Through impossibly daring feats Harry Houdini (1874-1926) captivated audiences worldwide, and his legendary escapes instill awe to this day…Born Ehrich Weiss, Houdini was known to observers as someone who could not only escape from straitjackets, water tanks, milk cans and handcuffs, but as an individual who threw off his background, making an immigrant’s getaway from Budapest to Appleton, Wisconsin to New York and the international stage. Here's a little from the exhibit's introduction: Kenneth Silverman, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and author of 'Houdini!!! The career of Ehrich Weiss.' He's professor emeritus of English at New York University.ĭavid Copperfield, world-renowned illusionist.

We look at the Harry Houdini story, with David Copperfield and more.īrooke Kamin Rapaport, guest curator of the 'Houdini: Art and Magic' exhibit at The Jewish Museum in New York. He was born in Budapest and raised in Wisconsin and New York. His big break was in Omaha. His fame was worldwide. And his death was on Halloween, in Detroit. His magic tricks are legend. His life is quite a story, too.

Harry Houdini was the greatest escape artist of his time, maybe any time. A century ago, Americans and Europeans flocked to see him shackled, chained, handcuffed, locked in a box, a jail, a water tank, hanging upside down in a straight jacket from a skyscraper, impossibly bound, nearly drowned, then, magically, free. See images of Harry Houdini, from The Jewish Museum in New York.

We look back at Harry Houdini and his magic. Twitter facebook Email This article is more than 12 years old.

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