who's harry Houdini?

Answer 1

Harry Houdini was one of the most famous magicians, illusionists, and the most famous escape artist in the world. He was born as Ehrich Weisz (American immigration officials changed Weisz to Weiss) in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874.
Through-out his career he escaped from items such as sunken packing crates, an enormous paper bag (without tearing the paper), padded cells, coffins, a roll-top desk, burglar-proof safes, a preserved giant squid, a giant football, an iron boiler, a diving suit, a U.S. mail pouch and a plate glass box. On January 7, 1906, He also escaped from the death cell in a Washington jail that had held Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield.
His most famous acts were the "Bridge Jump" by plunging into San Francisco Bay with a 75-pound ball and chain shackled to his ankles in addition to handcuffs on his wrists.
In St. Louis, MO, on January 27, 1908, he introduced his famous escape from a giant milk can filled with water and then padlocked. One of his copy-cat imitators drowned while attempting the same escape.
In Hamburg, Germany, he bought an airplane for $5,000. In 1910, he made the first plane flight at Digger's Rest in Australia. After that he never flew again.
Back in England, Houdini escaped from the mouth of a cannon before the fuse burned out. In 1912 in New York he escaped from a weighted packing case dropped overboard from a barge in the East River he repeated the stunt nightly in a huge tank in a New York theater. Back in England again in 1914,he built his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell, in which he was locked hanging upside down by his feet in water before his escape. Stories and even a movie showing Houdini dying in the Chinese Water Torture Cell are not true.
Houdini returned to New York and presented his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell Escape and Walking Through A Brick Wall Illusion for a brief run. During the daytime before the show in each new city, he would do a suspended strait jacket escape while dangling from a rope attached to high buildings above huge crowds – more free publicity.
In 1918, he presented Jenny the "Vanishing Elephant", the world's largest illusion on a giant stage at the Hippodrome in New York City. Once he nearly suffocated while escaping from a buried coffin in a "Living Burial" escape.
In 1919, Houdini played the hero in a series of movie thrillers. Later, he produced two films with himself as the star. That same year, he became president of Martinka & Co., a magic company. In 1925, after becoming very popular, Houdini again started out his full evening magic and illusion show. The show was an immediate hit.
Houdini introduced the "Needle Trick" of swallowing many needles and thread and then drawing the needles from his mouth -- all threaded.
In 1926, Houdini testified before a congressional committee investigating spiritualists, people pretending to be able to contact the dead. He was known as a debunker of fake mediums and spiritualists. His interest began during his bereavement after the death of his mother. Because of his background as an illusionist, he recognized the techniques of mediums who claimed to have contacted the spirit world. He became a crusader against these charlatans who bilked grieving families of their money. He frequently attended séances in disguise in order to expose the mediums. That year he lay underwater over 90 minutes in a sealed casket to beat the world record.
On October 22, 1926, while in his dressing room at the Princess Theater in Montreal with several students from McGill University, Houdini was asked if he could actually withstand a punch to the stomach thrown by any man. This is something he would routinely do, but before he could prepare himself by tightening his stomach muscles, a fellow named Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead hit Houdini three times. Though, he didn’t know it at the time, his appendix had burst. He did several shows at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit after that, but he soon became ill. Nine days later in room 401 of Detroit's old Grace Hospital, Houdini died from peritonitis, which is inflammation of the lining of the torso. He died at the age of 52, on October 31, -- Halloween.
For ten years after his death, Bess (his wife) held a yearly séance on Halloween in order to try and contact him in the after-life. -They had actually worked out a secret code before his death to see if he could indeed make contact when the time actually came. The code: Rosabelle--answer--tell--pray,--answer--look--tell--answer,answer--tell. Bess never heard from Houdini. To this day people still hold séances in an attempt to contact him.

Houdini was known as a master showman with a knack for publicity. He knew how to interest his audiences. He was extremely self-confident and had a flair for exaggeration – often making things bigger than life. He always kept himself in the spotlight. Although He has been dead for over 75 years, his name is still instantly recognized throughout the world.


Houdini lives!

Answer 2

No Way! They may be complex/dangerous but so were Harry Houdini's tricks at that time. Chris Angel has backup and emergency crews standing by. Harry Houdini had NOTHING but himself to depend on.

Answer 3

Harry Houdini is a very famous and old magician/ illusionist.he did a lot of tricks involving escaping from a straight jacket and/or handcuffs.

Answer 4

Houdini, (born Erich Weiss) is considered to be the greatest escape artist of all time. Even now, illusionists are trying to copy his escapes, and failing. He was known for escaping from milk jugs which had been locked and chained many times. He also was a wizard at escaping from handcuffs. He would dare anyone to handcuff him so that he could not escape. No one was ever able to, no matter how complicated the handcuffs. He would even be handcuffed with many pairs of handcuffs behind his back and escape easily. One time he went to Scotland Yard and was handcuffed to a pole with their most sophisticated pair of handcuffs. One of the officers laughed and said, "We'll be back for you after lunch!" Houdini stepped away from the pole, holding the handcuffs, and said, "I'll come with you!"

Answer 5

He used to have himself locked up in a box or underwater & then unlock himself. FYI: My grandfather was a locksmith in RI & did a lot of work for acts at the old RI Auditorium. He worked on Houdini's locks & always told us that the way Houdini got out was by hiding the key to his locks in a bar of soap & sticking it up his butt! Just a little factoid :)

Answer 6

He was an escape artist famous in the 1900s

Contary to myth he did not die while preforming one of his stunys he actually died in hospital caused by a burst appendix
He died on Halloween night - fitting for the worlds greatest magician

Answer 7

He was a famous magician in the 1920's. The greatest escape artist during that time period.

Answer 8

He was the greatest magician of the early 20th Century

Answer 9

A magician from the 1920's who died while performing one of his own acts.

Answer 10

a very famous magician.