Longtime Siegfried & Roy assistant dies

As a youngster, Toney Mitchell gazed at the bright neon lights of the Las Vegas Strip and dreamed that one day he would entertain large audiences at the major resorts.

Despite suffering from asthma, Mitchell pursued that dream by virtually teaching himself how to dance the often exhausting steps and by singing in local choirs.

As an unknown, he tried out for the Siegfried & Roy production more than 20 years ago, won the role that would fulfill his initial dream, then went on to become the lead male dancer in the show that is headlined by the world-renowned illusionists.

Antonio David Mitchell, who also was befriended by Siegfried and Roy and became their longtime personal assistant, hosting the duo's parties and other appearances, died Feb. 2 at his Las Vegas home surrounded by members of his family. He was 46.

A spokesman for the show said that although Mitchell had his asthmatic condition under control for many years, he developed a serious respiratory illness two months ago that sidelined him from the production in December and got progressively worse.

Services for Mitchell, who lived in Las Vegas for 41 years, were last Thursday.

"We have lost an important performer in the show but more importantly, we have lost a very good friend," Siegfried and Roy said through their publicist Frank Lieberman. "We have lost a member of our family."

Mitchell, Lieberman said, "was one of the most gracious men I have ever known -- a real gentleman. His family said that as a boy, Toney's biggest dream was to one day perform on stage."

Mitchell got to see that dream come true many times in many places. In addition to performing with Siegfried & Roy at three Las Vegas hotels since the late 1970s, Mitchell traveled with the show to Radio City Music Hall in New York and toured Japan.

"We were informed of Toney's death before the show last Tuesday, and even though we were sad, we went on and dedicated the show to Toney," said George Roth, a Siegfried & Roy wardrobe worker and a longtime friend.

"Toney was a very instrumental part of the illusions. Over the last 20 years he was involved in every illusion in the show in some way. He had a lot of responsibility both on and off the stage. He was their (Siegfried and Roy's) major domo."

Born June 4, 1952, in Chicago, Mitchell moved to Las Vegas with his family when he was 5. He was raised by his grandmother, Bessie Toney, from whom he took the unusual spelling of his nickname. She survives him and resides in Las Vegas.

Mitchell attended Westside Elementary School and graduated from Las Vegas High School. In the early 1970s, he went to Seattle for a short while to continue his education, but longed for a career on the stage.

He returned to Las Vegas where he sang in the Angelic Superior Choir and the Second Baptist Young Adult Choir.

In the late 1970s, Mitchell got his show business break when a friend of Siegfried and Roy's recommended him to the show's producers. The show was then at the Stardust.

Mitchell, who stood 6-foot-3, became a principal performer when the show moved to the Frontier Hotel and at its present location, the Mirage.

Before his recent illness, Mitchell completed his performance for the I-Max three-dimensional film of the Kenneth Feld-produced Siegfried & Roy show, which currently is in post-production.

In addition to his grandmother, Mitchell is survived by his stepmother, Eloise Mitchell of Dumas, Ark.; two brothers, Clifton Mitchell and Robert Mitchell; a sister, Asheley Mitchell; a goddaughter, Taylor Galtney; and a cousin, Corliss Holliday-Williams, all of Las Vegas.

archive