Sidney Franklin (bullfighter)

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Sidney Franklin, (born Sidney Frumkin, 1903 in Brooklyn, New York-April 6, 1976 in New York City), was the first American to become a successful bullfighter. After learning the art of the matador in Mexico, he went on to fight bulls in the great arenas of Spain and Latin America. He briefly featured in Ernest Hemingway's treatise on bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon. Hemingway rated him very highly but it is generally thought to have overrated him.

Franklin appeared in a number of films in the USA and Mexico, and was highly praised for his ability as a bullfighter. Later he presented bullfights on American TV. His autobiography, 'Bullfighter from Brooklyn', has a considerable amount about Hemingway, but should be treated with caution as regards historical detail.

He was involved in a homosexual relationship with the poet Federico García Lorca, who dedicated several poems to him.

[edit] References

• "Yanqui Matador', http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817393,00.html
• "Sidney Franklin: Bullfighter from Flatbush" http://www.jewsinsports.org/Publication.asp?titleID=3&current_page=375
• Franklin, Sidney (1952) Bullfighter From Brooklyn. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc.