Legendary illusionist and the surviving member of the duo was 81 years old.
Siegfried Fischbacher, the surviving member of the famous entertainment duo Siegfried and Roy, died in Las Vegas of pancreatic cancer, a representative of the legendary illusionist confirmed to ABC News.
Fischbacher was 81 years old.
His sister, a nun who lives in Munich, told the German news agency dpa that she was able to speak to him on the phone before his death and that they prayed together.
“I could pray with him and tell him that I will always be with him in my heart,” she said.
Fischbacher’s longtime partner Roy Horn died in May after suffering complications from COVID-19 at the age of 75.
Legendary artists have changed the face of the Las Vegas Strip with its impressive illusions and acts of domestication of white tigers in a 50-year career.
Fischbacher was born in Rosenheim, Germany, on June 13, 1939, and met Horn in 1957. The German duo started performing in Las Vegas in 1967. Before opening an extravagant show at The Mirage Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 1990 , Fischbacher and Horn built a successful brand like Siegfried and Roy, artists who performed across the globe, from cruise ships to casinos.
After thousands of performances together, Fischbacher and Horn’s show at The Mirage came to an unexpected end in 2003, after a stage incident involving Horn and his white Bengal tiger, Mantecore.
The pair returned to the stage for a final performance on March 1, 2009, when they performed a benefit show for the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. They said it raised $ 14 million.
The duo sat with “20/20” in 2019 for “Siegfried & Roy: Behind the Magic”, a two-hour special in their historic career.
In May, before Horn’s death, the duo shared the following message of love and support for people affected by COVID-19:
“Everyone in the United States and around the world impacted by this health crisis remains in our prayers. We know that the true magic of all of us, caring, twisting, loving and thanking each other, will make everyone healthy and happy. Do not wait until it is possible for all of us to embrace safely again. With love to all, Siegfried and Roy. “
Fischbacher’s funeral services will be private with plans for a public memorial in the future, according to his representative.