Saturday, June 18, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Horn checks into clinic in Germany

Carmen Electra returns. Nicolas Cage does Vegas. Roy Horn is back in his homeland for treatment.

Roy Horn has entered a clinic in Germany noted for stem cell research. Still struggling to walk after a tiger attack almost killed him two years ago, Horn checked into the Leonardis Clinic in Bad Heilbrunn, Germany, on Thursday.

A statement released Friday said Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher had returned to their home country so that Horn could "continue his remarkable ongoing rehabilitation and therapy." The statement made no mention of what Horn was being treated for.

The clinic is also known as a leading cancer treatment center, but "this isn't about cancer," said Siegfried & Roy spokesman Dave Kirvin. "I don't know what the treatment involves other than they felt this was the best place in the world to get it done," he said.

One of the world's top gene researchers is on the staff at the German clinic. A physician who interned at the exclusive clinic tells me that the clientele list includes royal families and international celebrities.

Stem cell research has been opposed in the U.S. by right-to-life groups because it involves the destruction of embryos. President Bush threatened to veto a stem cell funding bill earlier this year, but Congress recently approved limited federal funding.

Stem cells can be used to develop tissue, which, in Horn's case, might allow damaged nerves to regenerate.

The late "Superman" Christopher Reeve, left unable to walk after falling from a horse, was a prominent advocate of stem cell research before he died last year.

The Scene and Heard

Somebody could have made a small fortune selling hankies at the premiere of "Lost Vegas: The Lounge Era" at the CineVegas Film Festival. I couldn't count how many people told me they shed tears during the well-done documentary. What a blast from the past it was, and I'd like to think the producers, Tim Onosko and Beth Abrohams, will be rewarded for their labor of love. Bravo. ...

Carmen Electra brings her burlesque act back to Tangerine (Treasure Island) on July 1 for a midnight show to mark the club's one-year anniversary. ...

World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon and many of his top attractions have a 10 a.m. media gathering Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Joining him to promote the June 26 pay-per-view event at the center will be WWE superstars Triple H, world heavyweight champion Batista, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Edge, Christy Hemme and Lita. The event is open to the public. ...

Correction: Elton John's original 75-show, three-year deal at Caesars Palace has been extended an additional 150 shows through 2008.

Sightings

Nicolas Cage and his wife, Alice, dining at N9NE Steak House (Palms) with Gina Gershon and Rob Zombie on Thursday. Cage and his wife later checked out ghostbar and the midnight show at Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce (Mandalay Bay) ... Gershon, who starred in "Showgirls," at Light (Bellagio) with Palms owner George Maloof ... Also at N9NE on Thursday: James Van Der Beek ("Dawson's Creek") ... Dr. Terry Dubrow, the plastic surgeon on the Fox reality show "The Swan," and his wife, actress Heather Paige Kent-Dubrow, dining at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) on Thursday.

The Punch Line

"Today is the opening of 'Batman,' the superhero who fights for truth, justice and everything else that a California jury doesn't."

-- Jay Leno

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