Born Ehrich Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, his family emigrated to America when he was four, and lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father became the local rabbi. The family’s names were all anglicised in the move, and he became Erik Weiss. In the late 1880s, the family relocated to New York City. Young Erik was already a stage performer at this point, having started out as a trapeze artist when he was nine. In 1891, he began performing as a stage magician using the Harry Houdini name, but met with little success. He soon began experimenting with escape acts.
It was as an escapologist that he would become world famous. From 1898, when he got his first big break, until his death in 1926, he performed escapes from handcuffs, straitjackets, ropes, shackles and even jails. He also performed escapes that were closer to stunts, such as the time he escaped from being buried alive, from a milk can, and several variations on underwater escapes. He became rich and famous, and began a crusade to expose phony mediums and spiritualists, although he is less well-remembered for this – even today, his name remains a byword for escape artists.
