![]() Houdini died on Halloween 1926 at the age of 52, just days after struggling through a final performance in Detroit. Houdini assisted with the American war effort during WWI. In 2010, Houdini and Defries were both honored with a series of stamps commemorating the centennial of powered flight in Australia. The Aerial League of Australia certified Houdini’s display as the country’s first powered and controlled flight, but some historians have since argued that the record actually belongs to Colin Defries, an Englishman who had made a brief flight a few months earlier. The magician crashed during his maiden flight in Germany, but he continued practicing and eventually set his sights on becoming the first man to pilot an airplane in Australia.ĭuring a tour Down Under in March 1910, Houdini hopped behind the controls of his Voisin and made three successful flights near Melbourne, each only a couple of minutes long. Houdini (center) with fans just before his flight in Australia, March 1910.Īfter developing a passion for aviation while in Europe in 1909, Houdini bought a French-made Voisin biplane and became one of the world’s first private pilots. His brother was also a successful magician. One stunt saw him jump into a Rochester, New York, river with his hands manacled behind his back in another, he broke out of the jail cell that had once held Charles Guiteau, the man who assassinated President James A. The newly christened “King of Handcuffs” played to sold-out crowds across Europe, and he later cemented his fame by staging several high-profile escapes in the United States. He began challenging audiences to tie him up or lock him in handcuffs, and he promoted his shows by staging escapes from local jails, usually after being strip-searched and put in shackles by police. On Beck’s advice, Houdini made escapes a central part of his act. He finally caught a break in 1899, when vaudeville impresario Martin Beck booked him on a tour of the United States and Europe. ![]() Houdini struggled during his early years in show business and considered calling it quits and opening a magic school. Di Bonaventura is also producing The Meg 2: The Trench, which is filming in the UK.Getty Images / Universal History Archive / UIG However, there hasn’t been a movie about Houdini since the 2007 film Death Defying Acts starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones.ĭi Bonaventura and Vahradian are in post-production on Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (which they produce with Michael Bay, Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy), the next Pet Sematary movie and Gerard Butler action pic The Plane. The illusionist has been previously portrayed on screen by the likes of Tony Curtis, Paul Michael Glaser, Harvey Keitel, Adrien Brody, Michael Weston and Michael Dreyer. After moving to LA in 1919, Houdini lived on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, where he practiced his water escapes. His exploits made him a worldwide celebrity and his stunts drew thousands. He was also a keen aviator and aimed to become the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers and straitjackets under water. Houdini (born Erik Weisz) was the Hungarian-American stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts and his rags-to-riches immigrant story. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the US and then as “Harry ‘Handcuff’ Houdini” on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. ![]() Script is being written by Neil Widener and Gavin James who are also working with the studio on Jerry Bruckheimer’s Beyblade project we revealed last week. ![]() Plot details are being kept under wraps on the untitled development project but we understand it will be set of its time in the early 20th Century and have a Sherlock Holmes tone, dealing as it does with a human superhero type. EXCLUSIVE: Transformers duo Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing a movie about iconic escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini for Paramount.
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