Siegfried Fischbacher, half of the world-famous Las Vegas magic and entertainment act Siegfried & Roy, died of cancer on Wednesday, eight months after his longtime business partner, Roy Horn, died of cancer. Fischbacher was 81 years old.
Fischbacher died Wednesday evening at his Las Vegas home of terminal pancreatic cancer, according to his sister, Dolore Fischbacher, a nun in Munich, Germany.
She said she couldn’t visit her brother for the holidays because of the pandemic, but she kept in touch and was on the phone with him for about 30 minutes before he died.
“He could only say ‘OK,'” said Dolore Fischbacher, 78. “It was almost like an amen.”
“He is not deceased. He will live on in my heart forever “She stated.
Siegfried & Roy, known for their work with big cats, performed in Las Vegas for decades until Horn was involved in a near-fatal accident, which ended their long-running production. Horn, 75, died in May of Covid-19 complications.
Mantecore, a 380-pound tiger, bit Horn’s neck and dragged him off the stage at the Mirage Las Vegas in 2003. Horn, who was 60 at the time, was partially paralyzed after the attack crushed his windpipe.
Fischbacher was born in Rosenheim, Germany, and developed an early interest in magic.
According to a statement from the act’s publicity firm, he and Horn met more than 60 years ago on a cruise ship, where Horn was a steward and Fischbacher was a magician. Horn assisted Fischbacher with his act, and the rest, as they say, is history.
They first appeared on the Las Vegas strip in 1967 and began a 14-year run at the Mirage in 1989, transforming the duo into a unique tourist attraction. According to the statement, their $30 million production at the hotel sold out every night.
White tigers, white lions, leopards, jaguars, and an elephant were among the animals used by the couple. Fischbacher said a few words about Horn’s death: “I knew Roy and I would change the world from the moment we met. Siegfried could not exist without Roy, and Roy could not exist without Siegfried.”
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