''Houdini'' is a 1998 American

biographical drama A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

about the life of the magician

Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

, written and directed by

Pen Densham Pen Densham (born 14 October 1947) is a British-Canadian film and television producer, writer, and director, known for writing and producing films such as '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves''Kasindorf, Jeanie. "Million Dollar Babies: How a Bunch of ...

. It stars

Johnathon Schaech Johnathon Schaech ( ; born September 10, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter. He made his film debut in Franco Zeffirelli's '' Sparrow'' (1993) before his breakout with starring roles in the black comedy thriller film ''The Doom Generat ...

, Stacy Edwards,

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

and David Warner. It debuted on

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

on December 6, 1998.

Plot

The film details the life, relationships and exploits of the famous magician.

Cast

Emile Hirsch Emile Davenport Hirsch (born March 13, 1985) is an American actor. His portrayal of Chris McCandless in '' Into the Wild'' (2007) earned him acclaim and multiple award nominations. Other notable roles include '' The Girl Next Door'' (2004), '' ...

as Young Harry Houdini * Stacy Edwards as

Bess Houdini Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Houdini (née Rahner; January 23, 1876 – February 11, 1943) was an American stage assistant and wife of Harry Houdini. Biography Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner was born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York (before ...

as Blackburn *

Rhea Perlman Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress and author. She is well-known for playing head waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of eleven seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awar ...

as Esther * David Warner as

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor. He began acting in the late 1980s and first gained recognition for his work in Kenneth Lonergan's play ''This Is Our Youth'' (1996) and drama film ''You Can Count on Me'' (2000) ...

as Theo *

Grace Zabriskie Grace Zabriskie (née Caplinger; born May 17, 1941) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), Lois Henrickson in ''B ...

as Mrs. Weiss *

Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...

as Booking Agent * Karl Makinen as Jim Collins *

Judy Geeson Judith Amanda Geeson ( ; born 10 September 1948) is an English film, stage, and television actress. She began her career primarily working on British television series, with a leading role on '' The Newcomers'' from 1965 to 1967, before making ...

as Lady Doyle *

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as '' Ship o ...

as Beck

Home release

The DVD is available as part of the burn-on-demand

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

service.

References

External links

''Houdini''
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''Houdini''
at TCM
''Houdini''
at Warner Archive 1998 television films 1998 films 1998 drama films 1990s American films 1990s biographical drama films American biographical drama films American drama television films Biographical films about entertainers American biographical television films Cultural depictions of Arthur Conan Doyle Cultural depictions of Harry Houdini Films about magic and magicians Films directed by Pen Densham TNT (American TV network) original films {{bio-film-stub