Editing David Blaine (section)

== Early life ==
Blaine was born David Blaine White on April 4, 1973, in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]], the son of a single mother,<ref name="biography.com" /> Patrice White, a teacher who was of [[Russian Jews|Russian Jewish]] ancestry, and father William Perez, who is a [[Vietnam War]] veteran of Puerto Rican and Italian descent.<ref name="Scotsman">{{cite news |url= http://www.scotsman.com/news/life-s-a-magic-box-of-tricks-1-665333 |title=Life's a magic box of tricks |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]]|location=Scotland|date=September 20, 2003 |access-date=December 17, 2013|archive-date=March 31, 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190331192554/https://www.scotsman.com/news/life-s-a-magic-box-of-tricks-1-665333|url-status=live}}</ref> <!--the son of Patrice Maureen White (1946{{ndash}}1995),<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JT1L-QZF|title=Maureen P. Bukalo|publisher=[[Social Security Death Index]]|via=[[FamilySearch.org]]|access-date=August 12, 2020}}</ref>--> 

When Blaine was four years old, he saw a magician performing [[Magic (illusion)|magic]] on the subway. This sparked a lifelong interest for him.<ref name="David Blaine">{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1809150070/bio |title=David Blaine |publisher=Yahoo! Movies |access-date=September 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526050747/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1809150070/bio |archive-date=May 26, 2011 }}</ref> He was raised by his mother and attended a [[Montessori school]] in Brooklyn. They later moved to [[Little Falls, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/through-the-plexiglass-darkly-david-blaine-exposes-britains-nasty-underbelly-50phhkgbdsx|last=Finn|first=Holly|title=Through the Plexiglass darkly: David Blaine exposes Britain's nasty underbelly|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=September 25, 2003|page=20|archive-date=October 1, 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201001165509/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/through-the-plexiglass-darkly-david-blaine-exposes-britains-nasty-underbelly-50phhkgbdsx|access-date=October 1, 2020}}{{subscription required}}</ref><!--site is live, but archived version contains full story--> where he attended [[Passaic Valley Regional High School]].<ref name="Newsday">{{cite news|url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/the-art-of-wonder-from-performing-death-defying-stunts-to-launching-readers-of-his-new-book-on-an-old-fashioned-treasure-hunt-david-blaine-delights-in-surprises-1.296978|last=Behrens|first=David|title=The Art of Wonder|newspaper=[[Newsday]]|location=New York City / Long Island|date=November 7, 2002|access-date=September 18, 2007|quote=Later, they moved to [[Little Falls, New Jersey]], where he attended Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls.|archive-date=November 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105112127/https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/the-art-of-wonder-from-performing-death-defying-stunts-to-launching-readers-of-his-new-book-on-an-old-fashioned-treasure-hunt-david-blaine-delights-in-surprises-1.296978|url-status=live}}</ref> 

According to one account, his mother developed cancer when Blaine was 15 and died when he was 20.<ref name="Newsday" /> According to another, "When Blaine was 21, his mother was stricken with cancer and passed away in 1994."<ref name="biography.com" /> When Blaine was 17 years old, he moved to [[Manhattan]], New York City.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magicdirectory.com/blaine/biography.shtml |title=David Blaine: the Man, the Magician |publisher=Magic Directory |access-date=September 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504212734/http://www.magicdirectory.com/blaine/biography.shtml |archive-date=May 4, 2009  }}</ref>