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Legacy (from Wikipedia)
1936 - On October 31, 1936, Houdini's widow held the "Final Houdini Seance" atop of the roof of The Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, California. While Houdini did not come back, a sudden mysterious rain storm after the memorial candle had been extinguished led some press to speculate this was Houdini's way of signaling from beyond the grave. A recording of the séance was made and issued as a record album.
1953 - Houdini, a mostly fictionalized biopic of Houdini's life, was made. This movie, starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, has contributed, in part, to several misconceptions about Houdini's life. For example, it portrays the cause of Houdini's death to be the magician's failure to escape from the Chinese Water Torture Cell. (Curtis' Houdini agrees to seek medical attention "when the tour is over.") Houdini actually developed the Chinese Torture Cell trick fourteen years before he died and performed it numerous times.
1968 - The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame was opened on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. At its opening, this museum contained the majority of Houdini's personal collection of magic paraphernalia. One of Houdini's death wishes was that his entire collection be given to his brother Theodore (also known as the magician Hardeen) and burned upon Theodore's death. Against his wishes, forty years after Houdini's death, the items were taken from storage and sold. Two entrepreneurs purchased the items and renovated a former meat-packing plant on Clifton Hill, Ontario, Canada, to house the museum. The Hall of Fame was moved in 1972 to its final location on the top of Clifton Hill. Séances were held every year at the museum on October 31, the anniversary of Houdini's death.
1968 - Stuart Damon plays Houdini in a lavishly staged London musical, Man of Magic.
1975 - Houdini received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located on the northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Orange Drive, just across from the Grauman's Chinese Theater and down the street from The Magic Castle.
1975 - Houdini repeatedly appears in E. L. Doctorow's historical novel Ragtime.
1976 - Houdini was played by Paul Michael Glaser, of Starsky and Hutch fame, in a 1976 TV movie called The Great Houdinis (aka The Great Houdini), which was also highly fictionalized. The film focused on Houdini's relationship with his wife and mother, who were portrayed as frequently bickering (although, in reality, they had cordial relations) and on his fascination with life after death. The cast also included Sally Struthers, Bill Bixby, and Ruth Gordon. Actor/Houdini authority Patrick Culliton played Houdini's assistant Franz Kukol.
1977 - Poem "Ha! Ha! Houdini!" published by Patti Smith.
1978 - Houdini was a key historical figure appearing in Ragtime the 1978 novel, the 1981 film, and the 1998 musical.
1982 - The Kate Bush album The Dreaming includes a song inspired by Houdini and his wife.
1985 - The City of Appleton, Wisconsin, constructed the Houdini Plaza on the site of the magician's childhood home.
1985 - Wil Wheaton played Houdini in Young Harry Houdini, a made-for-TV movie that aired on ABC as a "Disney Sunday Movie." The film also featured Jeffrey DeMunn as the adult Houdini. DeMunn first played Houdini in the film version of Ragtime.[42]
1989 - Canadian synth pop act Kon Kan release "Harry Houdini," the third single from the Move to Move album.
1993 - Grunge rock band The Melvins released Houdini, their second album. In the band illustration, each band member is shown with six fingers (Houdini sometimes used a fake sixth finger to hide lock picks).
1994 - Appears in Spawn issue #20 and serves as Spawn's mentor
1996 - Australian Rock Band The Church released their album, Magician Among the Spirits, inspired by Houdini's life; the cover features a negative of a photograph of Houdini.
1997 - Actor Harvey Keitel plays Houdini and Peter O'Toole Conan Doyle in the film FairyTale: A True Story, set during World War I and portraying the alleged photographing of live fairies by two English schoolgirls. The two are seen as collegial even though they disagree as to the validity of spiritualism. Keitel hired Patrick Culliton and Stanley Palm as "Houdini advisors."
1998 - Ragtime, the Broadway musical version of the movie, premiered on January 18, 1998. It featured Houdini as a character and has a song called "Harry Houdini, Master Escapist." The book was written by Terrence McNally, with music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. The play ran on Broadway until January 16, 2000, and won four Tony Awards. Both the movie and the play are based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel of the same title.
1998 - Johnathon Schaech played Houdini in the TNT original movie Houdini. The film co-starred Stacy Edwards as Bess and Mark Ruffalo as his brother, Dash (aka Theo. Hardeen). The TV movie first aired on December 6, 1998.
1999 - Novelist Norman Mailer played Houdini in the highly experimental film Cremaster 2, which told the story of murderer Gary Gilmore, who, in real life, claimed to be related to Houdini.
2001 - Houdini appears as a character in Glen David Gold's bestselling novel Carter Beats The Devil.
2001 - The Houdini Seance is mounted as a theatrical piece in Chicago by Neil Tobin and becomes an annual Halloween event at Excalibur (nightclub).
2002 - The United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp with a replica of Houdini's favorite publicity poster on July 3, 2002. Penn and Teller make references to Houdini in their show Bullshit!. They are doing some of the same things that Houdini did: magic tricks and debunking claims of the supernatural. There is a Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini and is run by magicians Dick Brooks and Dorothy Dietrich. The museum also holds an annual Houdini séance. While touring in the United States, Houdini met Joe Keaton and his family vaudeville act. It's said that after Joe's young son fell down a flight of stairs unscathed, Houdini remarked, "Your kid is quite the buster" (buster being a stage name for a fall) and gave a name to comedy legend Buster Keaton (the kid).
2005 - After taking over Portsmouth FC and saving them from almost certain relegation to the English Championship, Harry Rednapp known as "Harry Houdini" in honour of the somewhat more famous Harry Houdini. He has now taken on a similar mantel with Tottenham Hotspur FC.
2005 - The Japanese drama series Trick makes references to Houdini as an example of a magician who dedicated his life to debunking spiritualists. The series is about a magician hired to investigate and debunk spiritualists.
2007 - Houdini - The Musical, a theatrical production based on the life of Houdini, premiered at The Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare before going on tour across the United Kingdom. The show features many of Houdini's famous acts, including the Chinese Water Torture Cell.
2007 - A movie, Death Defying Acts, starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones was made which is based on Houdini's life.
2008 - Stone Temple Pilots would reunite for the first time at his estate in Hollywood
2008 - Swedish band I'm From Barcelona releases their second album, titled "Who Killed Harry Houdini"
2008 - Escape artist Curtis Lovell II dedicated his buried alive stunt to Harry Houdini. It took Lovell 16 minutes to escape and over 2000 people came to witness this Houdini style stunt in the city of Grand Terrace California. CBS, KCAL9 and local newspapers covered the event.
