# Harry Houdini A Spy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 28, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876 "2006-12-28T17:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/1 "2006-12-28T17:06:15Z")
And possible murder victim, it seems. That’s the claims the authors of [_The Secret Life of Houdini_](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780743272070&itm=1) make, and given that no less a figure than Penn Jillette raves about the book (he interviewed the authors on his radio show, which is how I heard about it). The argument that authors make that Houdini might have been poisoned is that there was no autopsy of Houdini performed, and that his wife was ill with the same symptoms at the same time. In fact, Mrs. Houdini’s symptoms were initially _worse_ than Harry’s and doctors were more concerned about her, than they were Harry. Given that appendicitis _isn’t_ contaigious, it does sound a bit suspicious. I haven’t had a chance to pick up the book, but it sounds fascinating, and if Penn Jillette likes it, then it’s got to be good. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/2 "2006-12-28T17:14:07Z")
Jillette has a financial interest in making olde-tyme magicians seem cool, though, since he and Teller emulate them. And proof of poisoning is the lack of an autopsy? Gosh. That makes _perfect_ sense. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/3 "2006-12-28T17:14:56Z")
The book is well worth it – it’s one of the most thoroughly researched biographies of Houdini – and while some parts are quite speculative, the authors are always straightforward about what’s known as fact and what’s conjecture. The parts about Houdini working for the Secret Service as a spy are quite plausible, IMHO, but the stuff about being murdered by crazed spiritualists is a _bit_ of a stretch, I think. It’s certainly possible, but so far the only evidence is quite circumstantial. The footnotes were far too lengthy to be included in the book, so if you’re interested in them, they can be found [here](http://www.conjuringarts.org/houdini/index.shtml). [sub]DISCLAIMER: The author, Bill Kalush, is a friend and client of mine and I wrote the software which they used to compile and search through the 700,000 or so pages of research for the book.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/4 "2006-12-28T20:54:19Z")
BTW, on a semi-serious note, Houdini recently [declined to comment](http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00A17FE385B0C728CDDA80994DE404482) on what he thinks of the new book. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/5 "2006-12-28T21:32:35Z")
If I were a spymaster recruiting spies, I would want people who can avoid being noticed; meaning, I would not want celebrities of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/6 "2006-12-28T22:29:36Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] If I were a spymaster recruiting spies, I would want people who can avoid being noticed; meaning, I would not want celebrities of any kind. [/QUOTE] On the other hand, celebrities have ready-access to the rich and powerful, and Houdini in particular had access to police, military and security chiefs all over the world, because he consulted for them regarding escape techniques and security. It is known that he trained American soldiers in escape techniques, and he was already friends with John Wilkie, a fellow magician, long before he became head of the Secret Service. Houdini had consulted for Wilkie on many occasions when he was a Chicago detective. And Wilkie makes frequent references to him in his diary entries about Secret Service operations immediately prior to the First World War. (This was before there was a CIA to conduct international espionage.) I think the case for Houdini being a spy is a fairly strong one, but you’ll have to read the book and judge for yourself. The alleged assassination conspiracy is a bit harder to swallow, though. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/7 "2006-12-29T05:30:11Z")
Certainly, there is a long line of mystics who have had the ear and discretion of Kings, Potentates, Powers, and lesser Offices. It is not outside of precedent and well believable, from Merlin, Simon Magus (Saint Paul), to Rasputin, and even Matahari. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/8 "2006-12-29T05:58:48Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] Certainly, there is a long line of mystics who have had the ear and discretion of Kings, Potentates, Powers, and lesser Offices. It is not outside of precedent and well believable, from Merlin, Simon Magus (Saint Paul), to Rasputin, and even Matahari. [/QUOTE] Houdini would be rather insulted to be compared to mystics, _especially_ Rasputin, with whom he had a rather interesting relationship (read the book!) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/9 "2006-12-29T06:09:47Z")
…and then there’s the whole David Blaine - Madonna connection. It’s the Pop Illuminati infiltration. Madonna can destabilize the third world with an adoption. (I heard that Penn Jillette is on personal terms with Bono _and_ Michael Jackson!) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/10 "2006-12-29T06:33:23Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] If I were a spymaster recruiting spies, I would want people who can avoid being noticed; meaning, I would not want celebrities of any kind. [/QUOTE] Houdini would no doubt have been a master of disguise, plus with the lack of television and internet, the odds of someone being able to recognize your face readily would probably be lower than they are today. Supposedly during WWII the OSS (the forerunner of the CIA) hired magicians to help them conceal weapons and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/11 "2007-03-23T17:28:00Z")
[Family wants body exhumed to see if he was murdered.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6503032,00.html) > [@](#): > > The circumstances surrounding Harry Houdini’s sudden death were as murky as the rivers where he often performed death-defying stunts. Despite a medical explanation, rumors that the escape artist was murdered have persisted for decades. > > Eighty-one years after Houdini died on Halloween 1926, his great-nephew wants to exhume the magician’s body to determine if enemies poisoned him for debunking their bogus claims of contact with the dead. > > ``His death shocked the entire nation, if not the world. Now, maybe it’s time to take a second look,‘’ George Hardeen said. > > New York lawyer Joseph Tacopina, who is assisting the family in clearing any legal hurdles to the exhumation, said Friday that the paperwork necessary for the exhumation would be filed Monday. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-houdini-a-spy/385876/12 "2007-03-23T17:56:39Z")
Hmmmm, Arthur Conan Doyle is quoted as making threats on Houdini’s life and Houdini’s great-nephew, George Hardeen, is chief spokesman for the president of the Navajo Nation. Could Tony Hillerman be involved, too?