https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_Maskelyne
A bit of flim-flam but I would argue he was better placed for his skills. Not an escapologist but in the room next door on stage doing misdirection.
His war record is a bit mixed. I think he may have been a human version of "carrots help night vision"
Houdini died on Halloween right after performing at the Garick theatre in Detroit. As a result he is remembered on each Halloween. When I was a kid there would be magic shows on that day.
He has a cool museum in Appleton too
> Similarly, magician and paranormal debunker James Randi commented, “If Houdini had been a spy that would have gotten out. He never would have been able to sit on it.”
If Josephine Baker was a spy, why not Houdini?
She was in a war in a way Houdini was not so their circumstances were rather different.
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