Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionaly as Harry Houdini (/huːˈdiːni/ hoo-DEE-nee), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts.

[17] Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft.

[22] Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers.

These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags,[30] and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston.

Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926.

Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense.

[43] In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make.

Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship.

[54] After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was protected by copyright and in 1906, brought a case against John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators.

The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre.

[58][59] Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour.

Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours.

That same year Houdini got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, but the project never made it into production.

[69] While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes.

In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game.

He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5,000 (equivalent to $163,500 in 2023) from the Chilean aviators José Luis Sánchez-Besa [fr] and Emilio Eduardo Bello,[74][75][76] and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac.

On Friday, March 18, 1910, following more than a month of delays due to inclement weather conditions,[79][80] Houdini completed one of the first powered aeroplane flights ever made in Australia.

[93] Houdini's exposure of phony mediums inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz.

[94] In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition.

Several reporters tried to capture the charming effect, describing him as "happy-looking", "pleasant-faced", "good natured at all times", "the young Hungarian magician with the pleasant smile and easy confidence".

A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic.

He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes.

[107] It is unlikely that the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, since the effects of sustaining blunt trauma alongside appendicitis is debated in medical literature.

[107] According to Adam Begley, it is more likely that Houdini was suffering the effects of appendicitis prior to the punch, and his reluctance to seek medical care delayed potential treatment.

[113][114] After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity.

[116] The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide.

[119] The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite.

[121] Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City.

Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004.

In episode 4 of season 2 "Houdini Whodunit" (February 24, 2009) he is portrayed by Joe Dinicol, performing escapes with his brother Leopold and explaining the nature of illusion.