Siegfried Fischbacher, one-half of the famed Las Vegas-based Siegfried & Roy magic act, has passed away at 81.
Fischbacher’s sister, Dolore, confirmed his death on Thursday, according to NBC News.
Sister Dolore, a nun from Munich, Germany, said Fischbacher died on Wednesday evening at his Las Vegas home.
Siegfried Fischbacher’s cause of death was terminal pancreatic cancer
Fischbacher died only two days after he announced he had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.
He recently underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor. But it had spread to other parts of his body, and the diagnosis was terminal.
He requested to be released from the hospital to spend his last days at his home.
Fischbacher’s partner Roy Horn died from COVID-19 infection in May
Siegfried Fischbacher’s death comes only months after Roy Horn, the other half of the Siegfried & Roy magic act, passed away.
Horn, whose real name was Uwe Ludwig Horn, died in May at 75 from COVID-19-related complications.
Many celebrities, including Darth Vader actor David Prowse and the country music legend Charley Pride, have also died from COVID-19-related causes.
The veteran radio and TV talk show host Larry King was recently hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19.
Siegfried Fischbacher bio
Siegfried Fischbacher was one half of Siegfried & Roy, a duo of magicians and entertainers who regularly performed with white lions and white tigers.
Siegfried and Roy were of German heritage. Fischbacher was born in Rosenheim, Germany, in June 1939.
Siegfried and Roy reportedly met and struck up a friendship in 1957 while Fischbacher worked as a performing magician on the cruise ship TS Bremen.
Horn worked on the ship as a steward, and Fischbacher wanted Horn to assist him on stage.
They were reportedly fired after they brought a live cheetah aboard the ship without the management’s approval.
The duo soon signed up with a New York cruise liner company.
They later started performing at a nightclub in Bremen, Germany. They also toured Europe, performing with big cats on stage before moving to the U.S. to perform in Las Vegas.
Their career peaked in the 1990s when they started performing at The Mirage Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Their show was considered one of the most popular in Las Vegas.
Their successful run at The Mirage ended in October 2003 when Horn suffered injuries after one of their big cats, a white Bengal tiger named Montecore, attacked him.
The attack left Horn partially paralyzed.
Although he was able to walk again after undergoing rehabilitation, he never permanently returned to work.
In 2009, they staged their final performance in Las Vegas at a fundraiser for the Cleveland Clinic – Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
According to IMDb, Fischbacher and Horn briefly served as executive producers of Father of the Pride (2004-2005), an animated sitcom based on their magic act.