No chain could hold him, no jail could keep him. The world’s greatest escape artist.
Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz) was more than a magician; he was a superhero of the stage. He brought a sense of danger and defiance to his act that captivated the world. But his greatest trick was transforming himself from a poor immigrant into an international legend.
1. He didn't die in the water tank
A common myth is that Houdini drowned during his famous Water Torture Cell escape. In reality, he died in a hospital in Detroit from a ruptured appendix and peritonitis, likely aggravated by being punched in the stomach by a fan who wanted to test his abs.
2. He was a debunker of psychics
After his mother died, he tried to contact her via mediums. Horrified by the fraud he witnessed, he spent his later years exposing fake spiritualists. He would wear disguises to séances and then reveal himself, shouting, "I am Houdini! And you are a fraud!"
3. He named himself after a French magician
His stage name was a tribute to the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. He added the "i," thinking it meant "like Houdin." He later realized his idol was actually not as great as he thought and wrote a book attacking him.
4. He was an aviation pioneer
Houdini was fascinated by flight. In 1910, he bought a Voisin biplane and became the first person to pilot a powered aircraft in Australia (a claim that is still debated, but he was certainly one of the first).
5. He could hold his breath for minutes
To perform his underwater escapes, Houdini possessed incredible physical conditioning. He trained himself to hold his breath for over 3 minutes and had a bathtub installed in his house to practice holding his breath in ice water.
6. He knew the secrets of locks
Before he was a magician, he worked as a locksmith’s apprentice. He understood every type of lock mechanism. He often hid lockpicks in his mouth, swallowed them and regurgitated them, or hid them in his thick frizzy hair.
7. He helped the war effort
During WWI, he taught American soldiers how to escape from German handcuffs and how to properly tie knots. He also sold millions of dollars in war bonds.
8. He hired a "King Breaker"
Houdini challenged police departments around the world to lock him in their jails. He always escaped. He actually hired a man whose sole job was to travel ahead to cities and arrange these "challenges" to generate publicity.
9. His secret code with his wife
He and his wife Bess had a secret code. He told her that if he could communicate from the afterlife, he would use the code "Rosabelle believe." Bess held séances for ten years on Halloween (the anniversary of his death), but the message never came.
10. He left his props to his brother
When he died, he ordered all his props to be destroyed or given to his brother Hardeen (also a magician). However, many were kept and are now in museums, including his famous Water Torture Cell (which sadly burned in a fire in 1995).