The Los Angeles Times has an interview with Bart Paul, author of a new biography on Sidney Franklin. Franklin was a friend of Ernest Hemingway and the first American to be a successful matador.
From the piece...
JC: How did he first become friends with Hemingway?
BP: Sidney claims he was in a cafe in 1929. By then he was somewhat famous, and he was approached by an American, who turned out to be Hemingway. They got to know each other when Hemingway was doing research on what would become his great opus "Death in the Afternoon." Ernest Hemingway was already a famous writer, but he wasn't a legend yet. "The Sun Also Rises" had put bullfighting on the map for American readers.
They were both Americans on the ascendancy. Sidney felt he and Hemingway were equals. They were both up-and-coming young men in their own fields.
JC: Why did his friendship with Hemingway end?
BP: There were a lot of strains on their friendship. Sidney's goring in 1930 really hampered his rise to stardom. He didn't appear again in Spain until 1945. It became harder and harder for him to get fights. Hemingway had become the Hemingway of legend. He was called "the new American Byron." By the time "Death in the Afternoon" had come out, he was becoming famous not just for his writing, but for being himself. Meanwhile, Sidney was struggling. He was money problems and physical problems. He had nine surgeries after his goring.
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