2/13/2024 0 Comments Harry houdini mayer samuel weiszWhile giving his final performance in Montreal on the following night, the crowd noticed that Erik doubled over in pain several times. Before he could tighten the muscles in his stomach to lessen the blow, Whitehead gave Erik “two short-armed punches to the pit of his stomach.” Erik shuddered because, as he told the boys, he was not prepared for the punches. To his surprise, many of the students took advantage of the invitation, including Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead.ĭuring the discussion in Erik’s dressing room, Whitehead remarked, “You would hardly feel a blow in the stomach, would you?” “Certainly no,” Erik replied. At the end of his lecture, Erik invited them back to his dressing room for further discussion if they were interested. Rather than verbalizing an answer, he took out a hat pin and ran it through his cheek. One student asked if it was possible to painlessly pass needles through his cheek. Following his lecture, he answered questions from the students. Topics of his lecture included his ability to withstand immense pain without so much as a wince. On October 21, 1936, Erik lectured before the male student body of McGill University in Montreal. They performed together for the remainder of Erik’s career. Within a short time, Erik and Bess married. In 1894, while performing with his brother, Theodore, Erik met another sideshow performer named Wilhelmina Beatrice “Bess” Rahner. For the rest of his life, Erik’s world revolved around entertaining and amazing crowds of people. Erik often performed in small tent acts, dime museums and circus sideshows, usually with another performer to double the draw and to share expenses. At nine years old, Erik made his public debut as a trapeze artist under the name “Ehrich, the Prince of the Air”. To help earn money for the struggling family, young Erik held several jobs. Five years later, they moved into a boarding house in New York City. In 1882, they moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father, Mayer Samuel Weisz, was a Rabbi who was often in search of employment. To lessen confusion, this article will refer to him by his birth name, Erik.Įrik’s family moved often to find work. The family settled in Appleton, Wisconsin and changed their last name to the German spelling Weiss. When Erik was four years old, his family emigrated to the United States.
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