Legend has it that Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926 after an overeager fan punched him in the gut and caused his appendix to rupture — but the two events may not have been linked.
Harry Houdini withstand the impossible throughout a mystifying career that still makes him a house name today . From swallowing needles a mark at a time to pulling himself out of a whale carcase , to his illustrious “ Chinese Water Torture Cell ” escapes , Houdini dazzled millions with his stunt .
It seemed that death could never exact the illustrious magician , but Harry Houdini ’s decease did come on Halloween of 1926 — leave behind mystery and speculation that has fascinated the great unwashed ever since .
Harry Houdini’s Death-Defying Career
Harry Houdini was born on March 24 , 1874 , as Erik Weisz in Budapest , Hungary , and immigrated to the United States in 1878 . Weisz started his career with stunt early , perform trapeze at age nine before beginning a Vaudeville career in conjuring trick in 1891 .
He changed his name to Harry Houdini in honor of the famous Gallic magician , Jean Eugène Robert - Houdin .
Houdini became get it on as the “ manacle king ” and wonder audiences worldwide with the ability to escape from almost anything . His most famous escape was the “ Chinese Water Torture Cell ” in which an upside - down , suspend Houdini is get down into then interlace into a tank of water .
Wikimedia CommonsHarry Houdini performing the “Chinese Water Torture Cell” escape.
Wikimedia CommonsHarry Houdini perform the “ Chinese Water Torture Cell ” escape cock .
He was allowed two minutes to hightail it , which he invariably did to the delectation of audiences . Houdini ’s theatrics and charismatic persona seemed to be made for the burgeon revolution of medium in the former twentieth C . He quick rocketed to tiptop - stardom .
Unexpected Body Blows
In 1926 at age 52 , Harry Houdini was at the top of his game .
He toured the commonwealth in the early part of the class , performing escapes and enjoying his decennium - old fame . But when he toured again that autumn , everything seemed to go ill-timed .
On October 11 , Houdini break his ankle joint while perform Water Torture Cell escape fast one in Albany , New York . He managed to push through the next several appearances against doctor ’s orders and then journey to Montreal . There he made appearance at the Princess Theater and held a speech at McGill University .
Wikimedia CommonsHarry Houdini prepares to escape from handcuffs — and a box thrown overboard a ship — in 1912.
Wikimedia CommonsHarry Houdini prepares to escape from handcuffs — and a box thrown overboard a ship — in 1912 .
After the lecture , he schmoozed with students and faculty , among them Samuel J. “ Smiley ” Smilovitch , who made a sketch of the famous magician . Houdini was so impressed with the drawing that he invited Smilovitch to come to the Princess Theater on Friday , October 22 to do a right portrayal .
On the appoint day at 11 ante meridiem , Smilovitch came to inspect Harry Houdini with a friend , Jack Price . They were later joined by a newbie student identify Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead .
Library of CongressOne of Harry Houdini’s tricks was escaping from a milk can.
While Smilovitch sketched Houdini , Whitehead shoot the breeze with the thaumaturge . After some talk about Houdini ’s forcible forcefulness , Whitehead asked if it was true that he could withstand even the mighty punch to the stomach . Jack Price then come back the followers as was tape in Ruth Brandon ’s book , The Life and Many death of Harry Houdini :
“ Houdini mention rather unenthusiastically that his venter could hold out much … .Thereupon he [ Whitehead ] hold Houdini some very hammer - like blow below the belt , first secure Houdini ’s permit to scratch him . Houdini was reclining at the fourth dimension with his right side nearest Whitehead , and the said scholar was more or less bending over him . ”
Whitehead struck at least four time until Houdini gestured him to terminate in mid - punch . Price recall that Houdini , “ count as though he was in extreme pain and winced as each blow was chance upon . ”
Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesHarry Houdini c. 1925, a year before he died.
Erik Weisz said that he did n’t think Whitehead would strike so dead , otherwise he would have been considerably prepared .
By even , Houdini was suffering tremendous pain in his abdomen .
Library of CongressOne of Harry Houdini ’s tricks was run away from a milk can .
Wikimedia CommonsHarry Houdini’s grave in New York.
The Last Performance
The next evening , Houdini leave Montreal on an all-night railroad train to Detroit , Michigan . He telegraphed ahead for a doctor to examine him .
The doctor diagnosed Houdini with acute appendicitis and state he should go immediately the hospital . But the Garrick Theater in Detroit had already betray $ 15,000 worth of tickets for that eventide ’s show . Houdini reportedly order , “ I ’ll do this show if it ’s my last . ”
Houdini carry on with the show at the Garrick on October 24 , despite having a temperature of 104 ° degree Fahrenheit . Between the first and second acts , ice packs were used to cool him down .
Library of CongressA Houdini show poster emphasizing his debunking efforts against spiritual mediums.
allot to some reports , hepassed outduring the performance . By the beginning of the third act , he promise off the show . Houdini still refused to go to the hospital until his wife force him .
A hotel physician was called , followed by his personal medico , who convince him to go to Grace Hospital at 3 a.m.
Pictorial Parade / Archive Photos / Getty ImagesHarry Houdini c. 1925 , a year before he pass away .
Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG/Getty ImagesHarry Houdini demonstrates how, during a séance, mediums can ring bells using their toes.
Harry Houdini’s Death
operating surgeon removed Harry Houdini ’s appendix on the afternoon of October 25 , but because he had delayed discourse for so long , his appendix had tear and the lining of his stomach was inflamed with peritoneal inflammation .
Infection spread throughout his consistence . Today , such a sickness only requires a round of antibiotic . But this was 1926 ; antibiotic would n’t be discovered for another three years . Houdini ’s bowels became paralyzed and surgical process was require .
Erik Weisz experience two operations , and he was injected with an experimental anti - strep serum .
Bettmann/Getty ImagesIn her tenth and last experiment to contact her late husband, Bess Houdini conducted a séance in Los Angeles. Here, she is with Dr. Edward Saint, who is holding a pair of handcuffs. The late Houdini was the only one who knew the combination to unlock them.
He seemed to recover somewhat , but he apace relapsed , overcome by sepsis . At 1:26 p.m. on Halloween , Harry Houdini died in his married woman Bess ’s arms . His last words were purportedly , “ I ’m bring forth hackneyed and I ca n’t fight any more . ”
Houdini was inhume at Machpelah Cemetery , a Judaic burial site in Queens , with 2,000 lamenter wishing him well .
Wikimedia CommonsHarry Houdini ’s tomb in New York .
NY Daily News Archive/Getty ImagesHarry Houdini’s casket is carried to a hearse while thousands of fans look on in New York City. Nov. 4, 1926.
Harry Houdini And Spiritualism
surround Harry Houdini ’s death was a angry subplot postulate spirits , séances , and a touch named Walter . And for any of that to make sense , we need to encircle back to Harry Houdini ’s life and another one of his preferent passions : debunking Spiritualism .
More than a performing artist , Houdini was an engine driver to the off-white .
Houdini performed prank onstage , but he never play them off as “ magic ” — they were simply deception . He made his own equipment to suit the specific needs of his tricks , and perform them with the necessary pizazz and strong-arm posture to wow an audience . They were feats of engineering masquerade as entertainment .
And that ’s why he had a pearl to pick with Spiritualism .
The religion , which was based on the belief that it ’s possible to put across with the dead , progress to its peak popularity in the 1920s . World War I had just killed 16 million people across the globe , and the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 had wiped out 50 million more . The world was shock by destruction , and a spiritual move that purported to keep the dead somewhat alive was attractive , to say the least .
Library of CongressA Houdini show poster underline his debunk exploit against ghostly mediums .
But with the movement total an inflow of “ mediums , ” people who became celebrities for their supposed power to transmit with the at peace . They employed all form of joke to dupe people into think they had supernatural power , and Houdini could n’t stand it .
And so , in his several decades on Earth , he made it his commission to expose the masses movement for what it was : a sham .
In one of his most famous anti - Spiritualism lark , Houdini wait on two séances with Boston medium Mina Crandon , known to her follower as “ Margery , ” who claimed to be able-bodied to conjure the voice of her deadened brother , Walter .
Crandon was up for a $ 2,500 prize if she could bear witness her powers to a six - person committee of respected scientist from Harvard , MIT , and elsewhere . Intent on observe her from gain the award money , Houdini serve Crandon ’s séances in the summer of 1924 , and was able-bodied to deduce how she performed her tricks — a mix of distraction and gadget , it turns out .
He recorded his findings in apamphlet , terminated with drawings of how he believed her tricks mould , and even execute them for his own audience to much laughter .
Crandon ’s supporters would have none of it , and in August 1926 , Walter proclaimed that “ Houdini will be go by Halloween . ”
Which , as we roll in the hay , he was .
Library of Congress / Corbis / VCG / Getty ImagesHarry Houdini demonstrates how , during a séance , mediums can ring Melville Bell using their toes .
Harry Houdini’s Death: A Spiritualist Plot?
To spiritualists , the concurrence of Walter ’s prediction and Harry Houdini ’s decease proved their religious belief . To others , it fueled a conspiracy possibility that sensitive were to blame for the seer ’s dying — that Houdini had in reality been poison , and that Whitehead was in on it . But there ’s no grounds for this .
Ironically , though he was an anti - spiritualist , Harry Houdini ’s death became fuel for sensitive fresh fish .
He and his married woman , Bess , had made a pact that whichever one of them died first would attempt to convey with the other from the great beyond , to prove once and for all whether Spiritualism was real .
And so Bess held a séance on the next nine Halloween Nox , trying to conjure up the spirit of her husband . In 1936 , 10 years after Harry Houdini ’s , Bess held a much - anticipated “ Final Séance ” in the Hollywood hills . Her husband never showed .
“ Houdini did not descend through , ” shedeclared :
“ My last hope is go . I do not conceive that Houdini can come back to me , or to anyone . After reliably following through the Houdini ten year compact car , after using every eccentric of medium and seance , it is now my personal and positive belief that spirit communicating in any sort is impossible . I do not think that ghosts or disembodied spirit exist . The Houdini shrine has sunburn for ten years . I now reverentially turn out the brightness . It is fetch up . Good night , Harry . ”
Bess may have abandoned her pursuit to communicate with Harry Houdini after he died , but the public has n’t : Every Halloween , you ’re adhere to find a group of ouija table fancier try out to stir the tone of the long - lost illusionist .
Bettmann / Getty ImagesIn her tenth and last experiment to touch her late married man , Bess Houdini conducted a séance in Los Angeles . Here , she is with Dr. Edward Saint , who is holding a brace of manacle . The late Houdini was the only one who know the combination to unlock them .
“ They usually form a circle , hold hands and say they are friends of Houdini’s,”said one amateur magicianwho attend a séance in 1940s New York City . “ They inquire for some polarity that he can take heed them . Then they waitress five minutes or half an 60 minutes and nothing happens . ”
How Did Harry Houdini Really Die?
The interrogative is whether there was a causal link between Whitehead ’s blows and Harry Houdini ’s ruptured Hammond organ .
NY Daily News Archive / Getty ImagesHarry Houdini ’s casket is run to a hearse while thou of fans look on in New York City . Nov. 4 , 1926 .
In 1926 , fellate to the abdomen were thought to make a ruptured appendix . Today , however , the medical biotic community considers such a linkvery much up for argumentation . It ’s potential that the punches led to Houdini ’s appendicitis , but it ’s also possible that the two events just so happened to cooccur .
The weight of grounds suggests a terrene crusade of death for the nonplus magician — but Harry Houdini certainly knew how to make the mundane striking .
After learning how Harry Houdini die , read about theseven unusual celebrity deaths of the 1920s . Then , these five wizard tricks proved venomous .
