Bob Schutz / AP

In this July 18, 1970 file photo, daredevil Karl Wallenda nears the end of his tightrope walk across Tallulah Gorge, Ga. On Friday, June 15, 2012, Karl’s great grandson, Nick Wallenda, will attempt a high wire walk over Niagara Falls on live television, hoping to write his famous family’s name into the 153-year-old legend of daredevils who’ve “conquered” the natural wonder.

Nik Wallenda (wuh-LEHN’-duh) is ready to add yet another amazing feat to the storied and sometimes tragic Wallenda family history with his walk across Niagara Falls.

ABC will broadcast the walk Friday night by Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the circus performers.

The Wallendas trace their fearless roots to 1780 Austria-Hungary, when ancestors traveled as a band of acrobats, aerialists, jugglers, animal trainers and trapeze artists.

His great-grandfather, Karl, was the patriarch of the modern day Wallendas and himself walked over the Tallulah Gorge on a tightrope. However he died at age 73 when he fell from a wire in Puerto Rico.

Fourteen family members perform today in various troupes.

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