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'''Harry Houdini''' (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian American magician, escapologist (widely regarded as one of the greatest ever), and stunt performer, as well as a skeptic and investigator of spiritualists, film producer, and actor.
'''Harry Anderson''' (1952-2018) was an Emmy Award-nominated  American actor and magician.


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
[[File: Harry Anderson.jpg |right|thumb|200px|[[Harry Anderson]]]]
Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Anderson was a [[street magician]] before becoming an actor. He is famous for the role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984-1992 television series ''Night Court''. In addition to eight appearances on ''Saturday Night Live'' between 1981 and 1985, Anderson had a recurring guest role as con man "Harry the Hat" on ''Cheers'', toured extensively as a magician, and did several magic/comedy shows for broadcast, including ''Harry Anderson's Sideshow'' (1987).  Anderson starred in the 1985 ''Tales from the Darkside'' episode 'All a Clone by the Telephone'.


[[File: HarryHoudini2.png|right|thumb|200px|[[Harry Houdini]]]]
In 1990 he starred in the successful television adaptation of Stephen King's ''IT'' directed by Tommy Lee Wallace.
From 1993 to 1997,  Anderson starred in the sitcom ''Dave's World'', based loosely on the life and columns of humor columnist Dave Barry. Together with long-time friend Turk Pipkin, Anderson wrote a book called ''Games You Can't Lose: A Guide for Suckers'', a collection of gags, cons, tricks and scams. First published in 1989 (ISBN 1-58080-086-6—2001 reprint), this title also contains a survey of "Games You Can't Win" told from an insider's perspective.


Initially, Houdini's magic career resulted in little success. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "the Wild Man" at a circus.
[[Harry Anderson |Read more about Harry Anderson...]]
Early in his career, Houdini focused on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". But he soon began experimenting with escape acts.
In 1893, while performing with his brother "Dash" at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Harry met and married fellow performer Bess ([[Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner]]).
 
Bess soon replaced Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis", and in 1894 they were married. For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess would work as his stage assistant.
He had changed his name to Harry Houdini because the French conjurer, [[Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin]] was one of his biggest inspirations.
 
[[Harry Houdini |Read more about Harry Houdini...]]

Revision as of 12:13, 9 November 2025

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Harry Anderson (1952-2018) was an Emmy Award-nominated American actor and magician.

Biography

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Anderson was a street magician before becoming an actor. He is famous for the role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984-1992 television series Night Court. In addition to eight appearances on Saturday Night Live between 1981 and 1985, Anderson had a recurring guest role as con man "Harry the Hat" on Cheers, toured extensively as a magician, and did several magic/comedy shows for broadcast, including Harry Anderson's Sideshow (1987). Anderson starred in the 1985 Tales from the Darkside episode 'All a Clone by the Telephone'.

In 1990 he starred in the successful television adaptation of Stephen King's IT directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. From 1993 to 1997, Anderson starred in the sitcom Dave's World, based loosely on the life and columns of humor columnist Dave Barry. Together with long-time friend Turk Pipkin, Anderson wrote a book called Games You Can't Lose: A Guide for Suckers, a collection of gags, cons, tricks and scams. First published in 1989 (ISBN 1-58080-086-6—2001 reprint), this title also contains a survey of "Games You Can't Win" told from an insider's perspective.

Read more about Harry Anderson...