Adrien Brody plays Harry Houdini, the famous escape artist and vaudeville performer, in a new two-part drama on the History Channel tonight and tomorrow night.
The immigrant son of a Hungarian rabbi, Houdini (1874-1926) was the most famous performer working in vaudeville 100 years ago.
He specialised in escapes from incredibly constricting situations, like being shackled and lowered upside down into a glass case filled with water.
The performer was billed as “Harry Handcuff Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Because he was so popular in Europe in the years before World War I, the US government recruited him as a spy.
As depicted in the mini-series, his wife Bess (played by Kristen Connolly) becomes increasingly anxious for her husband’s safety, while continuing to be his stage assistant.
