Houdini’s “big break” came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in rural Woodstock, Illinois. Bess replaced Dash in the act, which became known as “The Houdinis.” For the rest of Houdini’s performing career, Bess would work as his stage assistant. In 1893, while performing with his brother “Dash” at Coney Island as “The Houdini Brothers”, Harry met fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice (Bess) Rahner, whom he married.
But he soon began experimenting with escape acts.
At one point, he billed himself as the “King of Cards”. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as “The Wild Man” at a circus. In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. In later life, Houdini would claim that the first part of his new name, Harry, was a homage to Harry Kellar, whom Houdini admired.
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Weiss became a professional magician and began calling himself “Harry Houdini” because he was heavily influenced by the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, and his friend Jack Hayman told him, erroneously, that in French, adding an “i” to Houdin would mean “like Houdin” the great magician. He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a 9-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself “Ehrich, the Prince of the Air”. They were joined by the rest of the family once Rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. They lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. Losing his tenure at Zion in 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street. They first lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as Rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. The family changed the Hungarian spelling of their German surname into Weiss (the German spelling) and the spelling of their son’s name into Ehrich. Weiss came to the United States on July 3, 1878, sailing on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. (1879–1962) and Gladys Carrie (born 1882–unknown year of death).
Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss (1829–1892) and his wife, Cecelia (née Steiner 1841–1913). From 1907 on, however, Houdini would claim in interviews to have been born in Appleton, Wisconsin, on April 6, 1874. Harry Houdini was born as Erik Weisz (he later spelled his birth name as Ehrich Weiss) in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874.