Siegfried Fischbacher was born in Rosenheim on June 13, 1939, to Martin and Maria Fischbacher. His mother was a housewife, and his father was a professional painter who during World War II ended up as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union. Fischbacher purchased a magic book as a child and began to practice illusions. He moved to Italy in 1956 and started work at a hotel.

Roy was born Uwe Ludwig Horn on October 3, 1944, in Nordenham, in the midst of bomb attacks, to Johanna Horn. His father died in World War II, and his mother married a construction worker after the war ended. She later began work in a factory. Horn had three brothers: Manfred, Alfred, and Werner. Horn became interested in animals at a very young age and cared for his childhood dog named Hexe (witch). Horn’s mother’s friend’s husband Emil was the founder of the Bremen Zoo, which gave Horn access to exotic animals from the age of 10. Horn left school at age 13. He worked as a waiter on the cruise ship Bremen, where he met Fischbacher and launched his performance career.

The owner of the Astoria Theatre in Bremen saw Fischbacher and Horn’s act aboard a Caribbean cruise ship and recruited the duo to perform at her nightclub. This launched a career for the pair on the European nightclub circuit, and they began to perform with tigers. They were discovered performing in Paris by Tony Azzie, who asked them to come to Las Vegas in 1967. They spent some time in Puerto Rico and may have purchased property there.

In 1981, Ken Feld of Irvin & Kenneth Feld Productions started the Beyond Belief show with them at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. A revamped version of the show was taken on a world tour in the third quarter of 1988.

During a show at the Mirage on Horn’s birthday on October 3, 2003, a 7-year-old white tiger named Montecore attacked Horn. As part of the act, but veering off script, Horn held his microphone to Montecore’s mouth and told him to say “hello” to the audience. Montecore responded by biting Horn’s sleeve. Horn swatted the tiger and barked “release!”. Suffering from dizziness, Horn tripped and fell onto his back, and Montecore moved to stand over him.

While being taken to the hospital, Horn stated, “Montecore is a great cat. Make sure no harm comes to Montecore.” He told People in September 2004 that Montecore saved his life by trying to drag him to safety after he had a stroke. The incident prompted the Mirage to close the show, which had 267 cast and crew members.

In August 2004, their act became the basis for Father of the Pride. Right before its release, the series was almost cancelled until Fischbacher and Horn urged NBC to continue production after Horn’s condition improved after the attack by Montecore in October 2003. By March 2006, Horn was talking and walking, with assistance from Fischbacher, and appeared on Pat O’Brien’s television news program The Insider to discuss his daily rehabilitation.

In February 2009, the duo staged a final appearance with Montecore as a benefit for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute (though Chris Lawrence had stated this performance involved a different tiger). Their performance was recorded for broadcast on ABC television’s 20/20 program.

On April 23, 2010, Fischbacher and Horn retired from show business. “The last time we closed, we didn’t have a lot of warning”, said longtime manager Bernie Yuman. “This is farewell. This is the dot at the end of the sentence.”

On March 19, 2014, Montecore died after a brief illness. He was 17 years old.

In June 2016, director Philipp Stölzl announced that Fischbacher and Horn would produce a biopic film documenting their lives.

On April 28, 2020, Horn’s publicist stated that he “tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 and is currently responding well to treatment”. However, his condition deteriorated and he died at the age of 75 on May 8, 2020, at Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada. The duo’s spokesman, Dave Kirvin, announced Horn’s death and said it was due to complications from the disease. Fischbacher stated that “the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend”.