The saga of Siegfried Fishbacher and Uwe Ludwig "Roy" Horn (Roy is an unofficial nickname) is a long, somewhat complex, and fascinating story. It starts humbly for both in war-torn Germany; Siegfried, born in 1939, comes from Bavaria, while Roy, born in 1944, comes from Nordenham, near Bremerhaven. (Roy was born, in fact, during a massive Allied bombing raid, through which his mother Johanna, leaving three small boys alone in the basement of their house, rode her bicycle dodging bombs to her sister’s house, where she had him). Both led unhappy post-war childhoods, due mainly to a shell-shocked abusive alcoholic father in Siegfried's case and a shell-shocked alcoholic depressed stepfather in Roy's; Siegfried's escape was illusion and Roy's escape was animals.
They met on a cruise ship on which they both worked, rooming in cabins next to each other. Siegfried, a steward, practiced his magic on the crew and inevitably branched out to performing for the passengers. When he needed an assistant, he enlisted Roy, who'd left home at the age of 13 and worked his way up to become the personal valet of the ship's captain. What no one knew, though Siegfried was about to find out, was that Roy had smuggled his pet cheetah Chico on board in a laundry bag, to keep him company.
It took some prodding and pleading, but Roy finally convinced Siegfried to incorporate Chico into his magic act. And of course, Siegfried needed Roy to handle the animal. The act was a huge surprise hit, popular with everyone on board -- except the captain, who ordered them both off the ship the minute it docked. Still, the Siegfried and Roy show had been launched. The two were the only illusionists using dangerous wild animals in their act at this time (the early '60s), thus their rise to the pinnacle of the magician brotherhood was assured. Indeed, Siegfried & Roy became one of the most successful show-business acts of all time, playing to large sold-out houses night after night for nearly three decades.
But that's not to say their career was a walk in the park. On the contrary, the pair had their fair share of failures, setbacks, sidetrips, and close encounters with the menagerie of big cats and other large creatures Roy acquired and tamed. In addition, the personal crises were manifold, stemming from Siegfried's notorious temper, the pair's sexual and medicinal proclivities, and the continual ups and downs or their relationship.
And then came the fateful night, Friday October 3, 2003, Roy Horn's 59th birthday, when a seven-year-old white tiger named Montecore nearly killed him during the 5,750th show, ending the reign of the larger-than-life "Tiger Kings."
The whole story, from start to finish is told in a new unauthorized biography called The Secret Life of Siegfried and Roy -- How the Tiger Kings Tamed Las Vegas. The book is written by "key players in the inner circle": Jimmy Lavery, show consultant; Jim Mydlach, security chief; and Mydlach's son Jim. Actually, they're former employees, so whether or not they have a particular axe to grind is a matter for the lawyers. Also, much of the "research" seems taken directly from Siegfried and Roy's autobiography, Mastering the Impossible. Still, after reading it, our take is that anyone who's a fan of S&R will enjoy this account of the pair's career.
And if you want the authorized version, Mastering the Impossible was published in 1992, so it ends somewhat early on in the pair's tenure at the Mirage. But by most accounts, other than the inevitable spin that superstar as-told-to autobiographies are known for (and The Secret Life of Siegfried and Roy contradicts some of its information), it's a heartwarming and uplifting tale of two men who beat the early odds to achieve fame and fortune. It's long been out of print, so it's only available used on Amazon.com.
