Sydney Omarr

Sydney Omarr (August 5, 1926 – January 2, 2003) was an American astrologer and an astrology consultant to the rich and famous. His daily Sun Sign Horoscope column appeared in more than 200 newspapers and his annual forecast books for each sign of the zodiac sold over 50 million copies.

Early life Omarr was born Sidney Kimmelman in Philadelphia to a middle class Jewish family. His father worked as a grocer. In elementary school, he had a strong interest in magic performances, and he performed at talent shows and magic shops.

Omarr decided to change his name when, at age 15, he saw a movie called Shanghai Gesture starring Victor Mature as a character named Omar, with one "r." He had a strong interest in numerology, which led him to change Sidney to Sydney, and add an extra "r" to Omarr.

During World War II, Omarr, 17, joined the United States Army; he claimed he chose April 4, 1944 as the day to sign due to the numerological benefit of a date composed of "all fours." Approximately a year later he was transferred to the Air Force at a base located in Ontario, California, approximately 35 miles east of Los Angeles and referred to as 'Camp Hollywood.'

Omarr said that he was posted to Okinawa, Japan within a year of joining the army, and was able to specialize in astrology with his weekly Armed Forces Radio Program Sydney Omarr's Almanac, broadcast throughout the Pacific Theatre. He attempted to predict the results of various sporting contests and events. After gaining transfer to Camp Ontario in April 1945, Omarr was profiled by Wings, the Air Force's official counterpart to Stars and Stripes. In this semi-satirical profile, Omarr is quoted as predicting the Japanese defeat in "mid-August, 1945." thumb English Although the author of this piece subsequently stated that this quote was apocryphal and was part of the general satire, Omarr subsequently used it to promote his astrology career, ultimately gaining an influential column at the Los Angeles Times. Omarr also claimed he wrote the horoscope column for the U.S. Army's Stars and Stripes newspaper. thumb

Career as writer and media astrologer

When Omarr completed his stint in the Army, he studied journalism at Mexico City College. This led to a decade as a reporter for the United Press, followed by employment with CBS Hollywood as an editor and radio news director. A journalist colleague at UP, Benson Srere, stated that Omarr was valued by his readers "not because they believe every word he wrote, but because it always contained threads of hope and encouragement." of the Los Angeles Times syndicate. Each year, Omarr wrote 12 annual forecasts – one for each sign of the zodiac and one overall book.

Later years

In 1971, Omarr was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and as the disease impacted his body he lost his sight in the early 1990s and became paralyzed from the neck down. He died from a heart attack on January 2, 2003, at the Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He is buried in Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.

Omarr is mentioned in Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel Inherent Vice (p. 34).