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Harry Houdini, once known as Ehrich Weiss, was the son of a Hungarian immigrant and was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. His childhood taught him to be content with little, and his love of sweets was the starting point for his career!
The Weiss elders locked away all sweets from their children, but by age four, he had already learned to open a cupboard without a key. At age five, he first joined a circus and realized what he would do for the rest of his life. He learned to read in a week just to read cheap magic books. Imitating circus performers, he tried to walk on coals and sat underwater until purple spots appeared before his eyes. He learned to endure pain by climbing all the chimneys. He was preparing himself for the life he had chosen once and for all. At age nine, he was accepted into a touring circus troupe after he hung upside down and collected pins scattered across the arena with his eyelashes! The very next day, his name was on the poster! A couple of months later, the circus left! His parents wouldn't let him go.
By the age of 12, he could open any lock without a key. At 16, he left for Chicago.
His idol was Jean Robert Houdin, a French illusionist, which is why he took the stage name Harry Houdini.
Fame came in 1897. He escaped from prison shackled hand and foot, leaving all the locks intact. Three and a half minutes later, he joined the press and prison authorities. He carried all the handcuffs and shackles over his shoulder.
He was besieged by impresarios and journalists. While demonstrating hundreds of magic tricks, he denied any deception or connection to supernatural forces! "Everything I do is explained by the elementary laws of physics, daily training, and my ability to endure any pain." He toured every prison in the United States. Now, everything he does is met with acclaim from the public.
He develops a new cascade of tricks. In England, he's locked in an iron tank of ale, secured with 12 locks, and 15 minutes later, drunk, he enters a brewery through the back door! In Germany, he frees himself from intricate stocks. In Russia, on a dare, he escapes from a carriage designed for transporting especially dangerous criminals. He locks with one key and opens with another. In Paris, shackled and locked in an iron-lined chest and lowered to the bottom of the Seine, he resurfaces within minutes! The crowd erupts in applause, and his name is constantly on people's lips. Roosevelt, stunned by his skill, asks the magician for an autograph.
He becomes a legend. He's no longer just Houdini—he's the Great Houdini.
Did he converse with the devil? Was he made of the same stuff as the rest of us? This question still fascinates his biographers.
"I reject mysticism. Nothing gives a person a chance to win in any situation except willpower. My willpower helps me suppress pain and fear; it makes me move ten times faster, and for me, there are no hopeless situations. Every time I take a risk, I know I can't lose!" In New York, he's locked in a steam boiler; on Cape Cod, fishermen sew him into the belly of a whale! He'll begin experimenting with being buried alive! In Los Angeles, during such a performance, he felt the breath of death for the first time! He wrote in his diary, "For the first time in my life, I was truly scared."
He was completely encased in plaster, and he was breaking out of his own sculpture. He was 50 years old at the time. After one such performance, he consulted a doctor for the first time. "You can't perform for another second, or you'll die soon!" In 1926, two students came to see him after a lecture, one of them a boxing champion. He asked if he could withstand a strong blow to the solar plexus. He didn't hear and nodded. A moment later, he received a series of terrible blows. That evening, he became ill. He performed for three more days; nothing betrayed his condition except his pallor.
By the time of the blow to the stomach, he was suffering from appendicitis. The blows ruptured the abscess and blood vessels. In such cases, people die in three to four hours at most, but he performed and continued to live for another week!
Before his death, he said, "I'm tired and don't want to fight anymore."
He was buried in a luxurious family vault. The crowd lingered for a long time, expecting another miracle or not believing that Harry would never again emerge from behind the grim cast-iron door, smiling and rattling the useless shackles with which Death tried to restrain him.