Ehrich Weisz is better known by what name?

Born on March 24, 1874 in Budpest, Hungary, Ehrich Weisz was one of 6 children, the son of Rabbi Mayer Weisz and his second wife, Cecilia Steiner. In 1876, Rabbi Weisz immigrated to the US and found work as a rabbi, changing his last name to Weiss. Ehrich came to the US with the remainder of his family in 1876. At age 9 he made his first stage appearance. On Oct 28, 1883, billing himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air" he performed a trapeze act with a local fair.

Weiss ran away from home at 12 and returned a year later but never told anyone about his life while he was gone. He continued to support his family working at a variety of small jobs. It was during this time Enrich and his brother Theo developed an interest in magic and began street performances. Soon Ehrich took a stage name, calling himself after his idol, French magician Robert Houdin. Harry was an Americanized version of Ehrich and he added "i" to the last name becoming Harry Houdini. At 17 years old he left home to pursue his chosen career and by 20 he was developing his escape tricks for which he would become internationally famous. Over the course of his career he escaped from almost every restraint imaginable. He later became fascinated with the occult and became involved in movies as well. He died after a young man punched him in the abdomen, rupturing his appendix. He refused to seek medical care and died from an infection on October 24, 1926 at the age of 52.