Saturday, October 04, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Roy has had other close calls

Tina Walsh at birthday party Lance Burton joining the fun Lorraine Hunt performing duets Coolio was at Drai's After Hours

The mauling of illusionist Roy Horn during Friday's Siegfried & Roy show at The Mirage was not the first time he had a close call.

But this was the most serious attack after almost four decades of minor scrapes and scratches from working with the exotic big cats.

A near-disaster occurred in 1975 at the MGM Grand, now Bally's, during a photo shoot, recalled local publicist Wayne Bernath, then the assistant news editor at the Review-Journal.

Bernath arranged to have Horn bring one of his large male lions to the "Hallelujah Hollywood" stage to pose with a live lamb in a wooden stage set resembling a March calendar.

"As we were putting the heads of the lion and lamb through holes in the calendar, the lion caught the scent of the lamb, reared up and broke the set apart and went after a lady from Mesquite, who was holding the lamb.

"A security guard shoved the lady and the lamb into a closet as the lion went after them, while pulling Roy and his handler across the stage.

"Roy had the presence of mind to grab a backstage elevator phone and call the kitchen, which was one floor above," recalled Bernath.

"Two women brought down two buckets of meatballs to get the lion's attention and he calmed down."

The Scene and Heard

Merika Rose, a massage therapist and yoga instructor at the Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas, today enters the third round of the Fox network's third edition of "American Idol." She was among 200 who made the cut from the 1,500 who slept at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium earlier this week. The former Maui resident wowed island legend Don Ho during his show Sunday with her rendition of Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings." ...

May I recommend ...

The Evander Holyfield after-fight party tonight at Prana at Crustacean (Aladdin).

Sightings

At Horn's 59th birthday party Thursday at the Siegfried & Roy Theater: French film and singing legend Line Renaud, Steve Wynn, Vicki Lawrence, Tina Walsh (the lead of "Mamma Mia!"), Clint Holmes, Lance Burton and Frank Scinta. ... Rapper Coolio at Drai's After Hours (Barbary Coast). ... Royce Clayton, starting shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers, at N9NE (Palms) on Thursday. ... Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, in town for the Palms-sponsored Big Hollywood Golf Tournament, and his wife, Mia, at the Palms' ghostbar. Also at ghostbar: Grant Show from "Melrose Place." ... Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and host-singer Dennis Bono of the radio and TV "Dennis Bono Variety Hour," performing duets for the dinner crowd at Casa Di Amore on Thursday night.

The Punch Line

"There is never enough time, unless you're serving it." -- Malcolm Forbes

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.COMING SUNDAY