Harry Houdini(1874--1926) was a world-famous magician and a performer of death-defying stunts . His world fame was based on a series of astonishing escapology tricks. He was able to free himself from obviously escape--proof devices, including leg irons, handcuffs (as many as ten pairs at the same time), locked prison cells and crates  which had been nailed shut. His most striking skill was when he escaped from an airtight tank that was filled with water. Houdini was born in Budapapest, prefix = st1 /Hungary, and his family moved to theUSAwhen he was a child. For a time, they lived in a cheap boarding house inNew Yorkand they struggled to make a living. One of Harry's first jobs was an apprentice to a locksmith , which is where he mastered the art of opening locks without using a key. In 1891, Houdini became a professional magician, but at first he met with little success. When he began experimenting with escapology, however, he so impressed a theatre manager who saw him that he was strongly advised to concentrate on that part of his act. Within months, he was a huge success, performing at top theatres, not only in the USAbut also in Europe. He created a sensation inLondon, when he made an elephant disappear from the stage of the Hippodrome Theatre. What the audience didn't know was that below the stage was a swimming pool filled with water, where the somewhat terrified elephant finished up! Back in the USA, he produced the most dangerous act of his career--the Water Torture. He was suspended(,) upside down in a water tank which was full to overflowing. He had to hold his breath for more than three minutes to escape. In a fictionalised film of his life, he "died" doing this trick. This is not true. He actually died of peritonitis  in a Detroit hospital. Who was Harry Houdini?
A famoust American magician A New York locksmith born in Hungary. An Hungarian escapologist born in New York. An elephant trainer in London.