Las Vegas Magician Dies
Dirk Arthur, long time Las Vegas Magician died in his sleep Monday Oct 16, 2023. He was the last of the magicians to use Cats, as in Tigers and such. 20 years ago, in October of 2003 famed Illusionist, Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy was attacked on stage by one of his tigers. The event left him partially paralyzed. It was the end of their careers.
It also signaled the end for many acts that used exotic animals. One by one, those who had been using tigers in their shows, were moving on. The industry was making demands of those who did have tigers and lions to try and prevent further accidents. In one case, the Fercos Brothers had to put a large chain link barrier up in between the stage and the audience to prevent the animals from going among the people.
Dirk Arthur was the last hold out of all of these acts. He retained his animals and did his best to continue performing with them. Though venues became harder to come by because of the negative effects of Roy Horn's accident and constant protests by animal rights activists.
By all accounts, Dirk Arthur had great passion for his animals, took excellent care of them. The height of his career came in the 1990s when he made several appearances on NBCs Worlds Greatest Magic Specials produced by Gary Ouellett. Arthur was a Las Vegas staple for many years. He was preparing to purchase a theater in Branson MO, to start a new show out there. Dirk Arthur was 63 years old.
