Harry Houdini was born Erich Weiss on March 24 , 1874 in Budapest , Hungary . Born of seven children to a rabbi, Mayer Samuel Weiss and his mother Cecilia Weiss. They lived a decent life. When he was 13 , Erich moved with his father to New York City, taking on odd jobs and they lived in a boarding house. Until later the whole the family arrived, it was then that he became interested in trapeze art , He began his magic career in 1891. He performed in Dime Museums and sideshows where he doubled as “The Wild Man” at a circus. Harry worked at New York's Coney Island amusement park performing 20 shows a day. Illinois Impressed by the handcuff act. Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts, within months, he was performing at the top Vaudeville houses in the Country. From 1907 and throughout the 1910's, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He became widely known as “The Handcuff King”. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjacket In 1894, He launched his career as a professional magician and renamed himself Harry Houdini. In 1899, Martin Beck, a manager, checked out Houdini in Woodstock, Its. People were amazed and some thought this was insane.
In 1912, Houdini introduced his most famous act , The Chinese Water Torture Cell , after putting his Handcuff Act behind him due to Imitators.His escapes included Mirror Challenge, Milk Can Escape, Chinese Water Torture Cell, Suspended Straitjacket Escape, Overboard Box Escape, and Buried Alive Stunt. For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in Vaudeville and for many years he was the highest paid performer in American Vaudeville. Houdini died of peritonitis, Due to a ruptured appendix 1:26 p.m on October 31, 1926 in room 401 at Detroit Grace Hospital at age 52. He influenced a lot of magicians today , his legacy still remains a study , for professors and curious people.