This is Heather C.

The web is a seriously strange place. Today’s example: The Story of Siegfried, Roy, Steph and me.

McParty and I were talking about Siegfried & Roy. Specifically, we realized that considering the fact that they’re such major celebs, we knew surprisingly little about the dainty duo. Like the fact that they were German. Then I discovered their most amazing Wikipedia page. Talk about a goldmine of E! True Hollyweird Story material.

Take, for example, this tidbit:

Siegfried is a traditional magician (illusionist), whilst Roy grew up among exotic animals.

They met in 1959 when they both found work on a German ocean liner. Siegfried was a cabin steward and Roy a waiter. Siegfried began performing magic for some of the passengers, eventually being allowed to have his own show, with Roy as his assistant. Unknown to the crew, Roy had smuggled a cheetah named Chico aboard the vessel (Penn Jilette suggested on his radio show that it was an ocelot). Roy had come to know Chico from his frequent visits to the Bremen Zoo in Germany.

Oh and that’s only the beginning. It gets gross. Then it gets weird.

The Savage Beast

Horn was in critical condition for several weeks thereafter, and was said to have suffered a stroke and partial paralysis. Doctors removed one-quarter of his skull to relieve the pressure of his swelling brain during an operation known as a decompressive craniectomy. The portion of skull was placed in a pouch in Horn’s abdomen in the hope of replacing it later.

Say wha’?

Fabulous

In October 2004, former Oakland Raiders kicker Cole Ford was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting in front of the magician duo’s Las Vegas home that left gaping shotgun holes and many windows shattered. There were no injuries. The following year, Ford was ruled incompetent to stand trial for charges after a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.

Siegfried and Roy, straight gangsta.

Cole Ford, American Hero?

From Cole’s Wikipedia, we learn just why he did it.

According to a psychiatrist’s evaluation after the shooting, Ford stated that he did not intend to harm the performers, but wanted to “warn the world of the illusionists’ unhealthy danger to them and to animals”. The psychiatrist, Norman Roitman, wrote that “While watching Siegfried and Roy, he had a sudden realization that what was wrong with the world was linked to the illusionists’ treatment, dominance and unhealthy intimacy he saw them having with their animals.” Ford told Roitman that he believed the performers had a sexual relationship with their animals and it was a factor in the development of the AIDS virus.

And now you know.