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Nik Wallenda Biography

Birth Name:Nikolas Wallenda

Birth Place:Sarasota, Florida, United States

Fast Facts

  • Is a seventh generation member of a family of acrobats and daredevils, a group that calls themselves The Flying Wallendas
  • Began doing aerial work at two-years-old, mostly practicing somersaults off of his family's swingset
  • Quote: "[I don't] have a death wish in any way․ I plan on living and dying a natural death when I'm old․"
  • Published his first memoir, Balance: A Story of Faith, Family and Life, in 2013
  • Following his first official appearing in 1981, he would begin walking on a wire shortly after and eventually complete the task without the help of his parent by four-years-old
  • While training as a child, his father would shoot him with a BB gun while he practiced balancing on a wire two feet off of the grounnd
  • Often goes by the nickname, The King of the Wire