Siegfried Fischbacher, one half of the flamboyant big cat illusionist act Siegfried and Roy, died Wednesday at his Las Vegas home. He was 81.
Fischbacher was incurably ill with pancreatic cancer and recently underwent surgery to remove a tumor, his representatives reported in a statement to The Post.
He was released from hospital earlier this month and was cared for at home by two hospice workers.
The legendary magician’s death comes less than a year after the death of his longtime stage partner Roy Horn due to complications from COVID-19.
The German-American duo met on board the TS Bremen cruise ship in 1957, where they bonded with Horn’s cheetah, Chico, which he had smuggled aboard.
Fischbacher worked as a flight attendant and entertainer and enlisted Horn, the captain’s errand boy, to assist during his nighttime magic show. After the performance, Horn asked the question that changed both their lives: “Siegfried, disappearing rabbits are common, but can you make a cheetah disappear?”
Their final act – which mixed tiger tribes with David Copperfield-esque magic and a showy dose of Liberace glitter – launched in Sin City around 1967. But it was their $ 30 million, 14-year run at the Mirage Theater, starting in 1989, that propelled them to worldwide fame amid the height of the era of excesses.
“We did what we did out of love, not for success or money,” Siegfried once said, according to his representatives. “We had a deep respect for each other. We literally raised each other: I made Roy and Roy made Siegfried. ”
In 2003, Horn sustained a bloody injury when Mantacore, a 400-pound Siberian tiger, sank his teeth into his neck during a live performance – no less on his 59th birthday – at the Mirage hotel casino.
In a 2019 interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the performers said they had made peace with the infamous shredding incident that killed their careers.
“I really don’t miss it,” said Fischbacher at the time. “We’ve been on stage alone in Vegas for 40 years, you know? And we had the most successful show in Las Vegas history anyway. “
Born in Rosenheim, Germany, on June 13, 1939, Fischbacher attributed the purchase of a magic book as a child because he instigated an enduring love for the art of magic. Even after his performances were over, Siegfried could be found daily in The Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage, where he wowed fans with a simple coin trick and always took the time for a photo.
His lifelong mantra: “In magic anything is possible.”