Illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher, of Siegfried & Roy fame, dead at 81, family says
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Illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher, the surviving member of the duo Siegfried & Roy, has died in Las Vegas at age 81, his family told the German news agency dpa.
The news agency reported Thursday that Fischbacher’s sister, a nun who lives in Munich, confirmed his death of cancer.
"He was at home in Las Vegas," Sister Dolore told dpa. She said she talked to her brother on the phone before he died and they prayed together.
"I could pray with him and tell him that I will always be with him in my heart," she said.
After the call, he lay down and fell asleep, she added.
MAGICIAN ROY HORN OF SIEGFRIED & ROY DEAD AT 75 FROM COVID-19 COMPLICATIONS
Fischbacher’s long-time show business partner, Roy Horn, died in May of complications from COVID-19 at a Las Vegas hospital. He was 75.
Siegfried Fischbacher, left, holds up a white lion cub as Roy Horn holds up a microphone during an event to welcome three white lion cubs to Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
The duo astonished millions with their extraordinary magic tricks until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers.
After Horn’s death, Fischbacher told Germany's weekly Bild am Sonntag newspaper his best friend would always stay by his side.
"For dinner, I will continue to have the table set for him, too. like it always was the case. I’m not alone," dpa quoted Fischbacher as telling the newspaper.
For years, Siegfried & Roy was an institution in Las Vegas, where Fischbacher and Horn's magic and artistry consistently attracted sellout crowds. The pair performed six shows a week, 44 weeks per year.
FILE - Illusionists Siegfried Fischbacher, left and Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn pose for photographers with a white tiger cub after they unveiled their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Neil Jacobs, File)
Horn and Fischbacher, both natives of Germany, first teamed up in 1957 and made their Las Vegas debut a decade later. Siegfried & Roy began performing at the Mirage in 1990.
The pair gained international recognition for helping to save rare white tigers and white lions from extinction. Their $10 million compound was home to dozens of rare animals over the years. The white lions and white tigers were the result of a preservation program that began in the 1980s.
SIEGFRIED AND ROY MAKE COMEBACK 5 YEARS AFTER TIGER MAULING
The Siegfried & Roy show incorporated animal antics and magic tricks, featuring 20 white tigers and lions, the number varying depending on the night. The show also had other exotic animals, including an elephant.
Born on June 13, 1939 in Rosenheim in Bavaria, Fischbacher learned his first magic tricks as a young boy, dpa reported.
Horn and Fischbacher met on a cruise ship in 1957. Fischbacher performed the magic tricks, while Horn became his assistant, eventually suggesting using the cheetah in the act.
FILE - German illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher of the duo " Siegfried & Roy" died in January of 2021 at age 81. (AP Photo/Fabian Bimmer, File)
They honed their animal-magic show in small clubs in Germany and Switzerland in the mid-1960s. Their break came in a Monte Carlo casino when an agent in the audience invited them to Las Vegas. The pair made their debut at the Tropicana hotel-casino in the late 1960s.
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The illusionists became popular in the 1970s, receiving their first star billing in 1978 as headliners of the Stardust’s "Lido de Paris." Their show "Beyond Belief" opened in 1981 at the Frontier and played to thousands over seven years.
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When Horn and Fischbacher became U.S. citizens in 1988, an elated Horn said, "Being an American means all the things we believe in."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.