phony rivalry to help boost their image. They kept the fact that they really got along secret for the sake of the business. Hardeen is now credited with being the one to pioneer the act of escaping from a straitjacket in front of the viewing audience. This trick became a staple of his big brother's routine. Hardeen inherited his sibling's stage equipment after his death and continued using it in his performances into the 1940s.

5. Martin Beck started it all

Houdini struggled during his early years in show business and at one point decided to call it quits. He was about to open a magic school when in 1899 he finally caught his big break. He was booked on a tour of the United States and Europe by vaudeville impresario Martin Beck who gave Houdini a wonderful idea. He advised the magician to make escapes a central part of his act and Harry complied. Houdini began challenging audiences to lock him in handcuffs or tie him up. The shows began being promoted by Houdini staging escapes from local jails. This usually took place after he was strip-searched and placed in shackles by police.

This routine became a huge success and Harry Houdini was dubbed “King of Handcuffs”. He played to sold-out crowds in Europe and later gained even greater fame when he began staging a number of high-profile escapes in the United States. In one stunt he jumped into a Rochester, New York, river while his hands were manacled behind his back. During another, he broke out of the same jail cell that once held Charles Guiteau, who assassinated President James A. Garfield.

6. Houdini and the sea monster.

In September 1911, the famous escapologist was challenged by a group of Boston businessmen. They wanted him to attempt what would become the most bizarre stunt of his career. Houdini was expected to escape from inside the belly of a 1,500-pound “sea monster” that had somehow washed up in the Boston harbor. This beast had been described as being various creatures including a leatherback turtle and a whale. To this day the true identity of the sea creature is still not known with certainty.

Thousands of spectators gathered and as they looked on, Houdini allowed himself to be shackled in leg irons, handcuffed, and wedged inside the stinking creature's carcass. The sea monster was covered in chains and then placed behind a curtain. Fifteen minutes later Houdini emerged in triumph. Later, however, the escape artist admitted that he was almost suffocated by the fumes from the chemicals that were used to embalm the creature.

7. Houdini assisted during WWI

Harry Houdini hailed from Hungary but became an American patriot and was a huge supporter of the United States during World War I. Houdini actually persuaded the Society of American Magicians to sign loyalty oaths to President Woodrow Wilson. He later canceled his season of touring in order to devote himself to raising money for the war and also entertaining the soldiers. Houdini drew from his arsenal of magician’s tricks and provided special instruction for the U.S. troops. Houdini held a series of classes at New York’s Hippodrome, where he counseled doughboys on how to escape sinking ships. He trained them how to extricate themselves from handcuffs, ropes, and other restraints in the event they were captured by the Germans.

8. Houdini debunked all things supernatural.

Houdini did not have patience for those who claimed to be to have supernatural powers. During the 1920s, he took on a second career as a professional skeptic and made it his mission to debunk mediums, mind readers, psychics, and other “Spiritualists” who alleged they were able to contact the deceased. Houdini often sat in on séances wearing a disguise in order to expose those in charge as frauds. He also offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could present him with “physical phenomena” that did not have a rational explanation. No one ever collected on the reward and in 1926 the master illusionist took his efforts a step further. He testified before Congress in support of a bill that would outlaw the practice of “pretending to tell fortunes for reward or compensation.”

9. The cause of his death is still debated.

Houdini died on Halloween 1926 at the age of 52, just days after struggling through a final performance in Detroit. The official cause of his death was peritonitis brought on by a ruptured appendix, but several legends continue to swirl around his last days. The most famous concerns an incident that had occurred after a performance in Montreal on October 22. While holding court in his dressing room, Houdini was approached by a university student who inquired about a rumor that he could withstand heavy punches to his abdominal muscles. When Houdini boasted about his physical strength, the young man walloped him in the stomach without warning, leaving him doubled over in agony. Houdini complained of stomach pains for the rest of the day, leading many to conclude that the unexpected blows somehow triggered his appendicitis. Others, meanwhile, allege that the great magician was poisoned by the Spiritualists, who had previously issued several death threats against him in response to his attacks.

10. He was an aviation pioneer.

Houdini developed a passion for aviation in 1909 while in Europe. He purchased a French-made Voisin biplane and was one of the world’s first private pilots. The escapologist crashed in Germany during his maiden flight but continued practicing. In March 1910, Houdini hopped behind the controls of his Voisin and completed three successful flights near Melbourne, Australia. He was certified by The Aerial League of Australia as the country’s first powered and controlled flight. Some historians however have stated that the record actually belongs to Englishman Colin Defries, who made a brief flight a few months earlier than Houdini.

11. He owned his own movie studio.

Houdini’s brief career as a silent film star began with 1919’s “The Master Mystery,” an adventure serial in which he played an undercover agent who uses his escape skills to thwart criminal plots. The series was a blockbuster hit—it’s now remembered as the first film to feature a robot—and the magician went on to star in two more features before launching his own studio called the “Houdini Picture Corporation.” He made two films for the company, “The Man From Beyond” and “Haldane of the Secret Service,” but neither fared particularly well at the box office, and critics poked fun at his stilted performances. Having lost a large chunk of his personal fortune, Houdini quit the movie business for good in 1923.

12. Houdini séances” are still held every Halloween.

Harry Houdini was skeptical regarding the spirit world, yet he made an incredible promise to his wife Bess. He promised his spouse that he would attempt to contact her from beyond the grave. He told Bess that she was supposed to listen for a series of codes that would spell out the words “Rosabelle, believe.” Bess Houdini spent a decade trying to contact her deceased husband before she gave up. She allegedly said: “ten years is long enough to wait for any man.” Since the 1930s, Houdini fans have held séances every Halloween in an attempt to communicate with the illusionist's ghost. There is also an “Official Houdini Séance” that takes place on October 31st every year in a different location.