Who Am I? December 2021

I was born in Brooklyn, one of 10 children, at the beginning of the last century to Russian-Jewish observant parents, Abram and Lubba, who had fled anti-Semitism in the old world. Here in the new world, dad pounded a beat for the N.Y.P.D.

I attended P.S.10 and the Commercial High School in Brooklyn where I studied commercial art and acted in school plays. When I was done with school I ran a silk-screening business in Brooklyn. During that period I took a course in Spanish at Columbia University’s extension department.

Dad and I never really got along. I was interested in theater and art and he was constantly picking on me and bullying me. Nowadays, he would be considered an abusive father. Dad thought me a sissy and called me a “nancy,” a slur at the time for an effeminate guy. Finally, after one particular horrendous fight with him, I boarded an ocean liner and headed for the more permissive culture of Mexico City. It was also more affordable there.

I worked at commercial art in Mexico City, sometimes preparing flyers and posters for the
bullfighting industry. I became intrigued and dazzled by that sport and, after awhile, I sought out a master torero, Rodolfo Faona, to teach me the ropes. I was a quick study and decided that my future lay in the bullring! I began to get gigs and recognition and performed in Panama, Columbia, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. Press coverage and fame soon followed. The apex of my bullfighting career probably came in 1945 when I was the headliner at Madrid’s Plaza de Toros.

I am quoted as saying, “The pleasurable thing about bullfighting is the thrill of matching one’s agility against those of an active opponent who can kill you if he catches you.” During the course of my fighting career I survived some heinous gorings and a fair amount of time repairing in hospitals.

In the early 1930’s I was figuratively embraced and befriended by a famous novelist who was never known as a Philo-Semite. Nevertheless, he generously profiled me in a book he was writing and we traveled together to Spain as correspondents during the Spanish Civil War. I counted him and other celebrities of that time, including Douglas Fairbanks and Paulette Goddard as friends.

Aside from the inherent danger of the sport, I believe the roaring adulation of the crowds coupled by appearing so resplendent in the 9 or so hand- embroidered flamboyant costumes I donned while performing my derring-do attracted me to the bullring. Think of Liberace or Elvis adorned with sequins, skintight pants, little slippers and then picture him in the bullring and you’ll have an idea what it’s all about. Despite my macho exploits and appearing to be a bad Brooklyn dude, few knew that I was actually a closeted gay man my entire life because of the mores of my era.

My connections to N.J. are twofold. In my late teens I traveled there for a same gender tryst and in 1930 I planned on holding non-lethal bullfighting exhibitions in Newark. The town fathers of Newark scotched that idea immediately. In 1939, with the permission of the S.P.C.A., I put on an exhibition at the N.Y. World’s Fair.

In the 1950’s I ran a bullfighting school in Seville and ran a cafeteria concession at a nearby S.A.C. base. I retired completely from the ring in the late 1950’s and returned to the U.S. to live in Texas and Mexico. I believe by now you know who I am. That’s me, the Jewish matador from Brooklyn, in the 2 photos below (1a)Who Am I? (1b)The press of the time referred to the great boxer, Joe Louis, as the “Brown Bomber.” What sobriquet did the American choose for me?

(1c)Which of our Founding Fathers’ family names did I choose as my own? I basically
changed my family name to avoid my oppressive father. (1d)What ocean liner did I board for Mexico City? During WWII that ship became a troop carrier. (2a)In the first photo below I appear as myself alongside a comedian/singer/and film star who masqueraded as a matador to avoid the law because they mistakenly thought he was a hold-up man. What is his name? (2b) What was the name of that film we appeared in together? I was also the technical advisor on the set of that film. That's me in full regalia in the second photo. The third photo is me at my place of work. (3a)Who was the novelist and war correspondent I referred to above? (3b)In what book did he profile me? (3c)What organization hired the 2 of us of us to be correspondents in civil war ridden Spain? (4a)Provide one address I lived at in Brooklyn. (4b)What is the name of the S.A.C. base where I ran the cafeteria concession? (5a)A 3-part write-up and profile was done of me in the New Yorker in 1949. Who wrote it? (5b)Finally, my last years were spent in a nursing home. What was the name and address of that home?