page_title: Sydney Omarr
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Sydney Omarr / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Sydney Omarr Profile, May 30, 1945, WINGS, US Air Force, Page 3
context_page_description: Sydney Omarr 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.
context_section_description: 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. From this interest in numerology he wrote several books, including Thought Dial, on the topic, but was unable to earn a living as a numerologist so he pursued to astrology.
  
  During World War II, Omarr, 17, joined the 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's claims that he was posted to Okinawa within a year of joining the Army are contradicted by the history of the Battle for Okinawa, which began in April, 1945, and lasted until mid-June 1945 after massive casualties at the Battle of Okinawa. There was no "base" on Okinawa for any Armed Forces Radio Programming until after Japan had surrendered.  Therefore, his claims that he was able to specialize in astrology with his weekly Armed Forces Radio Program Sydney Omarr's Almanac, broadcast throughout the Pacific Theatre, are highly suspect. 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." 
    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. 
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caption: Sydney Omarr Profile, May 30, 1945, WINGS, US Air Force, Page 3
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