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Question about Houdini's brothers...

ZoneIII

New Blood
Z
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
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5
As a boy, my goal in life was to become a magician and Houdini was my hero. Living about 20 miles west of Chicago when I was in my early teens, I used to get on a train and go down to Chicago's famous Maxwell street. (This was in the early 1960s). Maxwell Street was a dilapidated open-market where no young boy had any business at all but we had fun there. I remember walking somewhere in that area, perhaps on the walk back to the train station, and seeing an old locksmith shop. Being a young escape artist myself, I couldn't resist going in. It was a dusty old shop. Maybe I could buy some lock picks, etc. There was an old man at the counter and when he found out that I was a budding magician, he told me that he was Harry Houdini's brother and then told long stories about Houdini and himself. Even then, I was skeptical and I didn't know whether to believe him or not but years later I remember seeing something that indicated that he may have been telling the truth. It may have been an article in a newspaper.

I know that one of Houdini's brothers, Theo (Hardeen), was also a magician but I cannot seem to find much information about him at all - where he ended up, where and when he died, etc. I can find no information about Houdini's other brothers. Does anyone know if one of Houdini's brothers may have ended up as a locksmith in Chicago? When did Hardeen die?

Thanks
 
Thanks much!

Oddly, the old guy would have been about the age that Hardeen would have been if he had lived that long - mid to late 80s. Do you know if Houdini had any other brothers besides the three? As I mentioned previously, I vaguely remember reading something years after that incident about a brother of Houdini living or dying in Chicago. I don't remember the specifics but I do remember thinking at the time, "That darn old guy might have been telling me the truth!" I had forgotten about this long ago but something today reminded me of it.
 
ZoneIII said:
Do you know if Houdini had any other brothers besides the three?
Click to expand...

Harry Houdini had four brothers: Theodore, Leopold, Nathan and William. Houdini also had and a sister, Carrie.
 
Thanks again.

Do you know anything about Nathan? Was it possible that he became a locksmith and ended up in Chicago?
 
Other sources name a brother, Herman, and a sister, Gladys.

According to this source:

There Erich Weiss was born to Samuel and Cecilia Weiss, along with brothers Herman (1863), Nathan (1868), William (1870), Theo (1876), Leopold (1879), and sister Gladys (1891).
Click to expand...

This source contains, "older businessman-brother Nathan."
 
Interesting reading. Thanks for the links. It all brings back memories. I still have several Houdini biographies somewhere in my libary from my childhood collection. I'm going to have to dig them out and re-read them.

In my old age (55) I am beginning to relearn magic, primarily to amaze my seven grandchildren but I'm having a ball with adults as well. It's going to take a while for these scarred and knarled fingers to master sleight-of-hand again but it will come back.

I must be in my second childhood!

Thanks again for your time and help.
 
Hello ZoneIII, maybe you should e-mail Randi your story?

I'm sure he'd be interested to read it and he's probably one of the greatest authorities on Houdini.

Give it a try!
 
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