Sidney Franklin

Who was Sidney Franklin?

Sidney Franklin was the first Jewish American to become a successful bullfighter.

Sidney Frumkin was born in Brooklyn, New York to Orthodox Jewish parents. In 1922 he traveled to Mexico City, where he would begin a career in bullfighting. He fought bulls in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia and Panama.

Writing in Death in the Afternoon on Sidney Franklin, Ernest Hemingway said, "Franklin is brave with a cold, serene and intelligent valor but instead of being awkward and ignorant he is one of the most skillful, graceful and slow manipulators of a cape fighting today. His repertoire with the cape is enormous but he does not attempt by a varied repertoire to escape from the performance of the veronica as the base of his cape work and his veronicas are classical, very emotional, and beautifully timed and executed. You will find no Spaniard who ever saw him fight who will deny his artistry and excellence with the cape.” And later Hemingway adds, “He is a better, more scientific, more intelligent, and more finished matador than all but about six of the full matadors in Spain today and the bullfighters know it and have the utmost respect for him."

Franklin appeared in a few films in the USA and Mexico. Later he presented bullfights on American TV. He wrote an autobiography, Bullfighter from Brooklyn and he also was a close friend of the American actor and legend James Dean, who was a big fan of the art of bullfighting.