Harry Houdini

Born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Harry Houdini (1874-1926) was a world-renowned illusionist and escape artist. Later in his career, Houdini became well-known for exposing fraud among spiritualists, psychics, and mediums who claimed to contact the dead through seances and other means.

Escape Artist

Houdini immigrated as a child in 1878, settling in Appleton, Wisconsin. In 1891, Houdini began his career as a magician, but it was not until around 1900 that he started to find success, performing a number of escapes from handcuffs in front of audiences. Between 1900 and 1920, Houdini toured all over Europe, attracting a wide following, and earning the nickname “The Handcuff King.” In one his more memorable stunts, he escaped from being hanging upside down in a straitjacket from a crane while crowds of thousands watched from below. Another performance involved him being locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, put into a packing crate which was then roped, nailed shut, weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead, and then lowered into New York’s East River. He surfaced, unshackled, in less than a minute, dazzling onlookers.

Debunking Spiritualists

In the 1920s Houdini became an outspoken opponent of the spiritualist movement. He demonstrated that psychics and mediums employed stage magicians’ tricks to fool clients. Houdini exposed them as frauds who preyed upon a public who, in the wake of World War I, yearned to connect with loved ones who had died. Using his celebrity to bring attention to this deception, Houdini publicly argued with his friend, fellow Freemason, and avid spiritualist, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The relationship between Houdini and Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, came to a sour end because of their irreconcilable disagreement over spiritualism.

Freemason

Houdini came to Freemasonry just a few years before he died. He was raised in New York City’s St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in 1923 and of the Scottish Rite in New York City in 1924.

Photo Caption: Harry Houdini, ca. 1920. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.