History Creator / HarryHoudini

* Spanish neoclassical metal band ''Dark Moor'' have "Houdini's Great Escapade" as a song on their album ''Beyond the Sea''.

The preeminent StageMagician of his time and the greatest EscapeArtist of ''all'' time, Harry Houdini (who based his stage name on the French magician, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin) was one of the great entertainers in {{Vaudeville}} and became one of the highest paid in the industry. He also accepted dares to see if he could escape various police jail cells, secure transports and personal restraints, and usually did, and sometimes while nude to "prove" he wasn't carrying tools.[[note]]In reality, he was often [[StomachOfHolding hiding them in the back of his throat]], and could cough them up at any time.[[/note]]

* [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] has name-dropped Houdini more than once; he thus appears several times over across the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse.

[[AC: ComicBooks]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' - The TV show only alludes to the Doctor having met Houdini (and picked up some EscapeArtist tricks from him.) He appears several times over in the ExpandedUniverse.

[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* He appears in the backstory of ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'' as part of a DreamTeam of historical adventurers, alongside the likes of Annie Oakley, Wong Kei-ying and Nikola Tesla.

Houdini married his stage partner Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner three times. Once in secret and then once in each of their houses of worship, as Houdini was Jewish and Bess Roman Catholic. They were HappilyMarried.

Jewish-American escape artist born March 24, 1874 (with the name Erik Weisz), died October 31, 1926 at age 52.

[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* In ''The Great Houdinis'' (1976) MadeForTVMovie, he was portrayed by Paul Micheal Glaser.
* In the ''Houdini'' (1998) TV Movie, he was portrayed by Johnathon Schaech.
* In the ''Series/{{Houdini}}'' (2014) miniseries, he was portrayed by Creator/AdrienBrody.
* In ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' (2015-16), Houdini appears as one of the 15 Heroic Spirits. Objects that represent him are his Eyecon with a bike called Machine Hoodie. In a two paired episode Houdini possesses a girl and expresses that ghosts don't exist only to be pointed out that he himself and the protagonist are ghosts.
* In ''Series/TheMinistryOfTime'' (2015-17), he's featured in one episode, as the plot involves him putting Joaquín María Argamasilla's alleged XRayVision to the test. Portrayed by Gary Piquer.
* In ''Series/HoudiniAndDoyle'' (2016), Harry Houdini appears as one of two titular male protagonists. He was portrayed by Michael Weston.

* ''Imprisoned with the Pharaohs'' by Creator/HPLovecraft is based on a tale Houdin told written in Houdini's [[FirstPersonPerspective perspective]].

The preeminent StageMagician of his time and the greatest EscapeArtist of ''all'' time, Harry Houdini (who based his stage name on the French magician, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin) was one of the great entertainers in {{Vaudeville}} and became one of the highest paid in the industry. He also accepted dares to see if he could escape various police jail cells, secure transports and personal restraints, and usually did, and sometimes while nude to "prove" he wasn't carrying tools.[[note]]In reality, he was often hiding them in the back of his throat, and could cough them up at any time.[[/note]]

In addition to stage craft, Houdini also starred in films although that career path proved unsuccessful and even had some notoriety as an airplane pilot, doing the first flight in Australia.[[note]]though some Australian aviation historians dispute whether he was indeed the first.[[/note]]

Houdini had some interest in the supernatural, but was disgusted to find the only ones available were frauds. As a result, Houdini dedicated himself to debunking claims of the paranormal by infiltrating seances to expose the fakery and showing how the fakers did it on stage. All the while, Houdini dearly hoped to find the real thing in this crusade and even arranged a secret signal that he would try to use after he died. After his death, his wife would regularly do seances trying to contact him until she gave up in 1936 saying "Ten years is enough for any man."

* In ''Houdini'' (1998) TV Movie, he was portrayed by Johnathon Schaech.
* In ''Series/{{Houdini}}'' (2014) miniseries, he was portrayed by Creator/AdrienBrody.

* In ''Houdini'' (1953) by Paramount Pictures, he was portrayed by Tony Curtis.

* ''The Master Mystery' — Octagon Films (1918), playing Quentin Locke.

* In ''Death Defying Acts'' (2007), he was portrayed by Creator/GuyPearce

[[AC:Live Action]]
* In Series/KamenRiderGhost, Houdini appears as one of the 15 Heroic Spirits. Objects that represent him are his Eyecon with a bike called Machine Hoodie. In a two paired episode Houdini possesses a girl and expresses that ghosts don't exist only to be pointed out that he himself and the protagonist are ghosts.
* In Series/HoudiniAndDoyle, Harry Houdini appears as one of two titular male protagonists.

Namesake for tropes where a character escapes retribution for whatever reason (IdiotHoudini, EliminationHoudini, KarmaHoudini, KarmaHoudiniWarranty).

The preeminent StageMagician of his time and the greatest EscapeArtist of ''all'' time, Harry Houdini (who based his stage name on the French magician, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin) was one of the great entertainers in {{Vaudeville}} and became one of the highest paid in the industry. He also accepted dares to see if he could escape various police jail cells, secure transports and personal restraints, and usually did, and sometimes while nude to "prove" he wasn't carrying tools.

American escape artist born March 24, 1874 (with the name Erik Weisz), died October 31, 1926 at age 52.

In addition to stage craft, Houdini also starred in films although that career path proved unsuccessful and even had some notoriety as an airplane pilot, doing the first flight in Australia.[[note]]though some Australian aviation historians dispute whether he was indeed the first[[/note]]

Houdini married his stage partner Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner three times. Once in secret and then once in each of their churches as Houdini was Jewish and Bess, Roman Catholic. They were HappilyMarried.

In addition to stage craft, Houdini also starred in films although that career path proved unsuccessful and even had some notoriety as an airplane pilot, doing the first flight in Australia.

Houdini was married twice and HappilyMarried both times.

The preeminent StageMagician of his time and the greatest EscapeArtist of ''all'' time, Harry Houdini (who based his stage name on the French magician, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin) was one of the great entertainers in {{Vaudeville}}, become one of the highest paid in the industry. He also accepted dares to see if he could escape various police jail cells, secure transports and personal restraints, and usually did, and sometimes while nude to claim he wasn't carrying tools (Not mentioning he could hide them in his throat).

In addition, Houdini had some interest in the supernatural, but was disgusted to find the only ones available were frauds. As a result, Houdini dedicated himself to debunking claims of the paranormal by infiltrating seances to expose the fakery and showing how the fakers did it on stage. All the while, Houdini dearly hoped to find the real thing in this crusade and even arranged a secret signal that he would try to use after he died. After his death, his wife would regularly do seances trying to contact him until she gave up in 1936 saying "Ten years is enough for any man."

In addition, Houdini had some interest in the supernatural, but was disgusted to find the only ones available were frauds. As a result, Houdini dedicated himself to debunking claims of the paranormal by showing how the fakers did it on stage. All the while, Houdini dearly hoped to find the real thing in this crusade and even arranged a secret signal that he would try to use after he died. After his death, his wife would regularly do seances trying to contact him until she gave up in 1936 saying "Ten years is enough for any man."

The preeminent StageMagician of his time and the EscapeArtist of ''all'' time, Harry Houdini (who based his stage name on the French magician, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin) was one of the great entertainers in {{Vaudeville}}, become one of the highest paid in the industry. He also accept dares to see if he could escape various police jail cells, secure transports and personal restraints, and usually did, and sometimes while nude to claim he wasn't carrying tools (Not mentioning he could hide them in his throat).

American escape artist born March 24, 1874, died October 31, 1926 at age 52.