Harry Houdini

At the top of my list of famous magicians is Harry Houdini, apart from just being extremely famous for his escape stunts (one of which almost cost him a nervous breakdown), Houdini was a Jewish immigrant from Hungary back in the late 1800s. He starred in movies and even earned the right to be a pilot later on in life. Houdini is so famous that when someone disappears from our view, we’re quick to go “They pulled a Houdini.”

While acting didn’t pay off for him, Harry Houdini succeeded in burying himself alive and clawing out and getting out of a ton of full-body locks within about an hour. He was quick to sue those who imitated his stunts (rightfully so) and spent a lot of time exposing false illusionists who had little to no standards on what they performed.

Harry was born with a different name and drew inspiration from Jean Eugene Robert Houdin, where he built his name from. There are several spellings of his original name, Erich Weiss (such as Erik Weisz). When he died, a bust was placed at his grave, which was extremely uncommon for any Jewish cemetery.

Born: March 24, 1874
Died: October 31, 1926

Nationality: Hungary