Talk:Harry Houdini
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Name
editAt the start of the lede it shows his name as "Erik Weisz", but in the "Early life" section is says, when his family came to America, his family's last name changed from "Weisz" to "Weiss" and Harry's name "Ehrich" changed to "Erik". This would imply his name was originally "Ehrich Weisz" and then in America it became "Erik Weiss". The name in the lede, then, would be a blend of both of these (his new first name mixed with his old last name). Shouldn't we use either one or the other in the lede, not a blending of both (or alternatively, give one followed by "also" and then the other)? — al-Shimoni (talk) 15:01, 12 April 2025 (UTC)
- "Ehrich Weiss" is the German spelling; "Erik Weisz" is the Hungarian one. He was born in Hungary to a German-speaking family. ~2026-17548-50 (talk) 22:46, 20 March 2026 (UTC)
Cause of Death
editIn my opinion, the "Death" section lends too much credence to idea of the punch being the cause of the appendicitis.
It should be rewritten to mention the evolving view that, while the punch was long thought to be the cause of death, scholars now generally believe it wasn't.
There's a sentence in the article: "It is unknown if the blunt trauma Houdini sustained contributed to his eventual death." Both references that appear after this sentence as in-line citations heavily dispute the idea, not just calling it "unknown". Riffraff913 (talk) 17:53, 25 June 2025 (UTC)
Nationality in lead
editPer MOS:CONTEXTBIO, where Houdini was born is not of significance to his notability, and therefore doesn't belong in the lead. He emigrated to the US when he was four, his family adopted a German name, and he subsequently named himself after a Frenchman. Whether he retain Hungarian citizenship or not the article doesn't say, but I don't see it playing a part in his notability. Editors might want to put a case for "Hungarian-American", if they can demonstrate that it is part of his notability. But calling him "Hungarian" alone is clearly incorrect. Escape Orbit (Talk) 13:04, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
- There is no justification for having Hungarian to the lead, he left as a child and his birth location is irrelevant to his notability. Also "Hungarian-American", Americans of Hungarian descent, is an inappropriate ethnicity description that should not ever be used. Geraldo Perez (talk) 20:29, 24 July 2025 (UTC)