How Did Harry Houdini Die? A Look at the Magician's Unexpected Death — and Why His Wife Held a Seance Every Halloween After

Harry Houdini made a career out of defying death — and yet it wasn't his thrilling escapes from water-filled vessels or skyscraper ledges that caused his untimely demise.

According to the Yale University Press, the famed illusionist and escape artist died of a ruptured appendix. However, his mission to debunk mediums, a suspiciously timed punch to the stomach and the holiday he died on led to years of speculation about what really happened.

On Oct. 21, 1926, Houdini began feeling unwell. But he ignored it — as well as an ankle injury he suffered during a previous show — and agreed to meet with a university student named Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead before a performance at the Princess Theatre in Montreal. While backstage, Whitehead asked to test Houdini's theory that he could withstand any blow to the stomach and then punched Houdini multiple times.

The following week, the illusionist became increasingly ill and developed a 102-degree fever. Houdini eventually agreed to go to the hospital on Oct. 25, where, during an operation, the surgeon saw that his appendix had burst. On Oct. 31, he was dead.

So, how did Harry Houdini die? Here's everything to know about the escape artist's death — and if that infamous punch actually caused it.

How did Harry Houdini die?

The official cause of Houdini's death was diffuse peritonitis, which is when a burst appendix spills bacteria into the abdominal cavity. Because antibiotics were not available in the early 20th century, this was often a fatal condition.

Houdini began feeling unwell over a week before he died. Despite his doctor's advice to cancel his shows and rest in Montreal, he traveled 15 hours to his next performance in Detroit. On Oct. 21, he was examined by a local physician who concluded that Houdini's high fever and abdominal pain were the result of acute appendicitis. PBS reported that instead of going to the hospital, the illusionist told the doctor: "I’ll do this show if it’s my last.”

After the show, Houdini returned to his hotel, where he continued to refuse medical treatment. It wasn't until his wife, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Houdini, urged him to go that he was admitted to the hospital. He underwent two operations, one to remove his appendix and the other to introduce a serum into his abdominal cavity to fight the infection. Despite these efforts, he developed sepsis and died on Oct. 31.

When did Harry Houdini die?

According to PBS, Houdini died at 1:26 p.m. on Oct. 31, 1926. Because his death fell on Halloween, many conspiracy theories about ghosts and supernatural forces began circulating.

Some psychic mediums, angry that he had previously debunked them as frauds, took credit for predicting Houdini's death. TheYale Press reported that there was speculation that Whitehead was guided by an "angry spirit" to deliver those punches and rupture Houdini's appendix.

However, doctors who have looked at the escape artist's medical records more recently concluded that the two events were unrelated.

Despite these findings, Houdini's relatives requested that his body be exhumed in 2007 to ensure he wasn't poisoned, which they came to believe after studying their ancestor's case. After relatives of Bess opposed the investigation, it appears that the exhumation request was declined.

Who was the man who punched Harry Houdini, Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead?

Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead was a student at McGill University in Montreal in 1926. According to the institution's website, Houdini visited the school on Oct. 20, 1926, to give a presentation debunking a Boston medium. Afterward, Whitehead and another student visited the magician with the hopes of sketching him.

During that meeting, Whitehead challenged Houdini's claim that his abdominal muscles could withstand any blow and punched him in the stomach three times without warning. The magician even reportedly asked Whitehead to stop mid-punch because he wasn't able to brace himself properly.

Charges were never brought against Whitehead, but doctors at the time did believe Houdini's peritonitis was the result of those punches. According to HISTORY, the magician's life insurance company even had to pay his wife a double indemnity because his death was reported as accidental. 

Though he died 11 days after the punches, a surgeon told the Yale University Press in 2020 that "no causal link has ... been found between trauma and appendicitis ... and the fact that these two events occurred within days of each other must be seen as coincidence.”

Where did Harry Houdini die?

Houdini died in Detroit at Grace Hospital, according to PBS. He was on tour at the time and in the city to perform in front of a sold-out crowd at the Garrick Theatre.

In 2020, Michigan History Magazine recounted how he struggled through the two-and-a-half-hour show that would be his last. The magician made coins, alarm clocks and even a woman disappear despite battling a 104-degree fever and severe abdominal pain.

Houdini reportedly collapsed after the curtain fell at intermission but still came back for the second half of the show.

How old was Harry Houdini when he died?

Houdini was 52 years old when he died. The escape artist was born on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary, as Erik Weisz. His family immigrated to the United States when he was 4 years old and changed their last name to Weiss.

Erik, who became Ehrich, ran away to join the circus when he was 9. It was there that he started going by Harry Houdini, a name inspired by French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin.

What were Harry Houdini's last words?

Michigan History Magazine reported that the beloved magician died with his wife, Bess, and brother, Theo Houdini, by his side. His final words were whispered to Theo. "I’m tired of fighting, he said. "Guess this is going to get me.” 

According to the Library of Congress, the Houdinis made a pact that whoever died first would try to contact the other from beyond the grave. If contact wasn't made within a decade, then it was proof that communication with the dead was impossible. They even had a code word: "Rosabelle."

So for the next 10 years, Bess held a séance every Halloween to try to reach her husband. Her last attempt was in 1936, and she later declared that “10 years is long enough to wait for any man.”

How did the public react to Harry Houdini's death?

Houdini's funeral was held on Nov. 4, 1926, in Queens, N.Y. According to The Guardian, over 2,000 people attended to pay their respects — many of whom were shocked that the seemingly invincible performer could die from such ordinary causes.

His obituary in The New York Times echoed that shock by describing him as a man “who so often had seemed to thousands to be cheating the very jaws of death.”

What legacy did Harry Houdini leave behind?

Houdini is generally considered to be one of the greatest escape artists of all time. His name is synonymous with disappearing and is still referenced in popular culture today.

There are three museums dedicated to his life and career — the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, The House of Houdini in Hungary and Houdini Revealed in New York — and multiple magic organizations like The Magic Castle in Los Angeles still hold séances in his honor.