There are performers who go on no matter what. Harry Houdini was the ultimate example of that. One hundred years ago, on October 24, 1926, the 52-year-old magician walked out onto the stage of Detroit’s Garrick Theatre with a fever of 104 degrees.
Doctors had already told him he had acute appendicitis. He performed anyway.
The trouble had started nearly two weeks before. On October 11, while performing in Albany, New York, a piece of faulty equipment struck his leg. Then came the moment that people are still talking about a century later.
On October 22, in Montreal, a student named Gordon Whitehead punched Houdini in the stomach several times. He was testing Houdini’s well-known claim that he could absorb hard blows to the abdomen. The problem was that Houdini had not had a chance to tense his muscles first.
Houdini shrugged it off. He went on to perform four more shows in Montreal. But stomach cramps began, and by the time he boarded a train for Detroit the next day, he felt worse.
Doctors urged him to go straight to the hospital. He refused. He took the stage instead, starting the night with vanishing acts. The pain was showing through, but somehow he finished the entire performance before collapsing again afterward.
He was rushed to Grace Hospital in Detroit, where doctors found he had both appendicitis and peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal lining. He died one week later, on October 31, 1926. His wife Bess and his two brothers were by his side. He died on Halloween.
The man who had escaped chains, straitjackets, locked crates, and the icy Detroit River (he was lowered into it in a packing crate back in 1907) could not escape this.
Born Erik Weisz in Hungary, Houdini had spent decades building his legend. His famous Chinese Water Torture Cell, introduced in 1912, became one of the most iconic acts in show business history.
A century later, the exact cause of his death is still debated. The Montreal punch makes for a dramatic story, but many historians consider it more myth than fact. A blow to the stomach is not generally believed to cause appendicitis. Others argue it was his stubborn refusal to see a doctor in time that sealed his fate.
Almost nothing from his final week survives today. The Garrick Theatre, Grace Hospital, and the Statler Hotel where he stayed have all been demolished. The Garrick closed in 1928 and came down early the following year.
But Houdini has never really left. After his death, his wife Bess held an annual séance every Halloween to try to reach him. Magicians and fans have kept that tradition alive ever since.
One hundred years on, they are still waiting for his greatest escape.
