Greenehaven resident filmed for documentary about Harry Houdini

George Hardeen is the famous escape artist's closest living relative.

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PAGE – Harry Houdini was not only one of the greatest showmen, but also one of the greatest self-promoters of all time.


“He would travel from town to town, go to the newspaper, hang from their flagpole in a straitjacket upside down and escape,” said local George Hardeen, Houdini’s great-nephew. “And of course, the newspaper’s going to announce that he’s going to do this, and they cover it.”


In fact, a Nov. 6, 1916, photograph taken by Pittsburgh Sun staff photographer N.M. Jeannero shows Houdini writhe straitjacketed while dangling upside down over a massive crowd at the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Wood Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.


“And he would do it all over the country and he would sell out his show in that town for the entire week before he moved to the next town,” Hardeen said about his great-uncle who he learned about when he was a teenager.


On Nov. 6, 2016, 100 years ago to the day, a man named Lee Terbosic, a magician and an escape artist, recreated Houdini’s stunt at the same location where Houdini successfully escaped from a straitjacket. Terbosic publicized the escape as “Houdini 100,” drawing a large crowd. The crowd wasn’t “Houdini-sized,” but the crowd was still much larger than suspended straitjacket escapes these days, according to the “Wild About Harry” blog.


“Houdini’s Last Secrets,” a four-part docuseries about Houdini’s methods is coming to the Science Channel. It is set to premiere Jan. 6, 2019, at 10 p.m., according to Hardeen, who has been traveling across the world in recent months to interview magicians and Houdini maestros for the show.


“And my co-hosts are Steve Wolf and (Terbosic),” Hardeen said in an interview with the Lake Powell Chronicle before his flight to Austin on Thursday morning. “(Wolf) was the master stunt-builder (and blast master). We built our interpretation of Houdini’s apparatus, such as the ‘(Chinese) Water Torture Cell,’ the ‘bullet catch,’ … and ‘buried alive.’”
Terbosic was the magician for the show. He is a working magician, the only job he’s ever had since he was 13 years old, who is in the process of creating a magic conservatory or a theater in Pittsburgh, Terbosic’s hometown, said Hardeen.


“That’s what Lee (Terbosic) does,” Hardeen said. “He recreated three of Houdini’s stunts. … he did the ‘water torture cell’ everywhere.”


Houdini’s water torture cell stunt was the greatest and most sensational of all his escapes. In this trick, Houdini escapes a contraption resembling a fish tank filled with water. With his feet manacled, Houdini is placed head down, in full view of the audience.


“He’d make the audience wait as long as an hour,” Hardeen said. “This was of course before TV, before internet, before special effects. So, people were on the edge of their seats. Women would pass out thinking he was dead or dying or drowning in there. Meanwhile, he might be backstage reading a newspaper waiting for the anticipation to build.”


Hardeen says his great-uncle was also a master psychologist, a showman who could take people to the very edge of anxious anticipation, where he wanted them to be before he revealed himself.


“So, we built one and Lee escapes one,” Hardeen said. “We also built the ‘bullet catch,’ which Houdini may or may not have done. We believe he did this early in his career. But later, once he became famous, other magicians asked him not to do it because 12 magicians actually accidentally killed themselves doing the ‘bullet catch.’ But we’ve recreated it because we’re investigating the science and technology behind Houdini’s tricks.”


Magicians across the world marvel at Houdini’s death-defying performances. His escapes and astonishing illusions have never been equaled, or fully understood. With the help of Hardeen, along with his co-hosts Terbosic and Wolf and a list of others, Houdini’s Last Terbosic and Wolf and a list of others, Houdini’s Last Secrets will uncover the methods to Houdini’s magic and madness, according to a press release by the Discovery Channel.


Catching a speeding bullet, being buried alive, submerging himself in a water torture cell. How did the world’s greatest showman pull off such death-defying stunts?


It has been 92 years since Houdini died on Halloween and Hardeen says nobody knows exactly how his great-uncle did a lot of his stunts.


“The secrets remain secrets, (but) these are our interpretations,” Hardeen said.


Each episode will be centered around one of Houdini’s stunts. The premiere looks at the water torture cell escape to unmask the potential methods Houdini may have used and what the dangers involved could have been.


“Harry Houdini is the definition of mind-blowing,” said Marc Etkind, general manager of the Science Channel. “He was clearly ahead of his time when it came to using engineering to accomplish his stunts, so much so that his methods continue to be debated by today’s master magicians. It’s no wonder that just the name Houdini still stirs the imagination of people, nearly a century after his death.”


 Hardeen says his grandfather, Theo Hardeen, was also a magician and an escape artist. Theo was Houdini’s younger brother. The brothers were partners in magic.


“When they were kids is when they started getting into magic, just like many kids today who get into magic,” Hardeen said. “When Houdini got married to his wife Bess, she became his partner and my grandfather (Theo) did his act on his own until he died (at the age of 69) in 1945.”


“That’s what brings me into this show,” Hardeen said. “The production company for the show–– they found me, which isn’t hard to do because I did an interview in 2011 on (National Public Radio) about Houdini.”


Hardeen says while Wolf stayed at his Stunt Ranch in Austin building equipment, he and Terbosic traveled to interview magicians, museum curators, collectors of Houdini memorabilia: everything from letters to posters and from envelopes to receipts.


“We traveled to New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., London, northern England, and Budapest, (Hungary), where Houdini and my grandfather were born,” Hardeen said. “We began in October and this is considered very fast TV.”


Hardeen is a spokesman for Salt River Project’s Navajo Generating Station. He said his superiors were kind enough to let him take on this once in a lifetime project. He said he has been keeping his bosses updated through a travel log and through pictures that will not be aired on the show.


Those who don’t have the Science Channel can view Houdini’s Last Secrets on Discovery Communications’ SCIgo app, which is available only at the App Store for iOS devices.