Did Harry Houdini play in movies?

Answer 1

Harry Houdini was an American magician, born in the late 1800's. He was best known for being an escape artist and stunt-man. His most famous 'tricks/stunts' included escaping from straight jackets and escaping a various locking mechanisms while underwater. He claimed that he could sustain any blow to his upper body without injury. Numerous people challenged him on this claim. Eventually his body did give out and he died of peritonitis due to a ruptured appendix.
Harry Houdini was an Hungarian-American illusionist and stunt performer. He died in October 31, 1926.

Answer 2

When Houdini was on his deathbed, he told the surgeon who had operated on him that he wished he had become a doctor. The doctor, Dr. Kennedy, could hardly believe what he had heard. He told Houdini, "You've entertained millions and I am just an ordinary surgeon." Houdini told him, "but what you do is real, while I, in almost every respect, am a fake."

Answer 3

Houdini made his first movie for Pathé in 1901. Titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, it featured a loose narrative meant to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket escape. Houdini returned to film in 1916 when he served as special-effects consultant on the Pathé thriller, The Mysteries of Myra. That same year, he got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production. In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B.A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in January 1919). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B.A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery was a box-office success and led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon. Houdini swims above Niagara falls in a scene from The Man from Beyond (1922) Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation." He produced and starred in two films, The Man From Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also started up his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini's brother, Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar was a major investor. Neither Houdini's acting neither career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager." But his celebrity was such that, years later, he would be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 7001 Hollywood Blvd). As of 2007, only The Man From Beyond had been commercially released on DVD. Incomplete versions of The Master Mystery and Terror Island were released by private collectors on VHS. Complete 35 mm prints of Haldane of the Secret Serviceand The Grim Game exist only in private collections. Haldane of the Secret Service was screened in Los Angeles in 2007. In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent movies. The set includes The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes of The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923.

Answer 4

Yes he was in Mr.Hoefler's five cent circus

It was a circus that traveled the country

Answer 5

He served as president of the Society of American Magicians from 1917 until his death in 1926, so it is safe to assume that he called himself a magician.

Answer 6

Yes