this is "through the decades," a unique hour-long time capsule. today we look back at some of the great royals and royalty from a hollywood princess who became a real life princess "this delightful actress will be known as her serene highness, princess of monaco." to the man who was and still is the king of the court. "i started when i was 12 years old and ever since then, i've been playing. it's been a long, long time but i've enjoyed it." and the woman who ruled new york as the queen of mean. "the trial, so far, hasn't tarnished leona's reputation as the woman new york loves to hate." - those stories and more, in the next hour, part of a different kind of television experience, where we relive, remember and relate to the events and experiences that are cemented in history.

i'm ellee pai hong. and i'm kerry sayers. and i'm your host, bill kurtis. it's royals and royalty, "through the decades." commoners have been fascinated by their rulers for centuries - kings. queens. monarchs. in today's world of increasing democracy, there are not many current examples of a royal court with political responsibility. but the royals who still hold titles and position of esteem are revered and, when there is an absence of traditional pomp and circumstance a new type of nobility has risen, capitivating our attention. today, on "through the decades," we're taking the hour to look at some of those we are thrilled by both classic royalty and our popular queens and kings too. from prince charles and lady di to the king of basketball, michael jordan and the legend we knew as prince.

but first, we begin with a woman who made our fairy tales reality. before grace kelly was the princess of monaco, she was hollywood royalty. she charmed audiences and critics across the globe and still she gave up the spotlight for love when she married prince ranier of monaco and grace kelly became a princess forever more. "just six years in hollywood turned the name grace kelly into magic. she became a screen idol and a symbol of elegance and charm." grace kelly's acting career may have been brief but it was prolific. she starred in 11 films in six years. one of the first big breaks in hollywood came in 1951, when she was cast in mogambo with clark gable and ava gardner. kelly soon teamed up with the man who would become her friend and mentor, alfred hitchcock.

she starred in three of his films - dial m for murder and to catch a thief in 1955. kelly, hitchcock said, was the epitome of the femme fatale: she had beauty, style and sexual elegance. "i guess i'm not the girl i thought i was." "there's nothing wrong with you lisa you've got this town in the palm of your hand." her rear window co-star jimmy stewart was equally smitten, saying she's too perfect, too talented, too beautiful, too sophisicated, too everything - but i want. in 1955, kelly won her first and only academy award for best actress in the country girl, beating out judy garland, who was also in the running that year. "the thrill of this moment

keeps me from saying what i really feel. i can only say thank you with all my heart to all who made this possible for me, thank you." with her oscar, kelly had become one of the highest paid and most respected actresses in hollywood and she was about to give it all up. that same year, while at the cannes film festival in france, she met prince rainier the third of monaco, who made it no secret that he was seeking a bride. kelly herself, now age 26, had been in a string of disappointing relationships with some of hollywood's leading men. "grace had been going through a series of affairs ... um ... generally with married men - william holden , clark gable ... there were a series of them ... ray miland, gary cooper. they were married men and it was

very difficult for her to put this together with her catholic ideas." the courtship of the beautiful hollywood movie star and the european prince was glamorized in the press as a fairytale. within a year, a wedding date was set. "the marvelous thing about grace kelly was that she came along at time when not only monaco but the world needed a fairytale." "a picture queen who will become a princess greets her new subjects and is greeted by them in turn as she goes ashore to a tumultuous welcome." "after her wedding, this delightful actress will be known as her serene highness, princess of monaco." "now the great day itself. the joyous day of the religious wedding." on april 19, 1956, grace kelly married prince rainier the third in a ceremony billed as

the wedding of the century. "now by civil authority and by the church, prince rainier and his film star bride have been pronounced man and wife. the wedding procession moves slowly from the cathedral. this of course was the moment for which the monegasques have been waiting and joyful cheering greeted prince and princess." thousands lined the streets of monaco, while more than 30- million watched on television. assuming the role and duties of a princess and moving to monaco meant kelly would have to give up hollywood and her acting career. something she was willing to do. over the years, the couple had three children - princess caroline, prince albert and princess stephanie. as princess grace, kelly focused on raising her children and she built a new career in philanthropy.

but for her fans, it was her hollywood career that far overshadowed any other even 26 years after her last film. "do you miss being in the movies? do you miss that life?" "i loved my life in the movies. i love my career. i love my life now." "is there any chance you might return to making films?" "it's very difficult. i'm asked the question over and over again and i'm very flattered to be asked this after 25 years. it's very unlikely. acting is a fulltime job and i just don't have the time to devote to it." six months after this interview, grace kelly would meet an untimely end at the age of 52. "the final chapter is written in grace kelly's storybook life. regretably it ends in tragedy." "princess grace of monaco died this afternoon from injuries she suffered in a car accident yesterday. she was 52. doctors

blame a cerebral hemorrhage. princess grace suffered broken leg, ribs and collarbone when the car she was driving spun out of control on a twisting mountain road above the french riviera. her 17 year old daughter, princess stephanie was also injured. stephanie is reported to be recovering now from a slight concussion and resting in the hospital." her funeral would garner an audience of nearly 100 million viewers around the world. "grace was a gracious wonderful woman who was a princess from the moment she was born. we still cannot believe it." "grace was classic beauty, didn't matter what angle. she was beautiful." "nancy reagan arrived in nice tonight, mrs. reagan was driven to the palace in monaco where she will spend the night with the family of prince ranier and the kelly family of philadelphia." her family was left to cope with the sudden and tragic loss. more than three decades after her death, grace kelly remains an icon in our popular culture remembered and admired for her

beauty, her style, her elegance and her fairytale. as we continue our look back on royals and royalty "through the decades," we look back at arguably the greatest basketball player of all time who ruled the court. a billionaire hotel heiress and the sensational trial that made her famous. the life and legacy of a russian chess kingpin who attracted worldwide attention. we'll also take you back to the very beginning of the american camelot. then, we turn back the lens of time on the enigmatic musician who redefined sexy. and we remember the master of magic whose name endures today as one of the all time greatest to ever grace the stage - harry houdini. stick around. it's all still to come right here on "through

the decades." to come right here on "through the decades." this king would redefine the

game he played. his followers loved him. his opponents feared him. his fellow players revered him. great players came before him, and many will follow, but there is only one michael jordan. *singing "like mike ... if i

could be like mike." millions have tried. millions have failed. it was a stratosphere with room for just one. "michael jordan. the greatest basketball player. the greatest athlete in the world today." that, from a diehard new york knicks fan. "with the possible exception of president clinton, michael jordan is the world's best known american." whether you called him michael, mike, air jordan, his airness or m-j, his name transcended the game. "i started when i was 12 years old and ever since then, i've been playing. it's been a long, long time but i've enjoyed it." "i do enjoy my time in the air for the little time that i'm there." while in the zone, his tongue would be out, his competitive drive unmatched "i'd like to introduce now the best know gold medalist basketball player and athlete in the world, michael jordan." the resume, 1982 ncaa champion with the north carolina tar heels. two time olympic gold medalist. six time nba champion of the chicago bulls.

that alone would ensure his place in springfield. "you know chicago treats michael jordan like a civic treasure." "well ... and that he is." "oh sure." but number 23 wasn't just a great basketball player who'd retire and come back three separate times. during his first retirement he even took a swing at baseball. he was and continues to be a brand that just won't quit helping companies and products like nike, gatorade and hanes to name a few, become champions in their own right. "they're hanes. let's just leave it at that." michael even took to the hardwood for hollywood in the not so surprisingly successful film, "space jam." "they just might save the world! space jam." in 1995, movie critic gene siskel asked michael about his acting method "how do you act with an animated character? do you just say that's someone real?"

"i mean what do you do? is there a trick? did someone tell ya, you know ..." "well, you play games with your mind. in terms of, you know, someone's there or you envision someone's there. it's like someone shooting free-throws or shooting jumpshots and puts one hand in your face. i mean, i've done it but not to this extreme so i think that's something i'm going to eance or improve on as i continue to do it." he'd open a number of restaurants, even playing tour guide at his now defunct michael jordan's restaurant in chicago. "first of all, let me say welcome to michael jordan's restaurant and i'm gonna show you a nice little tour. as you can see, we've got everybody here. let's go to the bar first all right?" "come on! i'll show you one of my jerseys. you ready? "let's go into the retail store." "i think we should go up the back way. let's sneak up the back way because this is something private. i don't want people to see this." "it's a great time for it to be

opening. the playoffs are just starting. i think this is going to be a fun place for me to hang out with my family, my friends. you guys are always welcome, except for the media. you guys don't know how to relax. but this is going to be a great place just to come in and have a good time." after retiring from basketball for good in 2001, michael eventually became owner of the charlotte hornets and continues to be a superstar especially when it comes to paychecks. the former chicago bull is reportedly worth over a billion dollars. "if they were to make the movie of your life who would you want to play you?" "tough question. they gotta have to have some basketball skills. denzel. i like denzel. i think he's versatile enough that he could pull it off." your move, denzel. still ahead, we're taking you back to when the cutthroat hotel magnate known as "the queen of mean" was put on trial. plus, we'll look back on the

day our nation played host to the most glamorous royal couple in the world. "great britian's prince charles and princess diana cap a three day washington visit today. they've had a non-stop schedule since their arrival. they're undoubtedly the bigge celebrities in town." this is "through the decades." celebrities in town." this is "through the decades." leona helmsley.

the billionaire hotel heiress oversaw an empire who would stand trial in august of 1989 for mail fraud and tax invasion. the woman who will forever be known as the queen of mean. "leona helmsley is queen of the helmsley and harley hotel chain. her husband harry owns the empire state building and is one of the richest men in america. they went to court today for something less than a royal reception. the helmsleys face a myriad of charges that

quite simply contend they cheated on their taxes." helmsley proclaimed herself "the queen." a hotel magnate known as much for her flamboyant style as her cut throat personality. for all the phrases used to describe her most started with a single word - "rich" and she insisted she had done nothing illegal. "i've done nothing wrong. we've paid our taxes. we will pay our taxes. we always have. we're good citizens. we're gonna remain it and i'm not going to jail. i've done nothing wrong. there is no crime." but the feds saw it differently. "approximately four million dollars in helmsley company monies were used to refurbish their home." "no little remodeling job. the helmsley estate in connecticut has been recently enhanced by the addition of a ballroom and an indoor swimming pool." "the government charges the helmsleys wrote off the

additions as a business expense." "one of the hottest shows in new york today is playing not on broadway but in federal court in downtown manhattan. it stars hotel magnate, leona helmsley as an alleged tax invader and extrortionist." "one of the participants has already described they trial as new york's summer extravaganza. helmsley is already one of the biggest names in new york real estate. a symbol of wealth and power stamped on some of the city's biggest buildings." helmsley's eighty-one year old husband harry was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial. "the defense says the helmsleys never intended to break any laws. they were victims of unscupulous underlings and had large but legitimate business expenses. part of the defense strategy is to defuse the regal public image that leona has cultivated as the royal hostess of a chain of 23 hotels and the private reputation, in the words of one critic, as the lady macbeth of the lodging industry."

"in court, her own lawyer said she may be abusive and rude but she's not charged, he warned the jury, with being a tough bleep. you don't put people in jail for being unpopular." "the risk according to some experts is that the jury might do exactly that." "it's a terrible handicap to go to trial with an unpopular person because it's a human enterprise. people will acquit people they like and they will convict people they don't like." "and the trial, so far, hasn't tarnished leona's reputation as the woman new york loves to hate. witnesses have described her as a bad tempered scrooge with a heart of lead." "'we don't pay taxes, a housekeeper quoted her. the little people pay taxes.'" "the truth is that we did pay 344 million dollars during the time in question." "the trial's about greed. it's about unbridled lust for power and greed and again, the way that they've decide to treat

people in their accumulation of that power. that's what it is." "what purpose would i have in having more money? my husband is more than generous to me, always has been. i have no heirs. he has no heirs." "to commit a crime, you must have a motive. i have no motive." "i am innocent. i have done nothing, nothing, nothing wrong and nothing illegal." and yet, in march of 1992, leona helmsley was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to four years in prison. "well, she was quite dissapointed. she regards this as a double death penalty case. that is, she's being sentenced to a premature death and her husband is being sentenced to an immediate death for a crime which she believes she is innocent of and which we believe she is innocent of." the queen of mean served 21 months in prison.

next, we turn from a story of hotel royalty to one about a family who redefined american royalty for decades. we're remembering the wedding of a couple who embodied the image of camelot as they would go on to live at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. "in september, 1953 they were married at st. mary's church in newport, rhode island. six hundred guests attended the wedding which was consecreated by archbishop cushing of boston and blessed by the pope." by archbishop cushing of boston and blessed by the pope."

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the most valuable piece in chess because of her wide range of moves. but the king is the piece you need to capture the win. the man who many consider to be the king of chess, gary kasparov became the youngest world chess champion at the age of 22 after defeating anatoly

karpovin a rematch of the world chess championship in november, 1985. they traded moves in moscow from september 1984 to february,1985. the reigning world champion, anatoly karpov and the challenger, garry kasparov for the title. karpov was one game away from victory but kasparov fought back. the excruciating match lasted for months taking its toll on both players. and then a controversial decision forcing the match to be called off. "today international chess federation president, florencio campimanis, announced the match was over with no decision. the players would start from scratch next september." "but wait a minute, in came the champion. up on points but hurting badly to say he was ready to fight on." "as we russians say, the rumors about my death were a bit exaggerated." "for the first time in five

months, i have certain chances. let's say by 25 or 30 percent and now they're trying to deprive me of those chances." "and then kasparov left, saying afterwards that it all seemed like a well rehearsed show to him, supporting rumors that the match was ended to protect the champion and end an ordeal even the chess world had tired of." the rematch in moscow began in september, 1985 with karpov and kasparov once again battling for the world chess title. by november 9, 1985, chess had a new world champion. 22 year old garry kasparov, the thirteenth world champion and the youngest man to win the title. due to the 1985 rematch clause, kasparov was forced to defend his title against karpov in 1986. eleven months later, october 8, 1986, kasparov defeated karpov again to retain the world championship title. "garry kasparov defines himself

as a successor of bobby fischer. he's really taking up what bobby fischer started- the professionalization of chess and the playing of ultimate chess- a new chess. a chess that's totally uncompromising from the first move to the last." "you're so confident, aren't you. i wonder is it because?" "i must be confident." "because you're a chess player you must be confident?" "no, because i am a professional and i'm world champion. i paid a lot for this title." "and the price of the title for you is what?" "many years of my life." as our journey continues, we relive when the most glamorous royal couple in the world made their first visit to the u.s. plus, we look back on the life and legacy of a man who redefined what it means to be masculine and became rock royalty in the process. and we feature the spectacular escape artist and one of the most famous magicians of all

time - harry houdini. the closest thing america has had to a king and queen in the last century was president john fitzgerald kennedy and his wife jackie. they were true american royalty. not only leading the country as president and first lady, but living a life aspired to by all. that life and the public's fascination began before the white house, when j-f-k was just a senator who married a photographer. and so began the short-lived but long-romanced period of camelot. "in september, 1953 they were married at st. mary's church in newport, rhode island. six hundred guests attended the wedding which was consecreated by archbishop cushing of boston and blessed by the pope. a crowd of 3000 fought for a glimpse of the glamorous newlyweds. more than 1200 leaders of society and politics

attended the reception for the young couple at the 300 acre estate of the bride's mother and stepfather." in the fall of 1951, 22-year- old jacqueline lee bouvier was working as newspaper columnist and "inquiring c girl" for the washington times- herald. it was during this time that she met a young congressman and soon to be elected senator from massachusetts, john fitzgerald kennedy. both hailed from wealthy and prominent families and america immediately fell in love with the striking couple whose pictures often ended up in the society pages. in july, 1953, they were featured on the cover of life magazine atop a sailboat, they were a vision of youth, beauty and power and seemed destined

for greatness. "former ambassador and mrs. joseph kennedy, parents of the groom are among the personalities are on hand to make this the top society wedding of the year. " "for the spectators outside the church, it's a real storybook wedding . a radiant bride, the former jacqueline bouvier and a handsome groom. with a pretty wife and politically rising star, the future seems bright for the junior senator from massachusetts." after a honeymoon in mexico, the newlyweds returned to washinton d.c., where kennedy focused on his rising political career. in 1957, they welcomed a daughter, caroline. and three years later, their son, john junior, was born. it seemed the american public could not get enough of the handsome young family. in january, 1960, kennedy announced his candidacy for president and on november 8

he beat republican presidential nominee, richard m. nixon, in a close race. "we'll light our country and all who serve it and the glow from that fire can truly light the world." when he was sworn in as the nation's thirty-fifth president the following january, john f. kennedy was 44 years old, after his assassination, it was jackie, herself, who came up with the camelot reference that america has come to associate with his short-lived presidency. in speaking to a reporter, mrs. kennedy compared the late president to king arthur from the mythical story, saying, "there will be great presidents again but there will never be another camelot." british royalty has always held

a special place in america's heart. in 1985, four years after the epic royal wedding in which prince charles wed lady diana spencer, for the first time as a couple and princess diana's first time ever, the two came to america. an engagement that we gavethe royal treatment. "it's almost opening night. the play is called the 'the winsdors go to washington.' on november 9, 1985, america welcomed prince charles and princess diana. the couple was first welcomed by president ronald reagan and first lady nancy then honored with a gala at the white house that evening. and while the guest list was prestigious, the spotlight did not veer from royalty. "... to actually see her in person." "it was worth it definitely!" "why?" "cause she's just gorgeous! like its a fairytale! she's perfect. it's real!" "great britain's prince charles

and princess diana are the talk of the town in washington." their four-day tour was mostly spent in washington with the final day spent in palm beach and not a secondof the royal visit went unnoticed. "great britain's prince charles and princess diana cap a three day washington visit today. they've had a nonstop schedule since their arrival. they're undoubtably the biggest celebrites in town." "some people had camped out all night in hopes of seeing them." "hey ron and nancy! you see 'em all the time but this is something special." "the royal couple toured the national gallery exhibit that brought them here in the first place." "the prince and princess will visit a northern virgina shopping center today and then tomorrow they'll head for palm beach and the last leg of their trip." "washington can be heard catching its breath this morning after just one breathtaking weekend with charles and diana." "where's lady di? where's lady di?" "but as always, it was diana stealing hearts." "the reaction has been reverance, adoration and

idolatry. it peaked on saturday and hasn't diminished for a minute." "i've been waiting for so long to see her." "and the charm rubbed off. anyone actually talked to her became an instant celebrity. on sunday, the royals proved the biggest boost in church attendance since christmas." (church music) "while charles and diana worshipped inside the cathedral, outside the princes'' fans tried to define his allure." "she's more glamorous and he's just you know ... to me he's just there." "then it was onto the main event. the exhibit at the national gallery that brought the royal couple to washington." "a question and answer period followed and charles gave the answers but diana sparked the questions. was she enjoying her visit?" "how many of you have managed to reply on behalf of your wives on these occasions then get beaten up afterwards for getting it wrong. no. i can only say that she's been looking forward to it a great deal. i think been favorably impressed and

again very much overwhelmed by the reaction. am i right?" "the couple leaves washington tomorrow off to palm beach, florida for polo and a charity dinner." "well ready or not palm beach, florida, here comes the royal couple. charles and diana fly south this morning for a final full day in the states." "the highlight of the palm beach visit will be a charity ball tonight at the breakers hotel. the management plans to hoist a union jack, roll out a brand new red carpet and set three glasses for wine at each place. there won't be a glass for water. everybody's been alerted about protocol." "they are addressed as his royal highness the prince of wales. she is the royal ... the princess of wales and never, never say the prince to princess diana."

the around the clock coverage of that four day tour in 1985 magnified our infatuation with royalty. star struck by the pomp, the pagentry and the image of a perfect marriage but as history reminds us their fairytale wasn't happily ever after. he was a style icon, a sex symbol and rock royalty when our journey continues, we remember the life and legacy of the talented and enigmatic musician -- prince. this is "through the decades." his name isn't the only thing

that signifies this artist's status in music royalty. he crossed over into nearly every genre of music - jazz, pop, r & b but we can't deny thatprincewas also just a little bit rock and roll. he has the jewels - grammys, american music awards, an oscar, a royal court - he was inducted into the rock hall of fame in 2004. and both in life and after his death, he has countless loyal subjects.

few performers commanded a stage and a thirlled an audience quite like prince. aruguably, one of the most talented musicians of his generation. "sing it!" "purple rain, purple rain" "oh yeah" rock star, visionary, provocateur, legend - just a few of the words that have been used to describe him. he won seven grammys. "my early days in the business. there's a guy who he's still in the business and he's very famous so i won't say his name but he told me that i wasn't going to make it and i needed to go back and work on some disco music or something (laughs)." prince grew up in minnesota. his life's path would be strongly influenced by his jazz musician parents and the nearby minneapolis music scene. he was a shy kid but friends

say he came alive whenever he played music. "i deal with everything through my music. emotionally i stay centered through music. it's the best medicine in the world." at 19, prince signed with warner bros and in short order, proved prolific. writing, composing, performing and producing most of his own work, he released four albums in four years. his fifth release in 1982 would be his breakthrough. with his title track, he invited the world to party like it's 1999. the album, went multi-platinum. his sixth album two years later took his fame to rarified heights. purple rain went straight to number one on the billboard charts where it stayed for 24 weeks. "prince is my favorite!" "we want prince! we want

prince!" prince seemed to break down barriers of both race and gender. "i think he changed the way that people style themselves. now it's called gender fluid but to be whoever you are. i think he really encouraged that." and he redefined what it meant to be a sex symbol. "he's adorable!" never one to shy away from provactive lyrics, prince inspired the parental advisory label on c-ds after an outraged tipper gore heard his song "darling nikki," and founded the parents music resource center. but for all of his freedom of expression through music, prince was highly protective of his private life. in 1996, prince married mayte garcia, one of his back up dancers. "i sort of made an off the cuff statement like that. i said there's my future wife. i was being coy but low and behold." in a rare moment in 1997, he

spoke about his marriage. "i think the most profound thing that's happened to me is the way i view women now and going through my wife's pregnancy had a really powerful effect on me." pregnancy had a really powerful effect on me." the couple suffered a painful loss after their son was born with a rare genetic disorder. he died within a week of his birth. he and garcia divorced in 2000. prince married again in 2001, to manuela testolini, the same year he became a jehovah's witness. that marriage would end in divorce in 2006. in the mid '90s, prince began what would be a long and very public legal battle with warner bros who he eventually parted ways with in 1996. "i felt pressure not being able to live my life the way i

wanted to e constraints of most contracts, an artist can't really be an artist. they can just sort of go according to their rules and regulations. that was pressure for me." when he learned the label owned not only all of his music but also his name, he dropped it for an unpronouncable symbol and took to writing slave on his face. in 2014, in a landmark deal, prince emerged victorious. he regained full ownership of his music catalog. the very thing he had been fighting for. "if one sticks to one's guns one will get through. the way one wants to. not the way somebody else tells you." prince seemed invincible. "it's just such a loss. i can't talk. i'm sorry."

on april 21, 2016 prince died. within hours, hundreds of fans showed up at the gates of his paisely park mansion. "just to pay respects. i was here yesterday and i went to first avenue last night. i just really loved his music and grew up with him so" in the two weeks after his death, prince's albums sold more than four million copies in the u.s. alone and artists from bruce springsteen to paul mccartney have paid tribute to the man who has left an immeasaurable legacy. "you all feel good tonight?" "there's a core audience that's never really going to go away." "i've had these friends for a long time and they're going to bring their kids this is my job. i'm going to be doing this a while." few performers have ever captured the public imagination quite like him. when we return, we look back on

the life and legacy of the master of illusion - harry houdini.

harry houdini. he was the master escape artist who thrilled and astonished the entire world. the king of his craft, no one quite like him had come before and his aura and mystique are as strong today as they ever were. "he was a brilliant showman. i mean, maybe the greatest showman this country has ever produced. barnham notwithstanding. he -- according to will rogers, who played on the bill with him several times, the man was a master psychologist. he understood audiences. he could turn them into a mob. he could make them react as one." "he knew how to play his audiences. he could stretch that out. we can't imagine now watching a guy trying to escape from a pair of handcuffs for

two hours. but he could stretch that out, and the audience was going crazy afterwards." harry houdini began life as ericweisz, a hungarian immigrant who in his teens developed not only a magic act but a compelling stage persona that catapulted him to the summit of vaudeville stardom. his stunts and escapes escalated, moving beyond the stage to large-scale public events. "magicians see houdini as not so much a magician but a daredevil. so he has more in common with evel kneivel than he does with david copperfield. he creates a life-or-death drama for his audiences at a time when you didn't see it on television all the time." each time audiences grew accustomed to his act or his rivals stole it, he'd move on to something bigger and more spectacular like the water torture cell. "in the water torture cell escape, his feet would be -- his ankles would be locked in these massive stocks and he'd be hoisted up above in the air above a glass-fronted

oblong tank of water and he'd be dropped down into it and the top would be padlocked to the tank. certain death. he's gonna die. however, he didn't die when he did it at the matinee today. he didn't die yesterday, he didn't die all last week. he didn't die the last 13-years when he was doing it? so, what was it? what was it that created what one reviewer called 'the awful suspense?' it was him. after i saw the water torture cell houdini had an instinct for publicity as when he famously proved he could escape from a jail cell without tricks or hidden props by agreeing to be locked up naked. "we see these pictures of him

in just a loincloth and he's this manly man. and this is a time in newspapers, where some newspapers wouldn't even print the word naked. they put little asterisks in there. so you kind of had to figure out what it was. and suddenly there's this mostly naked man on the cover -- picture of him on the cover of the newspaper. well, this sold newspapers like crazy. there was this sexual element to him -- sexiness -- he was a sex symbol, at the time also." in later life, he added a new career, exposing spiritual charlatans. "when he's in his fifties, he realizes he can't do escapes much longer and now he starts looking for some other ways to be sensational and that's when he gets into the spiritualism expose and that sort of thing because that was the next big thing for him. that was the thing so he could slow down on the escapes and become a magician again in some ways and a moral crusader." but houdini drove himself as hard as ever and his past had taken its toll on him.

"there's one famous escape, this guy hodgkin, he was like a strongman. he came with a big long length of chain and locks and really viciously tied ... chained houdini up and after some of these events he was left bruised, battered, bleeding. years later, a reporter would look at houdini's arms and say it looked like he'd been mauled by a tiger." "have you ever been in handcuffs? for any reason? well, it's terribly painful, you know? and they would put a half-dozen pairs of handcuffs on his wrists, sometimes with his hands behind and to get out of those handcuffs would be very, very painful. so there would have to be an almost yogic ability to control pain. and that might have hurt him in the long run because when he got appendicitis, he thought it was a pulled muscle and laughed it off for a few days until he was in real trouble." the burst appendix, the result of an unexpected blow to the abdomen from a student admirer, eventually killed him. he died on halloween day, 1926,

at the age of 52. but his legend seems certain to live forever. "when i was researching houdini, i was looking in the new york dramatic mirror, which was a weekly, around the turn of the century and every week they would have one of the big guns in show business on the cover of the new york dramatic mirror. never heard of any of them. but he transcended that. i mean, that name will be around forever. it'll always be associated with magic and the impossible and the art of escape." "he was a symbol. his audiences, even at that time although they might not have thought it literally, figuratively, they understood that he was the little guy. they identified with him. they were the little guy -- the immigrant. they looked at him on that stage and what did they see? they saw a man, chained up, saying i have things that bind me. i have things that hold me back. but i can defeat them. and if i

can defeat them, you can defeat them." them." i'm bill kurtis.

as we leave, one last look back at royals and royalty "through the decades."