Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy dies at 75

[MA]

https://www.reviewjournal.com/entert...at-75-2024476/

Roy Horn, of the groundbreaking Las Vegas entertainment team Siegfried & Roy, has died.

He was 75.

A spokesman for the duo confirmed Horn died today at Mountain View Hospital because of complications related to COVID-19.
“Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend,” Siegfried Fischbacher said in a statement. “From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried.

“Roy was a fighter his whole life including during these final days. I give my heartfelt appreciation to the team of doctors, nurses and staff at Mountain View Hospital who worked heroically against this insidious virus that ultimately took Roy’s life.”

The legendary duo mixed magic and exotic cats to routinely sell out the theater at Mirage, between 1990 until Oct. 3, 2003. On that night, Horn was dragged offstage by the tiger Mantecore, ending the show immediately.

Horn spent the next 16-plus years rehabilitating from his injuries, often with Fischbacher at his side.


The duo consistently claimed the cat had latched onto Horn as a way to protect the entertainer, after he had suffered a stroke and toppled over. Throughout his recovery, Horn continued to make personal appearances and remained fond of fans. He visited Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden tiger habitat at The Mirage whenever possible.

“When I am out, I am always performing,” Horn said on the night of his 74th birthday in 2018, which was celebrated at the Secret Garden. “The show never ends.”

The Siegfried & Roy show at The Mirage was years ahead of its time. The production cost a then-unheard-of $30 million to produce and employed 267 cast and crew.

The show’s success predated and inspired such large-scale productions as Cirque du Soleil to perform on the Strip.

“It’s family entertainment. That’s what we started,” Fischbacher said in a 2013 interview. “These are big production shows now, but yeah, we came from nowhere. And when The Mirage became such a success, Steve Wynn knew how important entertainment was, and he knew how important Siegfried & Roy were. The show was sold out every night from the first night to the last.”

Wynn brought the duo to Mirage in 1990, changing the face of Las Vegas production shows. He once said, “Siegfried and Roy came to me with the idea of a new show that was going to be scaled above and beyond anything anyone had seen in Las Vegas.”

The show’s producer, Kenneth Feld of Feld Entertainment, told ABC’s “20/20” in September, “It was probably the most expensive show in the history of the world at the time it was built.”

Siegfried & Roy arrrived in Las Vegas in 1967, as a specialty act in “Folies Bergere” at the Tropicana. Beginning in 1970, they spent three years at the Stardust in “Lido de Paris,” also as a side act. From 1974-1978 they were featured in “Hallelujah Hollywood” at the original MGM Grand (now Bally’s), then in were brought back to “Lido” in an expanded 30-minute act.

The duo took on their first full-length, headlining show, “Beyond Belief” at the Frontier, which ran for seven years. Wynn snapped up the act in 1988, staging it in a custom-made venue in Tokyo’s Ginza District until The Mirage was built.

The S&R show debuted in Mirage’s 5,000-seat theater in 1990. They would headline 5,750 performances prior to Horn’s injuries. The act returned a final time, at the Keep Memory Alive Power of Love gala at the Bellagio on Feb. 28, 2009, when they made a big cat — later billed as Mantecore himself — vanish.

Horn and Fischbacher met on a cruise liner in 1957, when Horn was a waiter and Fischbacher a steward. Fischbacher had learned some close-up magic tricks to perform for guests.

Horn, who had a half-wolf, half-dog named Hexe, was already fascinated by animals. He volunteered to join Fischbacher as an assistant. Before long, the duo were soon working with a rabbit, then a cheetah, building a popular nightclub and theater act.

“I asked him, ‘Well if you can make a rabbit disappear, how about making a cheetah disappear?’ ” Fischbacher once said. Horn showed his new partner his his pet cheetah, named Chico.

“We put him into the act. We had a standing ovation,” Fischbacher said. “I thought, in show business, you don’t have to be only good, you have to be different, and Roy brought the difference.”

The duo was discovered at a theater in Monte Carlo prior to arriving in Las Vegas.

After their show closed in 2003, they spent most of their time at their 100-acre Little Bavaria estate, near North Decatur Boulevard and Vegas Drive.

During a conversation near the 10th anniversary of the night the show closed, S&R showed an exhibit in a glass case tucked away in a warehouse. Created by Fischbacher, the scene was a miniature depiction of the act that presented Mantecore — whose name had been known as Montecore until the tiger died in March 2014 — at The Mirage.

The chosen song, “Meditation,” was a favorite. Fischbacher played the piece for Horn as his partner fought for his life.

During that visit, Horn said, “I am very grateful, every day, for every breath I am taking. That is my message to anyone who has had a stroke or a heart attack: Keep moving. Make progress. Pull yourself together, because you can do it.”

[Greenbeans]

I always felt bad for the Cats who should be in the wild and stuck in captivity and forced to do tricks.

He seemed like a nice guy - misguided maybe.

[MA]

On April 28, 2020, Horn's publicist said he "tested positive for the virus that causes and is currently responding well to treatment". However, his condition deteriorated and he died at the age of 75 on May 8 at Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas. The duo's spokesman, Dave Kirvin, announced Horn's death and said it was due to complications from the disease.

Fischbacher stated that "the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend".

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment...ry?id=70389869

https://globalnews.ca/news/6882211/r...y-coronavirus/

[OH Nuts!]

May he R.I.P

[MA]

Las Vegas Legend Wayne Newton Pays Tribute to Late Siegfried and Roy Magician

https://popculture.com/celebrity/new...-dead-tribute/

Roy Horn tributes pour in from celebrities, politicians, fans

https://www.reviewjournal.com/entert...-fans-2024634/

[AB]

Very sad news. May he rest in peace.

[Coffeecup]

About a month ago I saw a ? 20/20 2 hours documentary of the two entertainers. It was interesting for much I didn't know about the men.

[MA]

Originally Posted by Coffeecup

About a month ago I saw a ? 20/20 2 hours documentary of the two entertainers. It was interesting for much I didn't know about the men.

Was this the one that you saw?

https://abc.com/shows/2020/episode-g...hind-the-magic

[Coffeecup]

Yes that was the program.

[James28]

I think, in a way, Roy Horn was like the original World Trade Center in New York. That tiger attack on Mr. Horn in 2003 (which I don't think was intentional) was like the 1993 bombing that tried to destroy the WTC's basement, and COVID-19 was the 9/11 that brought Mr. Horn down. I just wish Mr. Horn hadn't even contracted that virus in the first place. Celebrity deaths like this clearly shows how much of a nightmare COVID-19 is.

Roy Horn.

[MA]

Originally Posted by Coffeecup

Yes that was the program.

I'll have to watch it because it sounds very fascinating.

[James28]

Siegfried Fischbacher died last Wednesday (January 13) of terminal pancreatic cancer (just two days after having announced it), at age 81. This comes several months after Roy Horn's death.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/entert...ancer-2252562/
https://deadline.com/2021/01/siegfri...81-1234673557/