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Siegfried And Roy Take Their 'Final Bow'

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 1, 2009

Illusionists Siegfried and Roy headed back to the stage for a one-night-only comeback performance Saturday, more than five years after a brutal tiger attack ended the careers of the longtime Las Vegas duo.

The charity performance was promoted as "the final bow" for Roy Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher, the German-born showmen responsible for one of the most successful shows in Las Vegas history.

The two had been stage partners for 45 years when a 380-pound Bengal tiger named Montecore sank its teeth into Horn's neck during a live performance and dragged him offstage in front of a stunned audience.

Horn, now 64, was partially paralyzed, suffering a damaged neck artery and crushed windpipe in the October 2003 attack.

The performance at the Bellagio hotel-casino was to benefit the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The center, which will treat brain disorders like those Horn now suffers, is set to open this year in a building designed by architect Frank Gehry.

Siegfried and Roy's performance will air March 6 in a one-hour special on ABC's "20/20."

Willis Sued Over Movie Deal

Actor Bruce Willis and his production company are being sued in Los Angeles for $4 million for breach of contract.

The lawsuit filed Friday alleges Willis Brother Films agreed on a contract with three companies to produce the feature film "Three Stories About Joan," which Willis was to star in and direct.

The lawsuit alleges that on Sept. 29 Willis quit as director without notice in violation of the agreement. Calls to Willis' publicist were not immediately returned.

'PTL Club' Tapes To Be Auctioned

An Atlanta investment banker is auctioning off more than 15,000 videotaped episodes of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's iconic Christian talk show.

"The PTL Club," which aired from 1974 to 1987, featured Jim Bakker offering upbeat sermons from a couch and Tammy Faye, wearing her trademark heavy mascara, singing about Jesus.

PTL, which stood for "Praise The Lord," came crashing down in 1987 when Jim Bakker went to prison for fraud after a sex scandal. The couple divorced, and Tammy Faye remarried and changed her last name to Messner. She died in 2007 from colon cancer.

The 15,069 hourlong tapes went to a Charlotte church, then a cable content provider, said Ben Dyer, president of Gospel Properties. The cable provider defaulted on a loan from Dyer's company and he got the tapes, which he plans to auction on March 27.

A spokeswoman for Jim Bakker, who lives in Branson, Mo., said the televangelist has been told the tapes have been appraised at about $8 million. He considers them part of his legacy.

Today's Birthdays

Singer Harry Belafonte is 82. Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 65. Actor Alan Thicke is 62. Actor-director Ron Howard is 55. Actor Tim Daly is 53. Actor Javier Bardem is 40. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar is 35. Actor Jensen Ackles is 31.

Source: The Associated Press

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