A photo of Houdini with his mother and wife.
So I have been looking for the most part at Houdini's family, Cecilia, his childhood, etc. Some/ most of this may not be new (or useful) information, but I'll post it anyway. I'm just going to give little "snippets" and not go into great detail. Hope that's all right. (Most of it comes from Houdini: The Untold Story by Milbourne Christopher. I think there may be another copy in the library, but I'd be happy to lend it to anyone.)
Houdini's father, Samuel Weiss, was a rabbi in Hungary. He was a widower before he met Cecilia. Funny story here (at least according to the sources). Apparently a young friend of his wanted to marry Cecilia and asked Samuel to plead his case to her because he was too shy. Samuel did so, "but as he spoke, [he] realized with dismay that he was speaking for himself." She, of course, knew it all along, and they got married. (Christopher neglected to mention whatever happened to that unfortunately shy friend.)
Ehrich (Houdini) was their third (surviving) son, and they continued to have three more children. They emigrated to America shortly after Ehrich was born. Cecilia claimed that Ehrich never cried as an infant, and she was concerned with how little he slept. I got the sense that he was her favorite (don't know how I got that), and that his father was pretty hard on him. When he was 12, Samuel made him promise to always look after Cecilia, which caused Ehrich to run away in order to find work. When he decided to pursue a career of magic, Samuel was very disappointed, but Cecilia always encouraged him. She was also supportive of his marriage to Bess, who was a Catholic.
One great quote I found from Bess was the following: "I'm the most married person I know. Three times- and to the same man." (She was referring to their civil ceremony and separate ceremonies before a priest and a rabbi.)
Another interesting anecdote is the story of the word "forgive," the message from Cecilia that came after Houdini's death, which is in our script on page 34. The reason why Harry "never stopped hoping to hear the word 'forgive' from his mother" was because of something that occurred between his brothers. The wife of Nathan, Houdini's eldest brother, had left him for the younger brother, Leopold. This scandal disrupted the "close-knit harmony" of the Weiss family. Houdini did not know whether to forgive Leopold or not, and before he could discuss it with his mother, she died. So, apparently Cecilia was finally telling Houdini that he should forgive Leopold, and that is why he wanted to hear that word from her.
One last thing: Cecilia kept a grandfather clock that she would only use when Houdini was gone, in order to count the time until he would return to her again.
One idea I had: if somehow somewhere in the script Cecilia could refer to Houdini as "Ehrich," it might emphasize how special and intimate their relationship was. I get the sense both from the script and from researching that his mother brought a different side out of Houdini. She presents a part of him that was not publicized, and I think that part of him makes him very intriguing, especially when juxtaposed with his almost militant attitude towards Margery and spiritualism. It could also be confusing or awkward, I don't know. Just a thought.
That's all from me for now... can't wait to see more of what everyone is working on! The designs look spectacular.
~Emma
No comments:
Post a Comment