Brother Harry Houdini

 

Brother Harry Houdini.  March 24, 1874 - October 31st 1926

Brother Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874, to a large Jewish family.  He was one of seven children and his parents, Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz and Cecília Steiner brought the family to the United States when Erik was four.  They arrived in America on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia, changing their name to the German spelling Weiss and Erik’s name to Ehrich.

This famous photograph captures legendary escape artist Harry Houdini preparing to leap from the Harvard Bridge into the freezing Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 30, 1908

Known to his brethren by his real name, Brother Ehrich Weisz was initiated on July 17, 1923, into St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City, a "daylight lodge" specifically designed for performers and theatrical people and famous as the first strictly "daylight" Masonic lodge in the world.

He was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on August 21, 1924.

He became a member of the Scottish Rite (Valley of New York) in 1923, reaching the 32nd degree, and joined the Mecca Shrine Temple in New York City shortly before his death.

Charity Work: Houdini famously held a performance for the Scottish Rite Valley of New York, raising funds for members in need, drawing a crowd of 4,000.

Houdini, who was also the president of the Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) from 1917 to 1926, was part of a cohort of magicians in the fraternity, including Harry Kellar and Howard Thurston. 

Houdini and his wife Bess

He married Wilhelmina Beatrice “Bess” Rahner on June 22, 1894, and they remained married until his death in 1926 — 32 years together.  They performed as “The Houdinis”, with Bess assisting in illusions such as Metamorphosis. They had no children, reportedly due to a medical condition Bess had.

He died aged 52 on October 31st 1926 and this day was also chosen as International Magic Day in his honour.  His funeral in 1926 included full Masonic rites

Legacy: In 2023, the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library inducted him into their Masonic Hall of Fame. 

Ad for the American film Terror Island (1920) with Harry Houdini, page 3005 of the April 3, 1920 Motion Picture News

Resources:

Published in Masonica, Freemasons NZ 25 April, 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Houdini
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063789810657

Images:

Header Image: Portrait of Harry Houdini (c. 1914). From the McManus-Young Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. No known copyright restrictions; in the Public Domain

Image 2: Thurston, John H. (John Henry), 1852-, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Image 3: By photographer Smith, St. Louis; McManus-Young Collection - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c12428.  Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7778406

Image 4: By Paramount - Artcraft Pictures - Motion Picture News (Mar-Jun 1920) at the Internet Archive, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31001355