Monday, December 23, 2013

Unpublished Houdini: FOREVER

Today we have the final installment of Unpublished Houdini. In this series I shared a new never-before-published photo of Houdini every Monday from our generous Hinson Endowment.

This portrait shot of Houdini has appeared in at least one documentary, but I don't believe it has ever seen print; so I think it's a perfect way to end our Unpublished Houdini series. What can I say? This is a fantastic shot of Houdini, capturing his iconic gaze and intensity, and the background gives it a very contemporary feel. It's almost like this was put together in present day to exaggerate the mystery of Houdini. But this is Houdini's own work in his own time. It's Houdini then, now, FOREVER.

"I am going to live as long as I want to and on my 100th birthday I am going to do my upside-down strait-jacket escape hanging from the tallest building in New York City."
-HOUDINI

I hope you all enjoyed our weekly dose of Unpublished Houdini. But don't worry, I still have plenty of unpublished shots of Houdini and Bess from our Hinson Endowment and I'll continue to share them in posts throughout 2014.

The Complete Unpublished Houdini:
The ladder tie
Man of action
Hollywood pals
Confidence
In Los Angeles
Bess at home
Harry at work
Tourists
With his baby
From Beyond
Among Gods
FOREVER
at

13 comments:

  1. Leo HeviaDecember 23, 2013 at 1:23 PM

    A great photo John! Houdini had that penetrating stare that could go right through you. Please keep spoiling us with those unpublished photos!

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  2. DAVID SALTMANDecember 23, 2013 at 2:51 PM

    Love this series!

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  3. Joe M. NotaroDecember 23, 2013 at 4:24 PM

    Nice photo and Houdini quote. I thoroughly enjoyed the series and look forward to more photos from the Hinson endowment in 2014.

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  4. melboDecember 23, 2013 at 8:45 PM

    Thank you for this - it's been a good series!

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  5. John CoxDecember 23, 2013 at 9:37 PM

    Thanks gang. More unpublished pics to come in relevant stories, including one that will be among the first posts of the New Year.

    So does anyone recall which documentary this image is in?

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  6. Tom IntervalDecember 24, 2013 at 1:45 AM

    Fantastic, John and John. Thanks again for sharing all of these.

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  7. Beth S.December 24, 2013 at 5:23 AM

    This is such a great end to a great series of photos - just dat stare! The charismatic, penetrative, and not a little intimidating stare that says, "Bitches, be real. I am Houdini!" :)

    I love that quote too - "I'm going to live as long as I want to..." If he could have performed the strait jacket escape in 1974, that would have been epic, but alas he died over half a century too soon (and wasn't his involvement in films his way of trying to get away from physically challenging escapes like that? So yeah, Master of Bullshit he was too, lol).

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  8. Beth S.December 24, 2013 at 5:25 AM

    Over... I mean almost. It's too early in the morning to do math. :p

    Also, Merry Christmas John and John, and thank you!

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  9. UnknownDecember 24, 2013 at 9:33 AM

    Can anyone ascertain what pin he is wearing?

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  10. NarinderDecember 24, 2013 at 10:36 AM

    Love the photo. Pose says it all. " I am the Great Houdini "
    HH ! :-)

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  11. Leo HeviaDecember 24, 2013 at 10:38 AM

    Possibly the Masonic symbol? I believe Houdini joined the Masons sometime in the 1920s.

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  12. John CoxDecember 24, 2013 at 11:28 AM

    Here's a close up on the pin. Looks like an Iron Cross? Could be Masonic.

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