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Harry Houdini: New York
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In Sax Rohmer's biography, Master of Villainy, an entire chapter, "Houdini to the Rescue," is devoted to the tale of how Harry Houdini helped Sax Rohmer "finish the story he had already given up as impossible" (134). Much of the chapter is based on Rohmer's own first-hand account as given in one of his "Pipe Dreams" -- articles in which he reminisced about his work and his life. They were published in the Empire News, Manchester, England. (Some were later reprinted in The Rohmer Review.) The March 27, 1938 installment was titled "Were Houdini's Feats Supernatural" and in it Rohmer expresses his great admiration for Harry Houdini, explaining how they became friends and relating numerous anecdotes about some of the experiences they shared over the years.
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After years of struggling on the dime museum circuit, Harry Houdini got a break that put him on the front page of a Chicago newspaper. He never looked back. Soon Houdini was performing for royalty, commanding vast sums, and exploring the new power of Hollywood to expand on his legend.
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In the midst of all this pressure, his friend, Harry Houdini who was then living in New York made every effort to get Rohmer to go out, to meet people and to relax. They very likely discussed the story, but given Rohmer's talent and previous successes, it is not likely that Houdini made any great literary contribution. This is not to say his real contribution, helping Rohmer stay sane in the midst of the daily pressure to produce copy, was not real and significant. It is clear that Rohmer was deeply appreciative. Perhaps less clear is that over time that appreciation was expressed with a little embellishment.
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In 1920, during a tour of England, Houdini met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and a spokesperson for Spiritualism. The two of them became good friends, despite their opposing views on the supernatural. Houdini was delighted to learn that there was at least one intelligent person who believed in Spiritualism and found that man in his friend Conan Doyle. The author was convinced of the value of the movement to the world and had given up most of his lucrative writing career to lecture about Spiritualism around the world. He ... found that Houdini’s knowledge of the spirit world was as vast as his own, although their attitudes differed. Still, even though he was jaded with the results that he had obtained with mediums in the past, Houdini continued to attend seances and hosted many of his own in his new home in Hollywood.
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Houdini was born Ehrich Weiss on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary. His family emigrated to the United States while he was an infant, and his father became the first rabbi in Appleton, Wisconsin. They later moved to Milwaukee, and eventually settled in New York. Young Ehrich's life was transformed after he learned his first trick (the vanishing quarter). At the age of 17, he changed his name to Harry Houdini and began performing in medicine shows, circuses, theaters, etc.
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Houdini was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary, of Jewish background. In 1878, his family immigrated to the United States. At first, they lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father, Mayer Samuel Weiss, served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. After losing his tenure, Mayer moved to New York City with Ehrich in 1887, where they lived in a boarding-house on East Seventy-ninth Street. Mr. Weiss later called for the rest of his family to join him once he found more permanent housing. The name "Harry" came from a family pet name for Ehrich, Ehrie (rhymes with and sounds like 'Harry').
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