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Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian American magician, escapologist (widely regarded as one of the greatest ever), and stunt performer, as well as a skeptic and investigator of spiritualists, film producer, and actor.
Biography
Initially, Houdini's magic career resulted in little success. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "the Wild Man" at a circus. Early in his career, Houdini focused on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". But he soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1893, while performing with his brother "Dash" at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Harry met and married fellow performer Bess (Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner).
Bess soon replaced Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis", and in 1894 they were married. For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess would work as his stage assistant. He had changed his name to Harry Houdini because the French conjurer, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin was one of his biggest inspirations.