1. Sid Fleischman told his own tale in The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life.
12 Facts About Sid Fleischman
1. 2.
Sid Fleischman's parents were Ukrainian Jews and moved the family to San Diego, California when Fleischman was two years old.
3.
Sid Fleischman learned magic from library books and the local fraternity of magicians, inventing new tricks along the way.
4.
Sid Fleischman began performing professionally while still in high school, touring California with his friend Buddy Ryan, performing in nightclubs, and traveling the country with the Francisco Spook Show during the last days of vaudeville.
5.
Sid Fleischman served as a Yeoman aboard the destroyer escort USS Albert T Harris with service near the Philippines, Borneo, and China.
6.
Sid Fleischman graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949.
7.
At 19, Sid Fleischman published his first book, Between Cocktails, a collection of magic tricks using paper matches.
8.
Sid Fleischman adapted his own novel Yellowleg for the screen, released as The Deadly Companions, the director Sam Peckinpah's first feature.
9.
Sid Fleischman later worked on several projects with Kirk Douglas, including Scalawag.
10.
Sid Fleischman maintained an interest in magic all his life, hosting monthly meetings of Los Angeles magicians at his home, publishing occasional articles in magic journals, and summing up what he had learned in The Charlatan's Handbook.
11.
Sid Fleischman died on March 17,2010, one day after his 90th birthday.
12.
Ghost in the Noonday Sun is a loose adaptation of Sid Fleischman's novel, starring Peter Sellers.