Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy was part of a duo whose over-the-top magic tricks captivated millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers. Horn is the latest high-profile victim of the Covid-19 virus.  The darker-haired of this flashy pair, he is credited with the idea of introducing an exotic animal — his pet cheetah — to the magic act.

                       SIEGFRIED FISCHBACHER                ROY HORN

“`Born in Nordenham, Germany, Roy Horn met Siegfried Fischbacher on a cruise ship in 1957. They honed their animal-magic show in small clubs in Germany and Switzerland in the 1960s. Their huge break came in a Monte Carlo casino when an agent in the audience invited them to Las Vegas. The duo made their debut at the Tropicana hotel-casino in the late 1960s.

“`Siegfried and Roy’s show included twenty white tigers and lions. They also had other exotic animals, including an elephant. The illusionists received headliner status at the Stardust Lido de Paris. Their show Beyond Belief at the Frontier and played to thousands over seven years. When the pair signed a lifetime contract with the Mirage in 2001,  it was estimated they had performed five thousand shows at the casino for ten million fans since 1990, and had grossed more than one billion dollars.

“`Horn was attacked in October 2003 when a white tiger named Montecore attacked him on stage at the Mirage. He had severe neck injuries, loss of blood, and later suffered a stroke. He underwent lengthy rehabilitation, but the attack ended the long-running Las Vegas Strip production. An investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture explored a variety of theories, but was unable to reach a conclusion on what caused the tiger to attack. The USDA  also said the show’s producers had failed to protect the audience because there was no barrier separating the exotic animals from the crowd.

“`Horn and Fischbacher became United States citizens in 1988. In October 2006, three years after the attack, Siegfried and Roy attended their induction into the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. Horn’s speech was sluggish at times and he walked a bit slow.

“`Roy Horn was seventy-five.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2020 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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