Harry Houdini (1874–1926)

Hal Reed (Oklahoma 1921-California 2003)
USA, 1996
Bronze, h. 1 ¾ x w. 1 ¾ in.
Cincinnati Skirball Museum, Jewish-American Hall of Fame Collection, gift of Mel and Esther Wacks, Debra Wacks, and Shari Wacks, 2019.7.55

The famed magician Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz (later Ehrich Weiss) in Budapest, Hungary. He immigrated to Appleton, Wisconsin with his family as a child, and then lived in Milwaukee, and ultimately in New York City. Houdini began performing as a child trapeze artist and was called “Ehrich, the Prince of the Air.” He studied magic tricks as a teenager and started going by the name Harry Houdini after French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Houdini performed in medicine shows, circuses, and theaters, and he eventually drew publicity for his ability to escape handcuffs, chains, and prison cells. In 1916, a crowd of about 100,000 people watched in amazement as “The King of Handcuffs” freed himself from a straitjacket while hanging from a building. Many other escapes, including from crates, boxes, and a water torture cell, were part of Houdini’s act as he traveled around the world. Houdini’s talents as an entertainer also extended to the big screen, starting with his appearance in the 1918 serial The Mastery Mystery. He started a production company and made his own movies, starring in The Man from Beyond (1922) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). Another interest of Houdini’s was aviation, and in 1910 he became the first person to successfully fly in Australia. He died from complications of a ruptured appendix after a visitor punched him to test his strength. Houdini was president of the Society of American Magicians and was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.