Siegfried and Roy

Have I been on another planet or didn’t half of this Vegas act die within the last couple of years? Seems to me there was something in the news about one of the duo’s demise. I could have sworn it was Roy.
Does anyone remember hearing anything?
Perhaps I was on the wrong medication that day.

yahoo news

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=7&u=/ap/20031004/ap_on_re_us/tiger_attack_magician

I meant something seperate from the recent attack.
There was something in the news within the last couple of years about one of them.
I could have sworn it was Roy’s death.

I believe there was an urban legend going around about how the team used a look-alike for Roy so that they could do the magical “reappearance” stunt on stage (Roy would be put in a box on stage and then magically reappear standing far back in the audience). It was then rumored that the real Roy had been killed by one of their animals and the fake Roy took over for him. I checked Snopes and couldn’t find anything on it, but I’m sure I heard that story a year ago or so.

Thanx!
I new I had heard something. Didn’t think it was just a rumor though. But that would explain why he is still being drug around onstage.

      • Actually, in the last couple of years, one of them got attacked by a white tiger at home, resulting in the cancellation of shows for several seeks. I couldn’t find any info on it now, but I distinctly recall reading it in the St Louis area newspaper.

  • And if you look around (as I did while searching for the above) you find reports of incidents of the tigers attacking and maiming each other occasionally, on at least one incident one tiger was killed by another. Seigfried and Roy always maintained that the reason the tigers were “so safe to handle” was that the were treated as domesticated pets all the time.

    The jury has returned a verdict of “stupid”.
    ~

I think Roy deserved it. He who plays with fire is gonna get burned! He knew the risks, and sooner or later…you’re cat food!

  • Jinx

Half of Milli Vanilli died a few years ago. (Not that they look like S&R.)

About the look-alike thing: Supposedly, it’s very common for magicians to use body doubles for disappearance/reappearance stunts.

There is also a topic on him & his tiger in MPSIMS & CS.

IANAMagician, but I’ve read quite a bit on the subject. As Diceman says, it is common for a headlining magician to have a body double, meaning someone of approximately the same stature and body type who substitutes in a trick after the magician’s face has been obscured by a hood, mask, or something. Also, it is not uncommon for a magician to use twin assistants to accomplish tricks in which the face is visible.

But I’ve never heard of any case in which a leading magician had a twin or a double who could pass in full view as the magician himself, as is suggested by the “dead Roy” rumor. No leading magician could keep the existence of an identical twin brother/sister secret for long.

And despite movies and TV shows to the contrary, I doubt there has ever been an unrelated double who could “pass” as another person, especially when the original is as familiar and well documented as Roy.

Jinx wrote

That doesn’t seem very nice. So, as soldiers and policemen “know the risks,” you feel their losses are “deserved”?

The rumur was about Siegfried- perhaps related to cosmetic surgery which each has clearly had.

Bill H:

Oh, come now. I don’t think Roy deserves to be cat food, but I don’t think his job can be compared to soldiers and cops.

Soldiers and cops (and firefighters and others) perform a necessary duty, often times at great risks to themselves, to the great benefit of society. Often, it’s a thankless job, with little monetary or other rewards.

Entertainers do outrageous, dangerous stunts for money, benefitting themselves and nobody else.

No comparison.

Roy made millions playing with those kitties. Power to him for doing so well, building a career from whatever humble beginnings. But his occupation is not a noble cause, it’s just entertainment. He did know the risks, and indeed got hurt, but in no way was he doing noble work when on that stage with that tiger.

Soldiers and police are trained to handle dangerous situations in a responsible and professional manner, so no. If they were intentionally behaving foolishly and recklessly in order to show off for spectators, my feelings would be different. I probably wouldn’t say their deaths were ‘deserved’, but I wouldn’t feel so much that it was a tragic loss.

Aren’t Siegfried and Roy engaged in the at least somewhat noble cause of providing safe havens for members of some endangered species (is the plural of species also species? I guess so) in their animal sanctuaries?

squeegee and Sublight, absolutely true.

Also absolutely irrelevant to Jinx’s comments who made absolutely no reference to anything but the fact that S&R played with fire and therefore deserved the consequences.

“Deserve” is a pretty strong word. Far too strong a word for this context. in my opinion.

Siegfried and Roy do not exist. They are just stage characters. Like the many dogs that were ‘Lassie,’ so, too, have there been many Siegrieds and Roys (I believe we’re up to the fifth Seigfried and the thirteenth Roy). All the previous Seigfrieds and Roys have retired due to tiger maulings (seven of 'em) and tiger killings (nine of 'em). Three of the Roys have been played by woman, so it would be incorrect to call them ‘man-eating’ tigers.

Peace.

<roar> “What’s that Katasha? You want me to follow you?” <roar> “It’s Roy? There’s a problem with Roy?” <roar> “He’s being eaten by Sampson?” <roar> “Take me to him!” <roar> “Why are you coming to me? Take me to Roy, we’ve got to… arggh!” <smack, smack, smack>

Cite, please?

'Cause it seems to me you’re peddling absolute B.S. here. And that belongs in the IMHO forum, not here in General Questions.

Uh, that was a pretty obvious joke there t-bonham - you won’t a response from your suggestions ;).