Playback serverIf a title won’t play, switch servers.
American Experience
Season 12 · Episode 7
Houdini
0.055mJanuary 24, 2000
Mandy Patinkin narrates a biography of Harry Houdini (1874-1926) that focuses on his amazing feats (later ones are seen in clips; others are re-created) and the obsessions---notably his mother and death---that shaped his personality. "Escapology" was also high on the list. "He was so insanely devoted to what he did," observes author E.L. Doctorow, "that the ultimate insanity of his life never occurred to him."
Episodes
- Episode 1New York (1): The Country and the City
- Episode 2New York (2): Order and Disorder
- Episode 3New York (3): Sunshine and Shadow
- Episode 4New York (4): The Power and the People
- Episode 5New York (5): Cosmopolis
- Episode 6Eleanor Roosevelt
- Episode 7Houdini
- Episode 8Nixon's China Game
- Episode 9The Duel
- Episode 10John Brown's Holy War
- Episode 11George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire (1)
- Episode 12George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire (2)
- Episode 13Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory
- Episode 14Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life
- Episode 15The Wizard of Photography