Houdini’s Jewish Legacy on His 100th Yahrtseit

Harry Houdini, born Erich Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, came to the United States with his family and settled in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as a Reform Rabbi. Once Rabbi Weisz realized he was unsuited for the rabbinate, he moved to New York City with Erich. They both worked at low paying jobs to support themselves while Erich pursued interests in athletics and magic. The rest of his family came to New York a year later.

At 18, he and a friend took the stage as “The Brothers Houdini.” Erich started calling himself “Harry Houdini,” with “Harry” a play on “Erichie” and “Houdini” after the French magician he admired, Jean Eugene Robert Houdin. “The Brothers Houdini” hit the road, bringing card tricks and other acts to upstate New York and the Midwest. It was his good fortune to meet and marry another performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, “Bess,” who became his lifelong performance partner. Known as “The Houdinis,” they held tight as a couple through career challenges and setbacks to the point of considering quitting the stage, until their big opportunity in 1899.

Martin Beck, a financial driver of the rising vaudeville theater movement, was smitten by Houdini’s handcuff escapes. Beck challenged Houdini with his own cuffs, and Houdini quickly picked the locks and freed himself. Shortly after, Beck telegraphed Houdini from Chicago: “You can open Omaha March twenty sixth sixty dollars, will see act probably make you proposition for all next season.” Houdini later wrote, “This wire changed my whole life’s journey.”

Within the year, Houdini played vaudeville venues countrywide. Understanding the need for publicity, he did “manacle bridge jumps,” and other street acts to entice folks to pay to come into the theater to see him. His creative drive brought new acts, one after the other, including escapes from safes, coffins, straitjackets, and nailed packing crates. When it came to being handcuffed, he added a measure of drama and authenticity by having the local police lock his hands. For the Milk Can Escape, he told audiences, “Failure Means a Drowning Death.” He added a Water Torture Cell act, where he was placed upside-down in a tank and held his breath for three minutes until he got out.

Houdini became a vaudeville star, and a European tour brought international renown. In England, the London Mirror newspaper made special handcuffs for Houdini, who took more than an hour of stage antics to break free of these so-called “Mirror Cuffs.” In Cologne, Germany, a police officer accused Houdini of fraud. Houdini sued the officer for slander, went to court, and won. Though he had to reveal some tricks during the trial, he felt the publicity was worth it, as he became known as Germany’s “König der Handschellen,” “King of the Handcuffs.”

Through all this, Houdini loved his mother. When in Sweden in 1913, after receiving word of her death, he fainted, came to, and wept uncontrollably. “I am what would be called a ‘Mother’s-boy,’” he said.

As movies became popular, Houdini performed on screen and started a production company and related business ventures, all unprofitable. Notably, when spiritualists were the fashion for their alleged ability to contact the dead, Houdini went on a crusade to expose them as frauds, even at the cost of his friendship with English author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

As 1926 began, Houdini opened a solo show on Broadway. “Houdini” included the scope of his career acts and was so successful that he took it on tour. In Montreal, however, on a dare and test of his strength, Houdini allowed someone to punch him in the stomach, and the blow aggravated a case of appendicitis. Nevertheless, Houdini performed the day after, and again the next day in Detroit. He had his appendix removed after but to no avail as an infection took hold and he died on October 31, 1926.

So, what is Jewish about all this? Houdini escaped the apparently inescapable. He consistently prevailed over seemingly deadly challenging and life-threatening circumstances. His creativity, determination, and success symbolized Jewish persistence and continuity in the face of adversity and gave inspiration and hope to many. Houdini’s legacy of rebound reflects the historic Jewish experience and offers hope for a better future.

In a few weeks, Hanukkah celebrates the escape from Syrian Greek dominance. The next holiday, Purim, marks the escape from destruction under Haman. After that, Passover marks the escape from slavery in Egypt. The Jewish story is one of tenacity and prevailing over challenge, a history exemplified by Houdini’s legacy as an escapist and a legendary ability to free himself from tight spots. Houdini’s work captured the Jewish values of persistence, resilience, and resourcefulness in addressing mortal challenges and achieving freedom. Houdini’s legacy is a legacy of hope.

Harry Houdini is buried in Machpelah Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens, New York.