Showman with animal magic
Roy Horn Magician BORN OCTOBER 3, 1944 – DIED MAY 8, 2020, AGED 75
ROY Horn rose from a povertystricken childhood in Germany to become one of the world’s most thrilling magicians, although it once nearly cost him his life.
He and his German partner Siegfried Fischbacher, known as magic duo Siegfried & Roy, regularly packed in LasVegas residencies with their wild performances featuring white tigers and white lions.
But during a sold-out show on October 3, 2003, Horn’s sevenyear-old tiger Montecore broke his routine after becoming distracted.
Horn tapped him on the nose with a microphone but lost his footing and fell, the 27-stone predator pinned him to the floor and bit him, crushing his windpipe.
The entertainer suffered huge blood loss and injuries, triggering a stroke which impaired his speech and ability to walk.
Uwe Ludwig Horn was born during an air raid in Nordenham, Lower Saxony, the youngest of four. His father was psychologically damaged by the war and he and Horn’s mother divorced in 1945.
She remarried but Uwe’s stepfather was an alcoholic so he would escape to the surrounding countryside with his dog Hexe.The pet once saved his life by raising the alarm with a farmer when Horn sunk to his waist in wetland.
He began helping out at Bremen Zoo where he befriended a cheetah named Chico, developing such a rapport with the cat that he was able to walk him on a lead.
At 13 he left home and worked as a ship’s porter. He later met Fischbacher who was working as a magician on a cruise ship. Horn challenged him to make a cheetah
appear. Chico, who had been smuggled aboard, was incorporated into the routine and a fruitful partnership was born. Their lavish Las Vegas shows, featuring exotic wildlife, remained popular for decades after launching in 1967.
Roy died aged 75 after contracting coronavirus.