He was not, however, earning a king’s ransom for his endeavors. Performing in Maryland in 1898, Houdini promoted himself as the King of Cards.
Okay, so maybe not the most Jewish of names, but one wonders if he’d have the same reputation today if he went with the more Judaic “Houdiniwitz”. Obviously, too many names, so Erik adopted one of them – the “Houdin”, and decided to put an ‘I’ at the end of it. After he ran away from home to New York, to a Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA) in New York City, he performed a show under the handle ‘Erik the Great.’” Still searching for just the right name, Erik became aware of a 19th century French magician named Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, known as the father of modern conjuring. At the age of 17, in order to avoid the heavy-labor factory work that was expected of young men his age and social class, Erich started performing magic tricks full time. Scrawled on this photo of magician Harry Houdini with his mother Cecilia and wife Bess are the words, ‘My two sweethearts.’ (Library of Congress)Įrik was bar mitzvahed by Orthodox Rabbi Bernard Drachman. He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. He took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Erik, the Prince of the Air". An interest in magic appeared early, after Erik attended a magic show in Appleton. in 1878 and settled in Appleton, Wisconsin, where Erik’s father served as a rabbi. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz and Cecília Steiner. Let’s see if we can make this vital information reappear.Įrik Weisz was born in Budapest to a Jewish family. Yet, while some may know that Houdini was Jewish, most are not aware of the fact that he was a Jewish immigrant son of a rabbi, or familiar with the ways in which Judaism impacted this iconic performer’s life. You know, the same ways you and I relax on weekends. Houdini lived from 1874 to 1926 and is perhaps best known for his amazing escape acts in which he used chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. Because this future international superstar, magician, illusionist and stunt performer later changed his name to Harry Houdini. When you think of history’s most famous magician and the first international superstar, the Hungarian Jew, Erik Weisz, probably doesn’t spring to mind.
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