Houdini centennial: Detroit marks 100 years since escape artist's death

Detroit residents are marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Harry Houdini, who died in the city on Halloween in 1926. The famous magician performed in Detroit 19 times between 1894 and his final show. His last appearance took place at the Garrick Theater, a venue that no longer stands. He had only managed one performance before his condition deteriorated, according to Jeremy Dimick, a curator at the Detroit Historical Museum. Dimick said Houdini was too weak to apply his own makeup and collapsed during intermissions. He was eventually carried from the theater to his hotel and then to Grace Hospital.

Doctors at Grace Hospital determined that Houdini had ruptured his appendix. He underwent two surgeries and died several days later. The hospital has also been demolished, leaving no physical structure from his final days in the city. The funeral home that embalmed him, Hamilton Funeral Home, later became a girls' art school before it too closed its doors. Juanita Hammond, who headed the school in the 1980s, showed visitors a storage room with an indented floor used to drain fluids from corpses. She told visitors in 2004 that Houdini had been laid out in that room.

Houdini’s death followed a routine he had followed for years: accepting challenges to take a punch in the stomach. In Montreal, just before traveling to Detroit, a college wrestler punched Houdini several times in the dressing room. Dorothy Young, who worked as Houdini’s stage assistant when she was 17, recalled that Houdini had a specific method to brace his midsection. She said the wrestler did not allow him enough time to protect himself. Despite severe pain and medical advice to rest, Houdini kept his Detroit engagements due to financial pressure to fulfill his contract.

The magician was known for elaborate escapes that tested the limits of human endurance. In 1906, he jumped from Belle Isle Bridge into the Detroit River while bound in handcuffs. Although reports from that year indicated the river was not frozen, later movies depicted him leaping into ice. By 1914, he had introduced the Water Torture Cell, a coffin-sized box filled with water. Young said she always watched the act from the wings because it was exciting. She noted that Bess Houdini, the magician’s wife, stood nearby with a secret code in case he could not escape.

Bess Houdini held séances for years after her husband’s death, trying to communicate with his spirit. On Halloween 1936, a decade after his death, she said she received a final sign from him. She later appeared in a movie cameo reenacting that moment. She noted that Houdini had spent his final years exposing psychics, so she found it ironic that his death occurred on such a date. The timing has fueled conspiracy theories, including claims that his death certificate was altered or that the wrestler who punched him was hired by angry psychics.

John Sherwood, who organizes séances at the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Mich., is planning an event for this Halloween. The museum is located about 100 miles west of Detroit. Sherwood uses an aged metal can from Houdini’s workshop, known as the Houdini milk can, for these gatherings. Houdini once performed a trick where he locked himself inside the can filled with warm water. He would escape and wait backstage while the audience grew anxious. Sherwood said previous attempts to contact Houdini’s spirit have not succeeded, but he believes the centennial might offer a unique opportunity for the magician to appear.

Sherwood also mentioned that some participants have placed a lox and bagel sandwich in the milk can, appealing to Houdini’s Jewish heritage. The goal is to invite his spirit to take a bite. Houdini’s legacy in Detroit is now preserved mostly in memory and museum collections rather than in the physical locations where he lived, worked, and died. The Garrick Theater, Grace Hospital, and the Hamilton Funeral Home have all been replaced by other structures or demolished.