Sydney Omarr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sydney Omarr (5 August 1926 – 2 January 2003) was an astrologer and counsellor to the rich and famous. While he wrote numerous books on the subject of astrology, including “My World of Astrology” and his autobiography “Answer in the Sky”, he is probably the most widely known for his books on the popular Sun sign astrology that endeavoured to predict a person’s future based on his Sun sign. He also had an astrological forecasting column that appeared in more than 200 daily newspapers.
Omarr was born into rather modest conditions, being the son of a grocer and a housewife. Being a typical Leo who likes to gain centre stage, at the age of 15 he was performing sleight of hand tricks in magic shops and local talent shows. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Army and within a year he was the first and only astrologer for the Army.
When Omarr completed his stint in the Army, he attended Mexico City College and studied journalism, later to become a reporter for the United Press.
Omarr’s first book was entitled “Sydney Omarr’s Private Course on Numerology”, which he self-published and sold for £2.00. The fact that people were actually prepared to read and even buy his written words no doubt was a boost to his very Leonine ego, and this success prompted him to carry on with his literary endeavours.
As Omarr became a rather prolific writer, he also reinvented himself as a celebrity in his own right, appearing on various radio and television shows to include Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, and Johnny Carson.
Toward the end of his life, Omarr wrote a series of astrological guides published by Penguin, Sydney Omarr's Day-By-Day Astrological Guide. While he authored the books up until his death, his protégés have taken over the work, and Signet continues to publish the series.
Perhaps the only thing that has really blighted Omarr’s life was his health. In 1971 he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and as the disease slowly eroded his body he lost his sight in the early 1990’s and became paralysed from the neck down.
Sydney Omarr died on 2 January 2003 at St John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California of a heart attack. His wife and friends were at his side. He is buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, Calif.
Omarr was born Sidney Kimmelman at 10:27 a.m. on 5 August 1926, in Philadelphia, with the Sun, Mercury and Neptune all in Leo, and Libra on the Ascendant.
Changes suggested by his wife Jeraldine Saunders:
Suggested changes to the SYDNEY OMARR listing in Wikipedia Jeraldine Saunders has been writing his column since Sydney passed away four years ago. The column appears worldwide. He wrote thirteen books every year (the twelve zodiac signs and an all-in-one book) and, even after he went blind, he recorded his call-in nine hundred number with the help of Jeraldine, nurse Paul Small and Velery Barboux (his secretary), who told him where the planets were that day. “We would tap him on the shoulder when he was to start talking and two taps when he was to stop,” Jeraldine recounted. He made the recordings “without notes and never faltered for a word,” she added.
