Who Is Harry Houdini An Illusionist

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American stunt performer and illusionist. But he is most famously known for his extreme escape acts. During his life, Harry Houdini has made outstanding contributions as an escape artist, a magician, and an exposure of fake spirit mediums. Professionals but also the general population consider Harry the greatest escape artist of all time. Harry often said that nothing can hold him back, not prisons, locks, shackles, ropes or chains could stop him.

A boy named Erik Weisz was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary to parents: Mayer Samuel Weisz and Cecilia Weisz. Erik was one of seven children and the son of a poor rabbi. In 1876, Mayer Weisz decide to move his family to the United States in hopes of a better
Hyman told him, that in the French language, if you add an "i" to something it means "like". So Ehrich decided he wanted to make his stage name Houdini, after Robert Houdin, and that he did. Theo, Ehrich's brother, told Erich that he should change his name to what his friends called him, Ehrich had several names that progressed and changed as he made friends in America. Ehrie then Erie, then to Harry. Later in life Harry admitted that the name harry came partially from Harry Kellar, a great magician whom he also admired. So Ehrich Weiss, the son of an poverty stricken, immigrant rabbi, became Harry Houdini. Theo also had an interest in magic. At age 17, Harry left his family behind to pursue a career of magic. By the time he was twenty years old he had performed tons of small magic acts throughout New York. Harry married a woman named Wilhelmina Beatrice “Bess” Rahner and joined a circus where he learned and perfected escape acts. Bess worked with Harry as his stage assistant from then on. Harry slowly became famous. He would challenge the local police in different locations to put handcuffs on him or put him in jail so he could impress people with his escape skills. He was given many certificates from wardens for escaping so well. He eventually got to have a full show dedicated to his
Beck told him he should focus on only doing escape acts. Although Harry was good at many things he dedicated his life to performing escape acts, as Beck told him do so. And he loved it! With Becks help Harry started performing at the top vaudeville houses in America. After becoming relatively famous in America, Harry toured Europe where he developed new escape acts like escaping from straight jackets and coffins. The first couple days proved to be unsuccessful but eventually Harry gained the population’s interest and was soon know as “The Handcuff King”. After this Harry didn’t just tour Europe, he went all around and showed off his skills at many different locations. Impressing each one more than the last. Although some people were out to get Harry, such as Werner Graff, who said he escaped in his acts by bribing people. But there were several others who said untruthful things about Harry to ruin his reputation. Back in the United States, for quite a few years things were going terrific for Harry. He escaped from all kinds of things from ropes to jail cells to straightjackets, and everything in between. As the years went on Harry’s acts slowly became more risky. But this excited the audience. Harry used this excitement to his advantage by challenging them to build anything they thought he couldn’t escape from. Once he even had to escape from the belly of a whale! Most escapes Harry did, such as