The story as it is told
Harry Houdini was an all-American boy. He was born on April 6, 1874, in Appleton, Wisconsin, the son of a rabbi, and he grew up to be the most famous escape artist in the world. When he needed a name for the stage, the story adds, he took one from his hero, the French magician Robert-Houdin.
What we can confirm
In 1926 Houdini testified to a House committee about a bill aimed at fortune tellers. When Rep. Hammer asked him, "Where were you born?", he answered, according to the printed transcript, "I was born in Wisconsin." The OCR of that page gives the year as "1814," which is a scanning or printing error. He also told the committee, "I am the son of a rabbi."
When he died on October 31, 1926, the Associated Press story printed in Washington's Evening Star said Houdini "was born in Appleton April 6, 1874, the son of Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss." The same story said he learned about locks when he "was apprenticed to a locksmith in Appleton, Wis., his birthplace."
The Library of Congress's own account of its Houdini collection, published in 1997, gives a different start. It says Houdini "was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874," that his family soon moved to the American Midwest, where his father became the first rabbi of a new congregation in Appleton, and that "American immigration officials changed Weisz to Weiss." The same bulletin says his brother Theodore Hardeen was born Ferencz Deszo Weisz on March 4, 1876.
The stage name was his own choice. In his 1908 book The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, Houdini wrote that when he needed a stage name, a fellow performer "told me that if I would add the letter 'i' to Houdin's name, it would mean, in the French language, 'like Houdin,' I adopted the suggestion with enthusiasm." The same book attacks Robert-Houdin's reputation, so Houdini named himself after a hero he later tried to tear down.
What the record supports: Houdini was born in Budapest on March 24, 1874, grew up in Wisconsin as the son of a rabbi, and in public gave Appleton and April 6 as his birthplace and birthday.
The facts
- "Where were you born?" / "I was born in Wisconsin"; "I am the son of a rabbi." House Committee on the District of Columbia, hearings on H.R. 8989, 1926
- AP: "born in Appleton April 6, 1874, the son of Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss"; apprenticed to a locksmith "in Appleton, Wis., his birthplace." Evening Star (Washington), Nov 1, 1926, p. 2, Chronicling America
- Budapest, March 24, 1874; Erik Weisz; Appleton rabbi; officials changed Weisz to Weiss; chose the name to link himself to Robert-Houdin; Hardeen born Ferencz Deszo Weisz, March 4, 1876. LoC Information Bulletin, Feb 24, 1997, loc.gov
- The "like Houdin" quote. Harry Houdini, The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), Google Books scan, local
Sources
- Budapest, March 24, 1874; Erik Weisz; Appleton rabbi; officials changed Weisz to Weiss; chose the name to link himself to Robert-Houdin; Hardeen born Ferencz Deszo Weisz, March 4, 1876. LoC Information Bulletin, Feb 24, 1997, loc.gov