Only four of his assistants knew how the tricks worked, with one of those being his wife, Bess-Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner. But of his own tricks, he trained himself with inventiveness and diligence. This trick involved people changing places within a locked trunk. Though when he was starting out and seventeen years old, Houdini did purchase a trick called "Metamorphosis". Houdini invented all nearly all of his tricks. Within a relatively short period of time, Houdini realized his dream of having a whole show dedicated to his unique talents. Here he expanded his act to include straight jackets and coffins. After making it big in the US, it was time to conquer Europe. Showing a keen eye for marketing, the brothers pretended to be arch enemies in order to drum up some drama and gain attention. He worked alongside his younger brother, Ferenc Dezső Weisz, and the two were known as "Hardeen". He even received various certificates for his prison escapes fro the wardens themselves. At first he specialized in escaping from police handcuffs and prisons. Putting On The First ShowsĪs time passed, so did Houdini's fame grow. He later married and joined the circus, where he was able to polish and perfect his escape act. A few years later he could be found performing small acts across New York. Now the seventeen year old Harry Houdini set off to find fame and fortune. The "Harry" is more or less a direct translation of his own name, "Elrich". Looking for a stage name, Weiss became "Houdini", as that was the name of his idol, the French magician, Jean-Eugène Robert Houdin. It was around this period of time, that the young Elrich and his brother Theo began to take an interest in stage magic. What he was up to during this time isn't recorded, but he did eventually return home and took work as a messenger, necktie cutter and photographic assistant. This helped develop his life-long love of the stage and at the age of twelve, he ran away from home and disappeared for over a year. He called himself " Elrich The Prince of the Air".
At the age of nine, he made his first stage appearance performing a trapeze act. The Early YearsĪs a young boy living in Milwaukee, Ehrich polished shoes and sold newspapers to help support his family.
In 1876, the rest of the family followed. He quickly found work as a rabbi and to cement the new life, changed his surname to Weiss. Two years later, the father was to emigrate to the US, following the dream of a better life. His father was a Rabbi, Mayer, and his other's name was Cecilia Steiner. Born Ehrich Weisz in Budapest in 1874, he was one of six children.
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