NYPR Archives & Preservation
Houdini's Little Brother: The Keeper of His Secrets
On July 3, 1939, Theo Hardeen, the sibling and heir to the secrets of the great escape artist Harry Houdini, came to the WNYC studio. In a scripted interview, Hardeen talked about working closely with his brother but said he would take Houdini's secrets to the grave. It was a statement that was not entirely true. While he reportedly burned most of Houdini's papers, the illusionist's library of magic and spiritualism was left to the Library of Congress. In this brief interview, Hardeen reveals little, only outlining the basic principles of magic. Following Harry Houdini's death in 1926, Hardeen toured the vaudeville circuit performing many of his and his brother's escape routines. His appearance on WNYC's The Voice of the Theatre is mainly due to his role in Olsen and Johnson's Broadway musical review Hellzapoppin.
Hardeen was born Ferencz Deszo Weisz in Hungary on March 4, 1876. He was Harry Houdini's younger sibling and was first called Deshi, then Dash. Immigration officers in New York City changed the Weisz family name to Weiss and Ferencz's became Theodore. Later he changed it once more and became Theodore Hardeen. So named, Hardeen became established as an escape artist in his own right and the heir to his brother's secrets.
According to the Library of Congress, Hardeen actively promoted himself as the heir to his brother's magic, and always remained 'the brother of Houdini.' Although he was commonly referred to as 'the handcuff king,' Theo Hardeen could never quite compete with the dramatic and creative efforts of his older sibling. After entertaining troops during World War II, he died in 1945.
The Voice of the Theatre was launched on June 12, 1939. The program was a short-lived experiment by the League of New York Theatres for promoting their productions with short interviews, show gossip, and news. Based on newspaper radio listings, it appears to have continued through the end of September 1939. This broadcast, however, is the only known surviving example of the show. Along with the interview are general theater announcements and personnel changes on productions as well as a touch of gossip about Lillian Hellman's new house and Katherine Hepburn's limousine, driver, and bodyguard.
In this broadcast the genial host Ezra McIntosh also answers a series of listener questions followed by "a brief memory picture" of music from Babes in Toyland and several other plays. McIntosh began his career with NBC in the early 1930s. His tenure at WNYC appears to have been brief, although he can be heard introducing the distinguished guests at the dedication ceremony for WNYC's WPA murals in August 1939. McIntosh also spent time with WKNY in Kingston, New York, and WWNC in Ashville, North Carolina. In 1947 he reportedly directed an NBC program starring the blind pianist Alec Templeton.
