May 8, 2020(2020-05-08) (aged 75) Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Siegfried Fischbacher (June 13, 1939 – January 13, 2021) and Roy Horn (born Uwe Ludwig Horn; October 3, 1944 – May 8, 2020) were German-American magicians and entertainers who performed together as Siegfried & Roy. They were best known for their use of white lions and white tigers in their acts.
The pair met on a cruise ship and began to perform together on ships and in European clubs and theaters. In 1967, they were invited to begin performing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Starting in 1990, they headlined a show at The Mirage casino resort. Their performing career came to an end in 2003 when Horn was critically injured by a tiger during a performance.[4][5]
Siegfried Fischbacher was born in Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany, on June 13, 1939, to Martin and Maria Fischbacher.[6] His mother was a housewife and his father was a professional painter who, during World War II, ended up as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union. Fischbacher purchased a book about magic tricks as a child and began to practice illusions. He moved to Italy in 1956 and started work at a hotel.[7]
Roy was born Uwe Ludwig Horn on October 3, 1944, in Nordenham, Oldenburg, Germany,[8] in the midst of bomb attacks,[9] to Johanna Horn. His father died in World War II, and his mother married a construction worker after the war ended. She later began work in a factory. Horn had three brothers: Manfred, Alfred, and Werner.[10] Horn became interested in animals at a very young age[8] and cared for his childhood dog named Hexe (witch). A family friend was the founder of Bremen Zoo, which gave Horn access to exotic animals from the age of 10.[7]: 25–31 Horn left school at age 13.[8]
The duo met on board the cruise ship TSBremen where Horn was a waiter and Fischbacher was performing magic under the stage name Delmare.[7][11][8] While performing on board, Fischbacher asked Horn to assist him during a show.[7]: 33 The two were fired from the TS Bremen for bringing a live cheetah onto the ship, but were scouted by a cruise line based in New York and began performing together as a duo.[11]
The owner of the Astoria Theatre in Bremen saw Fischbacher and Horn's act aboard a Caribbean cruise ship and recruited the duo to perform at her nightclub.[12] This launched a career for the pair on the European nightclub circuit, and they began to perform with tigers.
They were discovered performing in Paris by Tony Azzie, who asked them to come to Las Vegas in 1967, where they debuted at the Folies Bergere at The Tropicana Hotel Las Vegas.[13] The duo were originally placed 14th on a long bill, but by 1978, they had become the grand finale.
During a show at the Mirage on October 3, 2003, on his 59th birthday, Horn was attacked by a seven-year-old white tiger named Mantacore (the tiger's name having been frequently misspelled as "Montecore" in media reports).[17] As part of the act, but veering off-script, Horn held the microphone to Mantacore's mouth and told him to say "hello" to the audience. Mantacore responded by biting Horn's sleeve. Horn swatted the tiger and barked "release!" while standby trainers attempted, unsuccessfully, to distract the cat with cubes of meat. Possibly incited by Horn's retreat, the tiger leapt at Horn, swinging at his legs and knocking him off his feet.[17] As trainers rushed to the stage to assist, Mantacore bit into Horn's neck and dragged him offstage toward his cage. Horn was finally released after trainers sprayed the tiger with CO2 from fire extinguisher canisters, their last available resort.[17]
Horn survived, but the attack severed his spine, resulting in massive blood loss and severely injuring other parts of his body. It left him with permanent impairment to his motor and verbal abilities. He also had a stroke either before or after Mantacore dragged him offstage.[17][18][19][20][21] While en route to the hospital, Horn stated, "Mantacore is a great cat. Make sure no harm comes to Mantacore".[22] He told People in September 2004 that Mantacore saved his life by trying to drag him to safety after he had a stroke.[23] The incident prompted the Mirage to close the show, which had 267 cast and crew members.[24] The trainer, Chris Lawrence, later contradicted Fischbacher and Horn's explanations for why the tiger attacked Horn, alleging it was due to Horn's mishandling of Mantacore. The duo dismissed Lawrence's claims, stating he "had problems with his life anyway".[25] Lawrence later said he believed that the duo and the Mirage covered up the real reason for the attack to protect their image.[17]
In August 2004, Siegfried & Roy's act became the basis for Father of the Pride, an animated sitcom about a lion who performs in their show and is head of a family of lions. Shortly before its release, the series was almost cancelled until Fischbacher and Horn urged NBC to continue production after Horn's medical condition had improved.[citation needed] By March 2006, Horn was talking and walking, with assistance from Fischbacher, and appeared on Pat O'Brien's television news program The Insider to discuss his daily rehabilitation.[26]
In February 2009, the duo staged a final appearance with Mantacore as a benefit for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute (though Chris Lawrence had stated this performance involved a different tiger).[27] Their performance was recorded for broadcast on ABC television's 20/20 program.[28] On April 23, 2010, Fischbacher and Horn retired from show business. "The last time we closed, we didn't have a lot of warning," said longtime manager Bernie Yuman. "This is farewell. This is the dot at the end of the sentence."[29] On March 19, 2014, Mantacore died after a brief illness. He was 17 years old.[30] In June 2016, director Philipp Stölzl announced that Fischbacher and Horn would produce a biographical film documenting their lives.[31]
On April 28, 2020, Horn's publicist stated that Horn had "tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 and is currently responding well to treatment."[9][32] His condition deteriorated, and he died ten days later on May 8, at age 75 while at Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada.[33][34][35] The duo's spokesman, Dave Kirvin, announced Horn's death, saying it was due to complications from the disease.[35] Fischbacher stated that "the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend."[33][36] On January 11, 2021, it was reported that Fischbacher had terminal pancreatic cancer.[37] He died at his North Las Vegas home two days later at age 81.[38]
^Grove, Lloyd (August 28, 2008). "The World According to Kenneth Feld". Upstart Business Journal. American City Business Journals. p. 5,18. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
