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Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss : American Self-Liberator, Europe's Eclipsing Sensation, World's Handcuff King & Prison Breaker
Until now there has not been an adequate biography of Houdini. Kenneth Silverman, author of prizewinning biographies of Cotton Mather and Edgar A. Poe, has drawn on fresh information to produce a fascinating and rich account of Houdini's life.
Silverman tells the story of Houdini's origins as Ehrich Weiss, one of four sons of Rabbi Mayer Weiss, an emigre from Hungary to America; his theatrical debut in dime museums and burlesque shows during the 1890s; and his rapid rise to stardom that culminated in twenty-five years of worldwide fame. Silverman also describes Houdini's tangled family life, his war against Spiritualism, and his encounters with such celebrities as Sarah Bernhardt, Jack London, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Most of all, he re-creates the illusions and escapes that Houdini performed throughout Europe, the United States, Russia, and Australia - amazements that made Houdini the highest-paid variety artist of his time.
Drawing on scrapbooks and diaries that no other biographer has used, as well as stenographic transcripts, court records, and hundreds of unpublished notes and letter, Silverman treats in depth many unfamiliar facets of Houdini's career - Houdini as aviator, fight fan, inventor, author, filmmaker, book collector, and fraud-buster. He reveals for the first time Houdini's affair with the widow of a famous American writer and offers new information about his early circus days, his run-ins with anti-Semitism, his struggle to educate himself, his stormy rivalries with other magicians, and his sudden death at the age of fifty-two.
Enhanced by more than one hundred photographs of Houdini and his escapes, many never before or rarely published, Houdini!!! is a penetrating study of a legendary performer.
Silverman tells the story of Houdini's origins as Ehrich Weiss, one of four sons of Rabbi Mayer Weiss, an emigre from Hungary to America; his theatrical debut in dime museums and burlesque shows during the 1890s; and his rapid rise to stardom that culminated in twenty-five years of worldwide fame. Silverman also describes Houdini's tangled family life, his war against Spiritualism, and his encounters with such celebrities as Sarah Bernhardt, Jack London, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Most of all, he re-creates the illusions and escapes that Houdini performed throughout Europe, the United States, Russia, and Australia - amazements that made Houdini the highest-paid variety artist of his time.
Drawing on scrapbooks and diaries that no other biographer has used, as well as stenographic transcripts, court records, and hundreds of unpublished notes and letter, Silverman treats in depth many unfamiliar facets of Houdini's career - Houdini as aviator, fight fan, inventor, author, filmmaker, book collector, and fraud-buster. He reveals for the first time Houdini's affair with the widow of a famous American writer and offers new information about his early circus days, his run-ins with anti-Semitism, his struggle to educate himself, his stormy rivalries with other magicians, and his sudden death at the age of fifty-two.
Enhanced by more than one hundred photographs of Houdini and his escapes, many never before or rarely published, Houdini!!! is a penetrating study of a legendary performer.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 15, 2024
Don't read many biographies. But I've always had a fascination with conjuring and the showmanship that's critical to support it. And this biography shows why Houdini was so famed because of his genuine but hard learnt skills. And what a fascinating and complicated guy he was. But likeable too.
2024:
A rare reread for me, and about the only biography I had an urge to reread - Harry Houdini, or Ehrich Weiss.
A heavily researched biography by a leading professional magician. It doesn’t only look at how he did his tricks and stunts, though much of that features, but is a more rounded story of his personal life and relationships. Nonetheless, his unrivalled showmanship, his natural intelligence and larger than life personality shine out of it, all critical to his professional life.
It was a hard won success, years learning his trade in ‘dime museums’ and circuses. A sleight of hand conjuror originally but somehow making more of an impact as an escapologist, seemingly escaping from anything that might confine him, handcuffs, chains, padlocks and/or gaols, etc.
As his name grew he still had to make his own publicity for his paying theatre acts. The only ‘mass media’ for his theatre tours at the turn of the 20th century were the local newspapers plus word of mouth. So he usually did publicity stunts on arrival in a new town or city.
For example, he might visit the local sheriff or police department and challenge them to let him escape from the gaol. With the press and a large crowd present he did that easily while hidden from them. So easily that he had to quickly evolve to doing this stunt naked, to show that he had no tools on his person, although after his death narrow tubes large enough to contain lock picking equipment were found in his belongings. You may guess where that could have been hidden! Sometimes the trick was embellished when he swapped places with prison inmates held in other nearby cells, all cells locked securely before and after. Strangely, this stunt was rarely done during his British tours as British police regarded it as an insult to their security measures.
Another example: he might have his assistants lower him into a local river or lake, chained up in a locked box. Houdini had trained himself to hold his breath for around three and a half minutes, with his wife holding the stop watch, including under cold water. He usually escaped from the box underwater in seconds (!) but used that training to build up the tension by hiding under the box in the water while his assistants got the crowd into an hysterical condition emphasising how he’d never been trapped in the box for that long before. And then Houdini would dramatically emerge breathless having seemingly just cheated death…
Just a couple of examples of how Houdini understood the showbiz side of conjuring to make his fame. Many more are given in the book.
He became the first international stage star in the era before films and TV, even radio for much of his career, and toured widely in Europe. Popular in pre-WW1 Germany, he sued a policeman there who’d accused him of bribery to support his escapes - the judge ruled in Houdini’s favour after he broke into the judge’s safe (Houdini later said he hadn’t locked it properly).
He was the first to fly a powered aircraft in Australia, in 1910. He dabbled in silent movies and apparently wrote some pulp fiction thrillers (they were ghost written on his behalf, one by HP Lovecraft, who didn’t enjoy the experience).
He mixed with the other famous celebrities of the era, notably a friendship after WW1 with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Despite being the author of the most logical fictional detective famed for his deduction Doyle was somewhat gullible in real life. A prominent member of the Society of Psychical Research which to its credit tried to do some scientific studies of psychics. However, Doyle was easily taken in, such as by some young girls who photographed themselves with paper fairies (the Cottingley Fairies). He and his wife were keen on Spiritualism, a notable fashion of the day, especially after the sad loss of a son in WW1. Houdini had long recognised the tricks used by mediums in seances and regarded their exploitation of those who’d lost loved ones as shameful. Eventually such differences led to the rupturing of their friendship. Houdini devoted a significant part of his later life to exposing mediums, usually wearing disguises so he wouldn’t be recognised at a seance.
I’m not quite sure why his personality appeals so much to me but he lived a very full life over his 52 years. I’ve had a vague interest in conjuring, the sleight of hand aspects, and how people are made to believe that something impossible has happened in front of their eyes. Except when they think about it, it can’t have. But then, “what have I just seen, have I been tricked? Impossible!”. I particularly enjoy the performers who say, straight out, I’m conning you but I defy you to see how I’m doing it.
My interest started in my youth when I saw the then new Uri Geller perform tricks on British television but with the angle that he really had magical skills (to bend spoons!), which took in some otherwise intelligent individuals. Then I saw this countered by professional magicians doing the same tricks, and better, but who honestly said “it’s a deception”.
In essence what good conjurors do is create a story, a fiction, in your mind that you know deep down isn’t correct, but maybe you want to believe, and which provides a nice sense of mystery in contrast to our everyday experiences. Houdini was one of the best at that, to the extent we still use his name 100 years on to describe an impossible escape.
Very well researched, easy absorbing read, good fun, and makes you smile with the anecdotes. Recommended if still available in your region (mainly second hand it seems, for sensible prices). Full 5*.
2024:
A rare reread for me, and about the only biography I had an urge to reread - Harry Houdini, or Ehrich Weiss.
A heavily researched biography by a leading professional magician. It doesn’t only look at how he did his tricks and stunts, though much of that features, but is a more rounded story of his personal life and relationships. Nonetheless, his unrivalled showmanship, his natural intelligence and larger than life personality shine out of it, all critical to his professional life.
It was a hard won success, years learning his trade in ‘dime museums’ and circuses. A sleight of hand conjuror originally but somehow making more of an impact as an escapologist, seemingly escaping from anything that might confine him, handcuffs, chains, padlocks and/or gaols, etc.
As his name grew he still had to make his own publicity for his paying theatre acts. The only ‘mass media’ for his theatre tours at the turn of the 20th century were the local newspapers plus word of mouth. So he usually did publicity stunts on arrival in a new town or city.
For example, he might visit the local sheriff or police department and challenge them to let him escape from the gaol. With the press and a large crowd present he did that easily while hidden from them. So easily that he had to quickly evolve to doing this stunt naked, to show that he had no tools on his person, although after his death narrow tubes large enough to contain lock picking equipment were found in his belongings. You may guess where that could have been hidden! Sometimes the trick was embellished when he swapped places with prison inmates held in other nearby cells, all cells locked securely before and after. Strangely, this stunt was rarely done during his British tours as British police regarded it as an insult to their security measures.
Another example: he might have his assistants lower him into a local river or lake, chained up in a locked box. Houdini had trained himself to hold his breath for around three and a half minutes, with his wife holding the stop watch, including under cold water. He usually escaped from the box underwater in seconds (!) but used that training to build up the tension by hiding under the box in the water while his assistants got the crowd into an hysterical condition emphasising how he’d never been trapped in the box for that long before. And then Houdini would dramatically emerge breathless having seemingly just cheated death…
Just a couple of examples of how Houdini understood the showbiz side of conjuring to make his fame. Many more are given in the book.
He became the first international stage star in the era before films and TV, even radio for much of his career, and toured widely in Europe. Popular in pre-WW1 Germany, he sued a policeman there who’d accused him of bribery to support his escapes - the judge ruled in Houdini’s favour after he broke into the judge’s safe (Houdini later said he hadn’t locked it properly).
He was the first to fly a powered aircraft in Australia, in 1910. He dabbled in silent movies and apparently wrote some pulp fiction thrillers (they were ghost written on his behalf, one by HP Lovecraft, who didn’t enjoy the experience).
He mixed with the other famous celebrities of the era, notably a friendship after WW1 with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Despite being the author of the most logical fictional detective famed for his deduction Doyle was somewhat gullible in real life. A prominent member of the Society of Psychical Research which to its credit tried to do some scientific studies of psychics. However, Doyle was easily taken in, such as by some young girls who photographed themselves with paper fairies (the Cottingley Fairies). He and his wife were keen on Spiritualism, a notable fashion of the day, especially after the sad loss of a son in WW1. Houdini had long recognised the tricks used by mediums in seances and regarded their exploitation of those who’d lost loved ones as shameful. Eventually such differences led to the rupturing of their friendship. Houdini devoted a significant part of his later life to exposing mediums, usually wearing disguises so he wouldn’t be recognised at a seance.
I’m not quite sure why his personality appeals so much to me but he lived a very full life over his 52 years. I’ve had a vague interest in conjuring, the sleight of hand aspects, and how people are made to believe that something impossible has happened in front of their eyes. Except when they think about it, it can’t have. But then, “what have I just seen, have I been tricked? Impossible!”. I particularly enjoy the performers who say, straight out, I’m conning you but I defy you to see how I’m doing it.
My interest started in my youth when I saw the then new Uri Geller perform tricks on British television but with the angle that he really had magical skills (to bend spoons!), which took in some otherwise intelligent individuals. Then I saw this countered by professional magicians doing the same tricks, and better, but who honestly said “it’s a deception”.
In essence what good conjurors do is create a story, a fiction, in your mind that you know deep down isn’t correct, but maybe you want to believe, and which provides a nice sense of mystery in contrast to our everyday experiences. Houdini was one of the best at that, to the extent we still use his name 100 years on to describe an impossible escape.
Very well researched, easy absorbing read, good fun, and makes you smile with the anecdotes. Recommended if still available in your region (mainly second hand it seems, for sensible prices). Full 5*.
November 7, 2012
I remember as a kid going into a store and being fascinated by a bunch of cheap magic tricks that looked interesting but once I bought them ultimately became rather boring and hokey. Make a card jump from the deck! Amaze your friends!
Speaking of cards, Houdini was the real deal. His name has become synonymous with magic, and his now famous stunts are still being performed by other magicians to this day.
In this book Kenneth Silverman does a fine job of chronicling Houdini’s career and how his act evolved over time. From his early slight of hand prestidigitation to his increasingly more complex handcuff escapes, Houdini’s shows became a sensation. He would constantly play to packed houses despite hucksters selling pamphlets outside the theater prior to show time explaining how the tricks were done.
Houdini would go to great lengths to achieve his objectives. He would attend a magic show in disguise and then dash on stage to prove the magician was a charlatan. Or he would have a special pair of shoes made up that left his name written on the sidewalk as the person he paid to wear them strolled around.
The book does cover Houdini’s private life but almost entirely through a diary he kept. A bit more in this area would have been better. Other than that, this was a fascinating look at one of the world’s greatest performers.
Speaking of cards, Houdini was the real deal. His name has become synonymous with magic, and his now famous stunts are still being performed by other magicians to this day.
In this book Kenneth Silverman does a fine job of chronicling Houdini’s career and how his act evolved over time. From his early slight of hand prestidigitation to his increasingly more complex handcuff escapes, Houdini’s shows became a sensation. He would constantly play to packed houses despite hucksters selling pamphlets outside the theater prior to show time explaining how the tricks were done.
Houdini would go to great lengths to achieve his objectives. He would attend a magic show in disguise and then dash on stage to prove the magician was a charlatan. Or he would have a special pair of shoes made up that left his name written on the sidewalk as the person he paid to wear them strolled around.
The book does cover Houdini’s private life but almost entirely through a diary he kept. A bit more in this area would have been better. Other than that, this was a fascinating look at one of the world’s greatest performers.
July 23, 2016
"Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss" is a fascinating biography of America’s most famous magician and escape artist. The author, Ken Silverman, is a Professor Emeritus at the New York University and a 1985 Pulitzer Prize winner for biography.
In the past I read several other biographies beginning as a teenager with Harold Kellock’s "Houdini, His Life Story." However, none surpass Silverman’s in detail and depth of research. For example, other writers have recounted how Ehrich Weiss adopted the name Houdini from the French conjurer Robert-Houdin, but I don’t recall any telling how his first name, Harry, was selected. Silverman points out that Ehrich’s nickname was “Ehrie” that easily became anglicized as Harry.
While others have documented Houdini’s campaign to expose fraudulent mediums, in Silverman’s book it becomes a thread weaving through the book. He points out that the first escape artists were actually mediums who allowed themselves to be tied up and restrained to prove that they could not ring bells or be responsible for floating aberrations. Surprisingly, Silverman reveals that at the very beginning of his career, Houdini had performed a séance himself.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, spiritualism was quite popular, and many such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame were convinced that Houdini had psychic abilities. Houdini always said he worked by natural means and never claimed any supernatural powers.
In the past I read several other biographies beginning as a teenager with Harold Kellock’s "Houdini, His Life Story." However, none surpass Silverman’s in detail and depth of research. For example, other writers have recounted how Ehrich Weiss adopted the name Houdini from the French conjurer Robert-Houdin, but I don’t recall any telling how his first name, Harry, was selected. Silverman points out that Ehrich’s nickname was “Ehrie” that easily became anglicized as Harry.
While others have documented Houdini’s campaign to expose fraudulent mediums, in Silverman’s book it becomes a thread weaving through the book. He points out that the first escape artists were actually mediums who allowed themselves to be tied up and restrained to prove that they could not ring bells or be responsible for floating aberrations. Surprisingly, Silverman reveals that at the very beginning of his career, Houdini had performed a séance himself.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, spiritualism was quite popular, and many such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame were convinced that Houdini had psychic abilities. Houdini always said he worked by natural means and never claimed any supernatural powers.
March 12, 2020
This is the only book you will ever need to know anything/everything about The Man himself, Houdini. He only gets more fascinating throughout the entire book. This is an objective, detailed telling of his life and career. Not a dry biography by any means. Loved it.
October 8, 2024
There have been many other biographies of Houdini, including some that include a great deal of dubious material. This is possibly the most accurate Houdini biography, and as such serves as an important reference text at the History Museum at the Castle in Appleton, WI (formerly The Houdini Historic Center), which houses an extensive Houdini collection. Silverman’s book is quite readable, and accessible not only to magicians but also to those of us who are fascinated by the field but find it totally mystifying. I appreciate a book that makes me want to dive deeper into the subject matter, and Houdini: The Career Of Ehrich Weiss very much succeeds in doing that.
June 25, 2024
A really fascinating biography of Harry Houdini as well as a look into turn-of-the-(20th)century show business and the anti-Spiritualist work Houdini undertook to expose frauds and hustlers. Took me a while to read, but it was a realling intriguing book. Worth the effort.
June 21, 2020
This is an excellent book about Houdini. I picked it up to begin research on another series I am working on and it was a great choice. Kudos to Kenneth Silverman!
October 13, 2025
well written,lots of details about his life and career
December 22, 2023
Chances are good, you don’t realize how much crazy business Harry Houdini got around to in his life. Obviously, I knew him as a world-famous escape artist, one of his generation’s best-known celebrities, but as a pioneering aviator? Owner and operator of an early Hollywood film studio? High-profile debunker of mystics? Dedicated historian and magazine publisher? Houdini checked all of these boxes and more, in addition to his globe-trotting life as a death-defying performance artist. The western world was moving rapidly at the dawn of the 20th century, and few better embodied the frantic, all-consuming rush to progress that swept through our culture.
Unfortunately, Houdini also died relatively young and abruptly, leaving behind an unprepared estate and unfulfilled promises of a forthcoming tell-all. This author does a decent enough job of parsing his subject’s scrawls, of building a cohesive narrative from all the scattered notes and excessively grandiose journal entries, but at some point he must confess that the great illusionist took his most interesting secrets to the grave. What remains is a dry, but in-depth, portrait of the man - obsessive, self-aggrandizing, utterly brilliant and unnaturally devoted to his mother - but without any of the answers that would’ve made for a truly satisfying payoff.
Unfortunately, Houdini also died relatively young and abruptly, leaving behind an unprepared estate and unfulfilled promises of a forthcoming tell-all. This author does a decent enough job of parsing his subject’s scrawls, of building a cohesive narrative from all the scattered notes and excessively grandiose journal entries, but at some point he must confess that the great illusionist took his most interesting secrets to the grave. What remains is a dry, but in-depth, portrait of the man - obsessive, self-aggrandizing, utterly brilliant and unnaturally devoted to his mother - but without any of the answers that would’ve made for a truly satisfying payoff.
January 22, 2018
There are many biographies of Houdini out there, and I've only read this one...I don't make it a habit to be a scholar on one person. But I can tell you that this was a very engaging book, and I finished it feeling like I knew a great deal about the man, both as a man and as a performer.
This was not just about the magic and escape act. This was about the personality of Ehrich Weiss himself...his ego, his adverturing spirit. I learned things that were fascinating, such as his immediate appreciation for powered flight and his desire to become the first man to fly an airplane in Australia (note: it remains open for debate whether he was first or second).
All in all, this biography was a great story about a man who just happened to be a famous escape artist and magician. The story isn't about the act, it's about the man and the act is one layer of the story.
This was not just about the magic and escape act. This was about the personality of Ehrich Weiss himself...his ego, his adverturing spirit. I learned things that were fascinating, such as his immediate appreciation for powered flight and his desire to become the first man to fly an airplane in Australia (note: it remains open for debate whether he was first or second).
All in all, this biography was a great story about a man who just happened to be a famous escape artist and magician. The story isn't about the act, it's about the man and the act is one layer of the story.
May 28, 2011
Fascinating (the tricks and escapes Houdini created and performed, and how he completely harnessed both the media and the affordances of the industrial era) and frustrating (Houdini's egomania can be grating, and Silverman spends too much time on Spiritualism). For years I've wanted to read about Houdini, which I didn't recall until I learned that the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, where I work, has a large collection of his letters, memorabilia and photographs (many of which Silverman included in his book). It was totally worth the wait. What a man! What a dreamer!
"The English vocabulary promises to be exhausted in the efforts of people to describe their astonishment." - from a newspaper review of one performance
"The English vocabulary promises to be exhausted in the efforts of people to describe their astonishment." - from a newspaper review of one performance
December 31, 2007
This book pretty much covers anything and everything you could hope to know about Houdini. It is a little long-winded at times, but very interesting.
December 29, 2008
Not a run of the mill Houdini Bio, with lots of interesting nformation and descriptions of his Many accomplishments.
January 30, 2011
Amazing story.
March 6, 2013
Fascinating history - shows all sides of Houdini's personality.
August 9, 2016
I really wanted to learn more about Houdini but this book was just way too descriptive for me.
abandoned
April 21, 2014I wanted to learn more about Houdini but this was way too descriptive for me...
August 18, 2014
I read this biography after reading "The confabulist" to get confirmation of how much was fictionalized in the first title. I especially liked the photos included here.
November 12, 2010
Well written and interesting look at the life of Houdini.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews