

Despite his activism against spiritual charlatanism, Houdini and his wife did in fact experiment with otherworldly spiritualism when they decided that the first of them to die would try to communicate from beyond the grave with the survivor. This act turned him against former friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who believed deeply in spiritualism and Margery's sight. Most notably, he debunked renowned medium Mina Crandon, better known as Margery. Houdini's publishing career didn't end with his literary takedown of Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, either, as he later wrote Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) and A Magician Among the Spirits (1924).Īs president of the Society of American Magicians, Houdini was a vigorous campaigner against fraudulent psychic mediums. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. In New York, he started his own production company, Houdini Picture Corporation, and a film lab called The Film Development Corporation, but neither was a success. He starred in several subsequent films, including The Master Mystery, The Grim Game and Terror Island.
YOUNG HARRY HOUDINI MOVIE MOVIE
Houdini also launched a movie career, releasing his first film in 1901, Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini Paris, which documented his escapes.

Colin Defries, who made a short flight in December 1909. While he did it after a few failed attempts, it later was revealed that Houdini was likely beaten to the punch by just a few months by a Capt. He purchased his first plane in 1909 and set out to become the first person to man a controlled power flight over Australia in 1910. Houdini's wealth allowed him to indulge in other passions, such as aviation and film. The performance was so daring and such a crowd-pleaser that it remained in his act until his death in 1926. In it, Houdini was suspended by his feet and lowered upside-down in a locked glass cabinet filled with water, requiring him to hold his breath for more than three minutes to escape. In 1912, his act reached its pinnacle, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which would be the hallmark of his career. He was able to escape because of both his uncanny strength and his equally uncanny ability to pick locks. Houdini continued his act in the United States in the early 1900s, constantly upping the ante from handcuffs and straightjackets to locked, water-filled tanks and nailed packing crates. The show was a huge sensation, and he soon became the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. Houdini's feats would involve the local police, who would strip search him, place him in shackles and lock him in their jails. In 1899, Houdini's act caught the attention of Martin Beck, an entertainment manager who soon got him booked at some of the best vaudeville venues in the country, followed by a tour of Europe. In 1893, he married fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who would serve as Houdini's lifelong stage assistant under the name Beatrice "Bess" Houdini. (Although he later wrote The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, a study that set out to debunk Houdin’s skill.) Though his magic met with little success, he soon drew attention for his feats of escape using handcuffs.

YOUNG HARRY HOUDINI MOVIE PROFESSIONAL
In 1894, Weisz launched his career as a professional magician and renamed himself Harry Houdini, the first name being a derivative of his childhood nickname, "Ehrie," and the last an homage to the great French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. It was there that he became interested in trapeze arts.

When he was 13, Weisz moved with his father to New York City, taking on odd jobs and living in a boarding house before the rest of the family joined them. One of seven children born to a Jewish rabbi and his wife, Weisz moved with his family as a child to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he later claimed he was born. Houdini was born Erich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. Houdini continued performing escape acts until his death, on October 31, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. In 1893, he married Wilhelmina Rahner, who became his onstage partner as well. Fascinated with magic from a young age, Harry Houdini began performing and drew attention for his daring feats of escape.
