Biography: Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini (1874-1926) ~ Born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874, Houdini adopted and adapted his stage name from the famous French illusionist Jean Eugene Robert Houdin. Beginning his professional life as an entertainer appearing at small county fairs, Weiss emerged becoming a world famous magician and escape artist. In front of audiences, Houdini was escaping from handcuffs, leg irons, straightjackets, prison cells. He was buried alive, thrown into rivers in padlocked crates, and hung upside down in water torture cells.

Prior to a performance in Montreal on Oct. 22, 1926, Houdini was visited in his dressing room by a student who brought along two friends. One of them, J. Gordon Whitehead, was an amateur boxer. He asked if Houdini could, as the press had reported, withstand punches to his abdomen.

Mistaking Houdini’s nod as permission, the boxer delivered one leaving Houdini gasping for breath and explaining that he had not prepared by first tensing his muscles. The following night on a train heading to Detroit, the 52-year-old Houdini developed abdominal cramping and fever. He began his performance but collapsed onstage. He was suffering from a ruptured appendix and spreading streptococcal peritonitis. This was before the discovery of antibiotics.

After battling the illness, Houdini died in Detroit on Oct. 31. His final words were to his brother, Dash: “I’m tired of fighting. I guess this thing is going to get me.” Houdini was buried in the same bronze coffin from which he had escaped on many previous occasions. His final resting place is Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, NY.

Victor Parachin is a freelance writer living in Tulsa, OK.