Harry Houdini: biography and photo of the king of illusions. How did the great illusionist Harry Houdini die? Secrets of a tragic death

04.04.2020

Harry Houdini can undoubtedly be called one of the greatest magicians of our time. Many of his tricks were so dangerous that they are not at risk of being repeated after almost a century. Harry himself has been hospitalized more than once after his performances. He died at 52 while on tour. Evil tongues claimed that Houdini was unlucky, and he drowned during the trick with the liberation from the shackles in the aquarium, but this is not so. The death of the great magician was ridiculous and tragic...

October 22, 1926 (according to other sources, a day or two earlier) Harry was on tour in Montreal. He had just played his new show, "Three-in-One: Magic, Liberation, and Impacted Illusion," which included the most spectacular, most difficult numbers. Harry was relaxing in the dressing room, lying on the couch. Opposite, two students from the Montreal Art School, Jack Price and Sam Smiley, were digging with their pencils, who, with Houdini's permission, drew a portrait of him.

At that moment, the dressing room door swung open. A rosy-cheeked, robust man appeared in the dressing room, introducing himself as Gordon Whitehead, a student at McGill University. He asked a question that Houdini, absorbed in himself, did not catch. Harry was not even surprised by the appearance of an uninvited guest, believing that he was a friend of young artists. And Whitehead asked, "Mr. Houdini, is it true that you can take any blow to the stomach?" They say you have an iron press... May I try it? Whitehead stepped towards the sofa. Houdini rose instinctively. And then ... a young man (as it turned out, an amateur boxer who wanted to master the same impenetrable press that Harry had) struck Houdini with three short blows. Houdini clutched his stomach and stifled a groan. At that moment, his appendix burst, which had been inflamed for several days. Houdini simply ignored the pain in his right lower abdomen. Half-asleep flew off Harry in the blink of an eye. "Wait," he croaked. - I have to concentrate. He dealt with the pain. Straightened up. And, looking into Whitehead's eyes, he said: "Now hit me." The student struck a few more blows and... shook his bruised fist. Harry's abs were steel...

Tours in Montreal are over. Harry gave a few more performances, collected props, and, with Bess, boarded a train to Detroit, where Houdini had his next gig at the Garrick Theater. For several days he was in terrible pain. But Houdini was used to enduring any pain. And he didn't show it. Worried Bess (wife - Approx. I.L. Vikentiev), however, noticed something was wrong. Houdini's temperature rose sharply. He arrived in Detroit, already blazing with a feverish fever. But he went on stage and began to play his role as a magician-wizard. During the performance of the release from the straitjacket, Harry fainted. Bess rushed to him in horror. But... Harry opened his eyes and, catching Bess's gaze, smiled at his wife. Immediately after the show ended, he was taken to the Detroit Grace Hospital. Temperature 40 degrees. A short medical examination. And a monstrous diagnosis - peritonitis. Houdini was rushed to room 401.

He died for several days. Managed to leave Bess a will. Managed to talk to her in the end. On the evening of October 30, 1926, on the eve of Halloween, Houdini fell into unconsciousness and never regained consciousness. The news shocked everyone, but Harry's colleagues reacted especially sharply. Shortly after his death, an extraordinary meeting of the Society of American Magicians was called. There was one issue on the agenda - the death of Houdini. And adults, worldly-wise people, accustomed to pain and dangers, turned into inveterate cynics by the very profession - illusionists cannot do otherwise - stood for an hour in the New York hall rented for the meeting and ... sobbed silently. Houdini is dead... God, what an injustice. And the American newspapers, which have always been in awe of Harry, adoring him for his directness, courage and bright talent, came out with mournful headlines. Houdini is dead... The great Houdini. Yes, it was in these November days of 1926 that “great”, “genius”, “wizard” sounded.

And it was already shameful and quite fair. A truly great wizard. After all, Harry has already become part of American history. And this means that you can already call him that ... Houdini's funeral was scheduled for November 4th. His body was enclosed in a bronze chest, which he prepared for the future number with the release from sand captivity, and sent to New York ...

Nadezhdin N.Ya., Harry Houdini: “Just a magician”, M., “Major”, 2010, pp.166-170.

(1874 - 1926)

The magician and illusionist, Harry Houdini, whose real name was Erich Weiss, was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, in a family of seven children. Houdini's father was a Jewish rabbi. While still a child, Erich Weiss moved with his family to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he later claimed to have been born. When he was 13, Erich moved with his father to New York, working all sorts of jobs and living in a boarding house. It was there that Harry Houdini began to take an interest in the art of the trapezoid.

In 1894, Erich Weiss began his career as a professional magician and took on the pseudonym Harry Houdini. The first part of the pseudonym comes from his childhood nickname “Harry”, and the second part is a tribute to the great French magician, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. Although his magic was not very successful, he quickly attracted attention with his releases from the handcuffs. In 1893, Houdini married Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who served as an assistant throughout Harry Houdini's life.

In 1899, Houdini's performances caught the attention of Martin Beck, an entertainment manager. Soon Harry Houdini went on a tour of Europe. In his show program, Harry attracted the local police, who tied him up, handcuffed him, locked him in prisons, etc. This show became a sensation, he soon became the highest paid performer in American vaudeville.

Harry Houdini continued to perform and perform his tricks in the United States well into the early 1900s, gradually improving his skills. Instead of handcuffs and straitjackets, Houdini used water-filled containers that were locked on all sides. In 1912, he performed his famous number, "Release from the Chinese water torture cage." This was the pinnacle of his career. In this issue, Houdini was tied by the legs and lowered upside down in a closed glass tank of water, requiring him to hold his breath for more than three minutes to get out. The performance was so popular and attracted such crowds of fans that it remained in his repertoire until his death in 1926. There were rumors that Harry died during this performance, but this is nothing more than fiction.

Houdini's wealth allowed him to pursue his other passions, such as aviation and cinema. Harry bought his first plane in 1909 and became the first person to fly over Australia in 1910. In the same year, Harry Houdini staged a number to release from a cannon a moment before the fuse went off. In addition, Houdini launched a film career by releasing his first feature film in 1901, a documentary about his escapes. He starred in several subsequent films, including “ The Master Mystery”, “The Grim Game" and " Terror Island". In New York, he founded his own production company, Houdini Picture Corporation, as well as a film studio called "The Film Development Corporation", which was unsuccessful. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co, the oldest company of magicians in America.

As president of the American Society of Magicians, Harry Houdini actively fought against falsification. In particular, he debunked the then-famous medium Mina Crandon, better known as Margery. Because of this, Houdini fell out with his friend, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who deeply believed in spiritualism and Margery's magical abilities.

There are different versions of the cause of Houdini's death, but in fact, Harry suffered from pain in appendicitis, however, the cause of this pain is still not known. Maybe competitors poisoned him, maybe something else ... It is known for sure that Harry Houdini died on October 31, 1926 at the age of 52, as a result of a ruptured appendicitis.

After Harry Houdini's death, his props were used by his brother Theodore Hardin, who ended up selling them to magician and collector Sidney Radner. Most of the collection was in the Houdini Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin (where, by the way, some of the secrets of Harry Houdini's tricks are revealed) until Radner auctioned it off in 2004. Most of the valuable items, including the famous water torture cage, were sold to magician and illusionist, David Copperfield.

Notorious for exposing charlatans and intricate escape and rescue tricks.

Biography

According to documents, the future magician was born in Budapest in a rabbinical family, although Houdini himself claimed that the American state of Wisconsin was his birthplace. His parents emigrated to the United States on July 3, 1878 when Erich was four years old. Initially, the family settled in the town of Appleton (Wisconsin), where his father Meer Samuel Weiss (1829-1892) received the post of rabbi of the Reform synagogue Zion Reform Jewish Congregation ( Reform Jewish Community of Zion). In the year Houdini and his father moved to New York, where they were soon joined by the mother of the artist Cecilia Steiner (1841-1913) and six of his brothers and sisters.

Harry has performed card tricks publicly in entertainment venues since the age of 10. In 1892, he adopted the pseudonym Houdini, after the French magician Robert-Houdin. Later, the name Harry was added to the surname in honor of Harry Kellar, although according to the testimony of relatives, already in childhood, friends called him Eri (Ehrie) or Harry (Harry). Initially toured the US with his brother. Houdini's early career was dominated by self-liberation from handcuffs and water tanks. For promotional purposes, he practiced spectacular stunts that could be witnessed by whole crowds of onlookers. So, once he was hung in a bag from the eaves of a skyscraper, but successfully freed himself. On another occasion, he walked through a brick wall in front of many spectators. In 1903, he was thrown from a bridge into the Thames handcuffed and shackled with a 30-kilogram ball, but a few minutes later he surfaced, waving handcuffs.

Harry Houdini before performing a self-liberation stunt, 1899

During a tour of Europe and Russia in 1900, Houdini astounded London with The Disappearance of the Living Elephant, which he reproduced at the New York Hippodrome in 1918. He toured Russia again in 1908, demonstrating self-liberation from death row in Butyr prison and the Peter and Paul Fortress. Here is how the authors of the book “From ancient magicians to modern day illusionists” describe this trick: “Locked in a prison cell, dressed in prison clothes, he came out two minutes later, opened the doors of neighboring cells and, for fun, switched prisoners. Then he entered the dressing room and fifteen minutes after being locked up, appeared in the guardroom, dressed in his suit.

Houdini with his mother Cecilia Steiner and wife Bess (Elizabeth) in 1907

1919 poster announcing a film starring Houdini

In the last decade of his career, Houdini published a number of books that revealed the secrets of his craft. He was seriously concerned that, under the influence of spiritualism popular in those years, many illusionists began to disguise their tricks with the appearance of communicating with otherworldly forces. Accompanied by a constable disguised as a civilian, Houdini began attending séances incognito in order to expose charlatans, and succeeded noticeably in this. The consequence was a break with an old comrade, Arthur Conan Doyle, who was a staunch spiritualist and revered Houdini as a very powerful medium.

The circumstances of Houdini's death are shrouded in mystery. While touring in Montreal, he was relaxing in his dressing room when three students entered, one of whom was a college boxing champion. He asked Mr. Houdini if he was really capable of taking several hard blows to the stomach without feeling anything. Houdini, lost in thought, nodded, and the student unexpectedly gave the magician two or three blows. Houdini barely stopped him: "Wait, I need to prepare," after which he strained his press - "Here, now you can beat." The student hit a couple of times and felt Houdini's iron abdominals. When the students left, Houdini only rubbed the place bruised from the first unexpected blows.

For several days, Houdini, as always, ignored the pain, but these blows provoked a rupture of the appendix, which resulted in peritonitis. In 1926, there were no antibiotics, and it was only possible to survive by a miracle, but Houdini again struck everyone: the fans rejoiced - here he is Houdini, the winner of death, who does not obey earthly laws. However, nine days later, on October 31, 1926, on the eve of Halloween, Harry Houdini died in Detroit. He left his wife a secret code, without which his "true" spirit could not contact the living during table-turning sessions. This was done so that charlatans would not set up sessions of communication with the spirit of Houdini - "thunderstorms of spiritualists."

Various episodes of Houdini's life have been filmed more than once. In 1999, based on his biography, a musical was staged, and in 2007 the film “Death Room” was released on the screens of the USA, in which the role of Houdini was played by the Australian Guy Pearce, and the role of his passion was Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Sources

A. A. Vadimov, M. A. Trivas. From the magicians of antiquity to the illusionists of our days. Moscow, 1979.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

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Already in 1878, the Weiss family safely immigrated to the United States. It was there that Eric began to introduce himself by the surrounding American name of Harry. And the future magician adopted his new name on the advice of his partner Jake Hyman, a big fan of the illusionist Robert Houdin. During his life, Houdini also used other pseudonyms: Eric the Great, King of Cards and Eric the Prince of the Air.

From early childhood, Houdini admired and carefully watched the work of conjurers and magicians, and he performed his first independent number at the age of 9. The boy hung upside down on a rope and pulled out pins from a small pillow with his eyelashes. One wrong move and he would lose an eye. Houdini received 35 cents for his number that evening. Then he performed on the trapeze, and somehow he performed the number "Savage". He was locked in a cage, where he, wearing a lion's skin, gnawed raw meat with his teeth.

Houdini was not capricious and worked hard in any role. But then he seriously took up the craft of a locksmith. What for? To comprehend all the wisdom of the device of any type of locks. It was these skills that allowed Houdini to become the most famous escape artist in the world (a circus performer who demonstrates the ability to free himself from chains, ropes, etc.). There is evidence that once Houdini managed to get out of the stomach of a whale.

It's no secret that even at an early stage in his career, Houdini became interested in all aspects of death, as it attracted the attention of the public. Harry bought one of the first electric execution chairs in the US, using it in his shows. And after the death of his beloved mother, Harry seriously took up spiritualism, although he himself often exposed spiritualists as scammers and swindlers who earn money on the feelings and grief of people.

Houdini did not get tired of revealing the cheap tricks of the spiritualists, proving to the public their commercialism and deceit. Although we note that the creator of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle - firmly believed that Houdini himself could maintain a live connection with the world of the dead and communicate with their souls.

Once Houdini met the beautiful Mademoiselle Bess Razner. The novel lasted only two weeks. Then there was a modest wedding, and the couple was never apart for more than a day. Interestingly, all their lives the couple addressed each other only as "Mrs. Houdini" and "Mr. Houdini." At the same time, it is worth recognizing that their feelings were sincere and deep. Harry was writing letters to his Bess when she was in the next room. Bess became the permanent assistant to the maestro on stage. The couple often argued, then Houdini left the house and walked down the street. Upon returning, he threw his hat into Bess's room, if the hat flew back into the hallway, this meant that Bess was still angry. After Houdini's death, Bess fell into a deep depression and visited spiritualists weekly, hoping to get word from Harry.

Unfortunately, this loving and devoted couple never had children. There are many different rumors about this. Most likely, the reason lies in Harry's brother Leopold Weiss, who was considered one of the first and foremost radiologists in New York. The fact is that Harry often and voluntarily acted as a guinea pig in Leopold's experiments. Apparently, these experiments made the maestro fruitless. However, the couple's desire to have their own children was so great that the couple came up with an imaginary son, who was named Meer Samuel. According to the Houdinis, he was supposed to become the future president of the United States.

In 1909, Harry Houdini became seriously interested in aviation. He studied flying in Germany and, having received a pilot's certificate, he himself began to teach piloting to German cadets. When the First World War began, Houdini bitterly regretted that he taught enemy pilots to fly. By the way, he became one of the first pilots who single-handedly crossed all of Australia in an airplane.

Now back to the American claim that Harry Houdini was born in the USA. This "duck" was once noticed by Houdini himself. He really loved the States and was a passionate patriot of his new homeland. In his biography, he indicated the city of Appleton (Wisconsin) as his place of birth. In 1917, Houdini applied for enrollment in a detachment of volunteers for the war in Europe.

Fortunately, he was not taken due to his age. Then he went to Europe at his own expense, where he performed for free in front of American soldiers. His signature number on that tour was "Money from Nowhere". Harry caught dollars in the air and handed them out to the warriors. After it turned out that Houdini gave the American soldiers 7 thousand dollars from his own pocket, deciding to sweeten the life of the military at least in this way. But this is not leavened patriotism, but sincere.

At the same time, Houdini was an extremely demanding boss to his assistants and long-legged assistants. One of the duties of the assistants was to lull extremely curious spectators with chloroform, who managed to penetrate backstage and find out the secrets of Houdini's tricks. For fidelity and reliability, Houdini forced his employees to write an oath of loyalty and concealment of the secrets of all the tricks of the maestro.

Some Houdini numbers were extremely dangerous for his life. Therefore, he had to keep himself in amazing physical shape and complete spiritual balance. Houdini's house had a special deep bath where Harry practiced holding his breath. In addition, the maestro took a vat in which he trained on all his voyages. Houdini held his breath underwater for three minutes even at 45!

In every free moment, Houdini repeated and perfected tricks with playing cards and untied at least a hundred rope knots with his toes every day. Everyone who personally knew Harry Houdini agreed that he was the clearest example of a perfectionist (a person striving for perfection in everything). Even in his youth, he learned to use his left hand and foot no worse than his right. And this can only be achieved through tireless work and training.

Contemporaries considered Harry Houdini a superman, although in those days this word (superman) was used extremely rarely and cautiously. But all the new tricks and unprecedented numbers of the magician and sorcerer did not allow him to be treated differently. No one could believe that Mr. Houdini would ever die. But on Halloween night 1926 (October 31), Harry Houdini passed away. It was impossible to come up with a more mysterious date of death.

Mr. Houdini died of peritonitis, which was the result of an acute attack of appendicitis. More than two thousand people, about two hundred circus performers and magicians, came to the funeral of the world's best magician and magician. Over Houdini's grave, they broke a symbolic magic wand, which then became a tradition at the funeral of magicians and circus performers.

Houdini was buried next to his parents. Letters from his mother were placed under the pillow in the coffin of the maestro. Harry bequeathed almost all of his belongings and property to his brother Theo, but demanded that after the death of his brother, all the paraphernalia of his circus activities be destroyed. Houdini left five thousand valuable and rare books for the US Public Library of Congress.

For more than 80 years, mediums in America have summoned the spirit of this greatest illusionist of all time to learn his secrets, but so far without success. Magician Harry Houdini, who became a legend during his lifetime, does not get in touch and fools his fans, who sincerely believe that the king of magicians had supernatural powers.

The magician's fame was so loud that the Americans even coined the word "houdinise", which means a person's ability to get out of the most difficult situations. The illusionist shone on stage for several decades, striking the imagination of admiring spectators, and it seemed to many that he could do anything. And the death of the famous genius, who became part of American history, shocked the world.

young talent

In 1874, Erich Weiss was born in Budapest - this is the real name of Harry Houdini, who began to amaze the public from early childhood. A devout Jewish family emigrated to America four years later, where the boy's father received the post of rabbi.

A traveling circus often visits the provincial town of Appleton, which becomes an important event for all its inhabitants. Little Erich, who was in a real delight from the tricks he saw, is trying to repeat them at home. When something begins to work out for him, he shows his talent to an authoritative circus performer, who encouraged the child and expressed a wish to further develop remarkable abilities. Words of support determined the further path of Weiss, who moved to New York.

Obsessed with tricks

The metropolis opened up many prospects for him, but the young man, carried away by tricks, preferred to do what he loves most in life. For hours he repeats various tricks with ribbons and cards and comes up with new ones. In addition to natural intelligence, he is distinguished by patience and perseverance. The young magician, obsessed with the desire to become famous, understands that fame can only be achieved by perseverance, and improves his skills by working every day to exhaustion.

At the Sunday fairs, the much-talked-about future magician Harry Houdini performs to astonished visitors, and his tricks elicit a flurry of applause. To understand how complex locks work, Weiss even gets a job as an apprentice in a locksmith shop, where he makes a universal master key that unlocks all devices. The young man pays attention to good physical shape, develops joint flexibility, and holds his breath for a long time.

Dreams of glory and fame

At the age of 16, Erich falls into the hands of a book about Robert Houdin, a magician and writer, and a novel about the life of an illusionist so captivates him that the young man decides to take a creative pseudonym in honor of the French magician. A talented young man, upset by his small earnings, is looking for different ways to tell the public about himself. For advertising purposes, he participates in spectacular tricks that hundreds of onlookers watch: he passes through a brick wall, frees himself from the shackles in a barrel filled with water, opens powerful safes. He understands that the audience needs a sensation, not an exposure of amazing tricks.

Goal achieved!

One fine morning, the headlines of local newspapers explode with reports that a certain Harry Houdini, handcuffed and locked in a prison cell, demonstrated a unique trick - in a few minutes he freed himself and left the punishment cell under the photographers' flashes. The goal was achieved, and viewers of large cities will learn about the illusionist, for whom there were no barriers.

At this time, the young man, already married, goes on tour so that his name rattles in run-down provincial towns. I must say that the Europeans were not at all spoiled by the attention of magicians, and Houdini instantly becomes popular. The illusions of a star always cause a stir among the public, and his number, when the elephant covered with velvet disappears as soon as the fabric is torn off, breaks all records of visits to the circus.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the illusionist visited Russia twice, and in the famous Butyrka prison he demonstrated his favorite trick with the release from a closed cell.

Folk love

Harry Houdini, who has achieved world popularity, does not stop there, but improves his numbers. In the presence of hundreds of onlookers, they shackle him, tie a cast-iron ball to his feet and throw him into the icy waters of the Thames, and just a few minutes later, the magician, freed from the fetters, emerges, to the delight of enthusiastic townsfolk. The illusionist constantly complicates this trick: he is handcuffed, placed in a heavy box and the lid is nailed shut. However, the clever Houdini successfully extricates himself from all situations, and people's love only grows.

There is a known case that could have ended tragically, and only because the illusionist was able to hold his breath for a long time, everything worked out. Wrapped in chains, Harry, carried by the current from the hole, spent eight minutes under the ice until help arrived in time for him. This terrible case convinces admiring viewers that the illusionist has truly inhuman abilities. And in society, rumors begin to circulate about the diabolical origin of Harry Houdini.

Man or Devil?

Many believe in the supernatural powers of a wizard who worked real miracles on stage. Some consider his unique numbers to be a clever hoax, while others are sure that in this way a person demonstrates his inexhaustible possibilities. Of course, there was no number of guesses, and the king of illusions himself denied the connection of his tricks with magic. The magician even went to seances, where he exposed the charlatans profiting from the mountain of people.

In the last decades of his life, he publishes books, where he reveals the secrets of craftsmanship. The author of works that have become bestsellers is concerned that many of his colleagues cover up tricks with mysticism and claim to communicate with otherworldly forces. At this time, Houdini had a conflict with an old friend A. Conan Doyle, who believed in the afterlife and revered his friend as a strong medium.

Secrets of a tragic death

With age, dangerous tricks are given to the illusionist more and more difficult. His health fails, and even after successful experiments on his body, he often ends up in the hospital. About how Harry Houdini died, his fans argue to this day. On tour in Montreal, a student approached the magician backstage, who turned out to be a boxing master. He wanted to make sure that the magician was not in physical pain, and unexpectedly stabbed the illusionist in the stomach, who had not had time to tighten the abdominal muscles.

For several days, the magician was worried about severe pain, but he did not pay much attention to it. The artist had a high temperature, and during the performance he fainted. After doctors examined him, it was determined that Houdini had developed peritonitis, and on October 31, 1926, Harry died.

There is another version that says that the illusionist was poisoned. These rumors appeared after his death, and since the body was not opened, they were not refuted or confirmed.

His loyal fans do not believe in the official reason for the death of their idol and say that the magician learned too much, and he paid for it. The evil spirit, which celebrates the victory of evil over good on the last day of October, took away the one who had been playing with death all his life.

Great deceiver

His death produces the effect of an exploding bomb. Colleagues of the illusionist, who were in the society of American magicians, weep from injustice, and newspapers, full of mourning headlines, vied with each other to print the artist's testament, where he supposedly promises to reveal all the secrets on the day of his centenary. The public is looking forward to sensational revelations, the excitement is growing, and when this moment comes, the envelope left by Houdini is opened in the notary's office, which turns out to be empty. The great illusionist deceived everyone, even after his death he continued to fool the audience.

Magic and hard work

Experienced experts in the field of magic tricks have been trying for many years to figure out what is the main secret of the magician who took his secrets to the grave. Illusionist Harry Houdini knew all the existing designs of locks, besides, he invented a miniature master key, which he hid from prying eyes. He perfectly controlled his body, knew how to compress or increase the volume of muscles, displaced bones in the joints. And behind the seemingly easy tricks, there was skill and tedious training. For uninitiated viewers, the magician's unique numbers really bordered on magic.

Victory over fear

Harry Houdini himself, whose tricks confused the public, admitted that the main thing in his profession is to conquer fear. The illusionist is obliged to remain calm and restrained, and to succumb to panic means certain death. The author of deadly stunts himself was repeatedly on the verge of death, and escaped only because he kept his sober mind and did not lose his presence of mind.

Secrets Revealed

Twelve years ago, in Appleton, an exhibition was held where visitors could learn the secrets of the famous Harry Houdini tricks, whose photos were posted everywhere. Illusionists around the world, who protested against the disclosure of secrets to the audience, called it a violation of "magic protocol". The event caused a huge resonance, but it has long been known that only a year after the death of the king of illusions, his team began to sell the secrets of their master. For example, release from a straitjacket was due to the fact that Harry folded his arms in a special way, not allowing him to tighten his sleeves tightly.

The secret of passing the magician through the brick wall erected by the workers in front of admiring spectators turned out to be simple. Under the carpet on which the builders worked, there was a small hole, and when the assistants covered Houdini with a screen for a few seconds, he jumped down and found himself on the other side of the wall.

And the secret of the disappearance of the elephant was in an unusual box in which the animal was located. In front of the cage was hidden a roll of the same fabric as the stage curtain. The magician instantly lowered the canvas, which masked the elephant, and the audience thought that he literally disappeared before their eyes.

Film adaptation of a magician's life

The life of a popular illusionist inspired the creators of a mini-series in which E. Brody, an Oscar winner, played the great magician Harry Houdini. The film, released in 2014, was liked by the public, who noted the excellent cast and excellent direction. A captivating story tells about the long journey to fame of one of the most mystical characters of past eras. The series, in which Brody perfectly conveyed the image of a man obsessed with illusions, revealed the secrets of the magician himself, who tried to cheat death.

I must say that this is not the first appeal of filmmakers to the legend of a global scale. In 1998, the work of director P. Densham "Houdini" appeared, the plot of which is based on the biography of the famous Harry Houdini. The film with an unusual ending, where the magician seems to be reborn from the dead, became the second work of Pen, who shot a documentary about his beloved illusionist 20 years ago. In a beautiful dramatic picture, worthy of the attention of the viewer, well-known and not-so-famous events from the life of the artist are considered, and it also tells about the relationship between Harry and his wife.

Harry Houdini Award

In 2015, an award with a prize fund of one million rubles was established in Russia, which no one has yet received. The award, named after the greatest magician, will go to those who show their paranormal abilities, amenable to experimental verification.

The first person to successfully pass the test will not only prove to the whole world that psychics exist, but will also receive a good monetary reward. Unfortunately, within the framework of a correctly staged experiment, the abilities of magicians and sorcerers to show real miracles suddenly disappear, and while the Russian award, which is the prototype of the American D. Randi Foundation, is waiting for its heroes.

Harry Houdini is a great hoaxer who left behind many unsolved secrets. He repeatedly defied death and became the winner. And until now, his fans believe that the spirit of the legendary illusionist will someday materialize.