Siegfried and Roy were a magic, performance, and entertainment duo, with a net worth of $120 million at the time of Siegfried Fischbacher's death in January 2021. Roy Horn passed away in May 2020. The pair were best known for their Las Vegas show, Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage Resort and Casino, which ran from 1990 until 2003 and is regarded to be the most visited show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Both born in Germany, Siegfried and Roy met when they were both working on the ship TS Bremen - Siegfried as a magician and Roy as a waiter. The pair were both fired from the ship after bringing a live cheetah onto the ship, but were soon scouted by a New York cruise liner company and began performing together as a duo.

Siegfried was born in Rosenheim, Bavaria on June 13th, 1939. His mother, Maria was a housewife, and his father a professional painter and former prisoner of war. Siegfried became fascinated with magic as a child when he first read a book about magic tricks.

Roy was born Uwe Ludwig Horn on October 3rd, 1944 in Nordenham, Oldenburg. His mother, Johanna was a factory worker and his father was killed in World War II. Roy had three brothers: Manfred, Alfred, and Werner, and became interested in animals from a young age. The founder of Bremen Zoo was a family friend, so Roy had access to exotic animals from the age of 10.

After working on cruise ships, Siegfried and Roy were recruited to the Astoria Theatre in Bremen, launching their career on the European nightclub circuit, where they first started performing with tigers. While performing in Paris they were spotted by Tony Azzie, who invited them to come to Las Vegas in 1967.

From 1981 until 1988, they performed their show Beyond Belief at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. The show was taken on a world tour in 1988, and that same year the duo became US citizens. In 1990 they returned to Las Vegas, with their self-titled show running at the Mirage Hotel for 13 years. At its peak in the late 1990s, the show generated more than $60 million per year, and they performed for an estimated 25 million people.

In 2003 the performance duo was estimated to have grossed over $1 billion in their career so far. But tragedy struck on Roy's birthday when a seven year old white tiger named Montecore attacked Horn during a show. The tiger bit Roy's neck and dragged him off-stage, and the attack severed Roy's spine, caused him major blood loss and a stroke which permanently impaired his motor and verbal abilities. Roy insisted that Montecore was "a great cat" and that no harm should come to him. Mirage subsequently canceled the show, which at the time had 267 cast and crew members.

Siegfried and Roy had been lovers at certain points in their partnership, but the pair were fiercely private. They lived together in a huge 100-acre Las Vegas complex. Named "Little Bavaria" the site has three houses: one each for Siegfried and Roy and one where they spent time together. Following Roy's tiger attack, Siegfried ensured that the houses were adapted to aid his rehabilitation, as well as installing accessibility aids such as railings and ramps. While Little Bavaria is closed to the public, Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at The Mirage is open to visitors and served as a home to many of their four-legged former co-performers after the show was canceled. The habitat was Humane Certified in 2017.

The performing duo has appeared in a number of films and television shows as themselves over the years, including Siegfried & Roy: The Miracle in 2004; The Art of Magic in 1998; and 2019's 20/20. 

From 2004-2005, the pair served as Executive Producers on animated sitcom Father of the Pride which was based on their act. By March 2006 Roy was walking and talking again, and in 2009 the duo staged a performance with Montecore in aid of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute. The following year Siegfried and Roy retired from show business. Montecore died after a brief illness in 2014, aged 17.

In April 2020, Roy's publicist confirmed that he'd tested positive for Covid-19, and on May 8th he passed away aged 75 at Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas. In January 2021, Siegfried died of pancreatic cancer two days after announcing his illness. He was 81.

Sources: Wikipedia, BBC, Nikki Swift, IMDB, American Humane

This article was updated on April 13, 2021 by Poppy O'Neill

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