Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss

552 Pages·1997·46.91 MB·English

by  Kenneth Silverman

American Seif-Liberator, Europe’s Eciipsins Sensation, World’s Handcuff Kins
& Prison Breaker-Nothins on Earth Can Hold Houdini a Prisoner!!!
Author EDGAR A POE and THE LIPE AND TIMES OF COTTON MAThcfiF
Of
USA_$33.00
CANADA $49.50
‘“With due modesty/ Houdini liked to say, ‘I recognize no one
as my peer.’ Kenneth Silverman’s lively and authoritative biogra¬
phy shows that in this, at least, everything the great master of
magic and the media said was true. A first-rate job.”
—Geoffrey C. Ward, author of
Before the Trumpet^ A First Class Temperament, and,
G with Ric and Ken Burns, The Civil War
eorge Bernard Shaw ranked him with Jesus Christ
and Sherlock Holmes as one of the three most
famous figures in history. James Joyce punned him
into Finnegans Wake as “escapemaster-in-chief from all sorts
of houdingplaces.” And nearly three-quarters of a century
after his death, Houdini remains synonymous with Magic, a
miracle worker of near-mythological stature, accounts of his
life and exploits repeated in the press and on television every
Halloween.
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 illu¬
sions and escapes that Houdini performed throughout
Europe, the United States, Russia, and Australia—amaze¬
ments that made Houdini the highest-paid variety artist of
his time.
Drawing on scrapbooks and diaries that no other biog¬
rapher has used, as well as stenographic transcripts, court
records, and hundreds of unpublished notes and letters,
Silverman treats in depth many unfamiliar facets of
(continued on back flap)
1096

HOUDINI
Also by Kenneth Silverman
Edgar A. Poe
The Life and Times of Cotton Mather
A Cultural History of the American Revolution
Timothy Dwight
UDINI!!!
THE CAREER OF ENRICH WEISS
American Self-Liberator, Europe’s Eclipsins Sensation,
Worici’s Handcuff King & Prison Breaker-
Nothing on Earth Can Hold HOUDINI a Prisoner!!!
KENNETH SILVERMAN
¥l9LrperCol\insPHblishers
JP 0R
GV1545
.H8
355
1996
Greek papyrus quoted from Hans Dieter Betz, ed., The Greek Magical Papyri in Transla¬
tion Including the Demotic Spells (1986), with permission of the University of Chicago
Press.
HOUDiNi!!! THE CAREER OF EHRiCH WEISS. Copyright © 1996 by Kenneth Silverman. All
rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used
or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper-
Collins Publishers, Inc., lo East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.
HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional
use. For information please write; Special Markets Department, HarperCollins Publishers,
Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.
FIRST EDITION
Designed by Laura Lindgren
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Silverman, Kenneth.
Houdini!!!: the career of Ehrich Weiss : American self-liberator, Europe’s eclipsing
sensation, world’s handcuff king & prison breaker / Kenneth Silverman. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-06-016978-8
1. Houdini, Harry, 1874-1926. 2. Magicians—United States—Biography. I. Title.
GV1545.H8S55 1996
794.8' 092—dc20
[B] 96-7163
96 97 98 99 00 ❖/RRD 10 987654321
For Brenda Wineapple and Michael Dellaira
And in memory of
Peter Shaw (1936-1995)
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/houdinicareerofeOOsilv