In 1971, his first big public (and illegal) wire walk was between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Here's a look back at the story behind “the artistic crime of the century': The World Trade Center was not Petit’s first high-wire conquestĪ magician from the age of six and former street juggler, Petit began training on the wire as a teenager. Petit’s feat was commemorated in James Marsh’s 2008 Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, and in The Walk, a film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit. He was initially regarded by police as a perpetrator and was arrested as soon as he left his perch, though charges were soon dropped. The 24-year-old acrobat in question was named Philippe Petit. People in the street gasped at the sight 1,350 feet up, and the photo and film coverage of the seemingly spontaneous event was extensive enough that this ultimate high-wire act went 1974’s version of viral. On August 7, 1974, a young Frenchman caught the attention of jaded New Yorkers by wire-walking between the twin towers of the World Trade Center.