The most famous magician of the 20th century. Born Ehrich Weiss, he died in 1926. At his peak he earned as much as $200,000 a week in today's money, more than any magician of his time, despite peers dismissing his tricks as "awful stuff" and "a bunch of junk".
Houdini had a knack for selling wonder. He used newspaper offices and police stations as stages for his escapes, ensuring press coverage. He invited audiences to share peril by trying to hold their breath while he struggled, handcuffed, to escape from a sealed milk can full of water. In 1899 a newspaper claimed his handcuff escape involved a hidden key; he invited detectives to watch him perform naked.
He threatened to sue imitators for copying acts he claimed to have patented (though one cannot patent an idea while keeping it secret). He copyrighted a performance of his "Chinese water torture" trick as a play, allowing him to sue a copycat in Germany and win. While the case was pending, he taught the trick to a rival of the German conjuror and lent her the apparatus.
In 1999 magician David Blaine buried himself alive in Manhattan for a week, inspired by Houdini's burial-alive escape. An estimated 75,000 people stopped by.
Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life