From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Philippe Petit (born 13 August 1949) is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his high-wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, on 7 August 1974. For his feat (that he referred to as "le coup"), he used a 450-pound (200-kilogram) cable and a custom-made 26-foot (8-metre) long, 55-pound (25-kilogram) balancing pole. Description above from the Wikipedia article Philippe Petit, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.