Siegfried Fischbacher, Magician of Siegfried & Roy, Dies at 81

Source: New York Times




Siegfried Fischbacher, half of the German-born magician team Siegfried & Roy that captivated Las Vegas audiences with performances alongside big cats, elephants and other exotic animals, died on Wednesday night at his home in Las Vegas. He was 81.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, according to his publicist, Dave Kirvin. His longtime partner in the production, Roy Horn, died in May at 75 of complications of Covid-19.

For a time, the team’s name was all but synonymous with Las Vegas’s show business industry, with performances that combined smoke machines and white tigers, lasers and elephants, sequined costumes, snakes and illusions of metamorphosis.

The pair stopped their decades-long show in October 2003, after Mr. Horn was mauled by a 400-pound white tiger that dragged him offstage during a packed show at MGM’s Mirage hotel and casino. The attack left Mr. Horn with lasting damage to his body, and after he spent years recovering, the team made a final appearance with a tiger in February 2009, at a benefit performance for the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. They retired from show business in 2010.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/theater/siegfried-fischbacher-dead.html