Behind the Mysteries of Siegfried and Roy
wrote a column about Horn and Little Richard, who had died around the same time, being the last of a dying breed “who lived quasi-out lives, with the mere mention of their names sparking suspicion.
Are they or aren’t they gay? It made me wonder if the era of stars operating and living their lives half in the closet might be over?”Now comes a truly enjoyable cliffhanger of a podcast, Wild Things, from filmmaker and journalist Steven Leckart, that seeks to expose the truth about the lives, careers, and relationship of the shadowy figures of Siegfried and Roy.The podcast has made news in recent weeks, primarily about the wild investigation into the tiger attack that almost killed Horn.
Wild Things also tries to put to rest the open question, “Were Siegfried and Roy romantic partners as well as business partners?”I had the opportunity to speak with Leckart, who as a child of the 1980s was fascinated by the pair.
While he never saw them perform, his parents did, and their description to him about what they experienced left an everlasting impression. “They told me about tigers floating through the air and being trained to jump through hoops and other tricks, and it all sounded so absurd to me,” Leckart recalls.What also intrigued Leckart as he followed their career was what really happened to Horn on that infamous and almost deadly night. “When the incident happened, it seemed like we never got a whole answer about what caused Mantacocre to attack Roy,” explains Leckart.
