George hardeen
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Harry Houdini
(1874-1926)
Who Was Harry Houdini?
Fascinated with magic from a young age, Harry Houdini began performing and drew attention for his daring feats of escape. In 1893, he married Wilhelmina Rahner, who became his onstage partner as well. Houdini continued performing escape acts until his death, on October 31, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan.
Early Life
Houdini was born Erich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. One of seven children born to a Jewish rabbi and his wife, Weisz moved with his family as a child to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he later claimed he was born. When he was 13, Weisz moved with his father to New York City, taking on odd jobs and living in a boarding house before the rest of the family joined them. It was there that he became interested in trapeze arts.
In 1894, Weisz launched his career as a professional magician and renamed himself Harry Houdini, the first name being a derivative of his childhood nickname, "Ehrie," and the last an homage to the great French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. (Although he later wrote The
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Theodore Hardeen
Featured in this week’s History of Magic is Theodore Hardeen, born Ferencz Dezso Weisz in Budapest, Hungary on February 29th, 1876. He was the younger brother of one of the most famous magicians of all time, Harry Houdini, but Hardeen would outlive him by nearly 20 years. The brothers first performed in their teens together as a partnership, culminating their magic act with their illusion “Metamorphosis” or what has become known today as the Substitution Trunk illusion. They originally billed themselves as the Houdini Brother’s. Brother Harry seemed to be the dominant performer while his brother Dash (taken from his middle Hungarian name) seemed happier to stay out of the limelight on stage. They performed in dime museums, beer halls and Coney Island. Soon Harry was to meet and marry Beatrice (Bess) Rahner who became Harry’s partner. Hardeen then had to begin his own solo career. As Houdini began to gain interest and fame as an escapologist, he and Bess travelled to Europe where he was billed as the “Handcuff King”, and his fame gathered hug
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Theodore Hardeen
Hungarian-American entertainer (1876–1945)
The native form of this personal name is Weisz Ferenc Dezső. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Ferenc Dezső Weisz (March 4, 1876 – June 12, 1945), known as Theodore "Dash" Hardeen, was a Hungarian-American magician and escape artist who was the younger brother of Harry Houdini. Hardeen, who usually billed himself as the "brother of Houdini", was the founder of the Magician's Guild. Hardeen was the first magician to conceive escaping from a straitjacket in full view of the audience, rather than behind a curtain.[1]
Early life
Hardeen was born as "Ferenc Dezső Weisz" (or "Ferencz Dezső Weisz") in Budapest, and went by the name "Theodore Weiss" when he and his family were living in Appleton, Wisconsin. He was known as "Deshi" and later "Dash" by his parents.
In 1893, Hardeen performed with Houdini at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini". While he and Harry were there, Harry met and married Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner.
Career
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