THE OMAR SHARIF BRIDGE CIRCUS

Perhaps one of the most spectacular extravaganzas ever to grace the bridge horizon was The Omar Sharif Bridge Circus of 1970-71.  During the editing of The Lone Wolff, Bobby and I discovered that thirty-three years prior we were both very much involved in the Circus … he, as a player and I, as a local coordinator and yet we hardly crossed paths during their final tour of duty in my very own hometown.

The OSBC was an unusual happening — a sensational ‘first’ in the annals of our game.   In bridge lore, there was only ‘one Omar‘ (although I do recall a reference as kids to Omar the Tentmaker — but he was neither a handsome, charismatic movie idol nor a bridge fanatic.   And, yes, General Omar Bradley also had his day in the spotlight).   But the Omar we are setting our sights upon proudly proclaimed,   "Acting is my Profession … Bridge is my Passion."   Not unlike many people who have reached the summit in their chosen fields,  bridge addiction and obsession can totally envelop them and displace earlier priorities — relegating anything and everything to second place (and a bad second — at that)!                                                                                                   

The Circus was a unique phenomenon.  A caravan of bridge players traveled the continent, making much publicized four day stops* at major cities, strutting their stuff, with a three cornered match as their bridge format.  It was a feeble attempt to put bridge on the map as a spectator sport, but produced thousands of happy campers along the trail!  (*The visits to each metropolis were actually of seven day duration.   They would arrive on Mondays for a local press conference and Tuesdays and Wednesdays were devoted to head-on competition between the Circus and the Aces).  On Thursday the official fireworks began although as I recall, kibitzers were welcome and plentiful during the early part of the week. 

The overall Circus ratio composition was ‘two part gypsies’ and ‘one part locals’ –  an unusual mix of pasteboard talent:

Part I (The Featured Attraction):  THE CIRCUS, starring Omar and his merry band, which included energetic and quick-witted Egyptian Leon Yallouze as the coordinator; young Mike Ledeen (later to become a world renown terrorism expert) who served as the American Manager of the Circus; and a few other fellas you may have heard of in your travels:   Benito Garozzo (thought of by most as the greatest bridge player of all time) plus his Italian compatriots Pietro Forquet and Giorgio Belladonna and handsome Parisian internationalist, Claude Delmouly.

Part II:   THE DALLAS ACES, the first fully professional bridge team, created by Ira Corn and coached by Joe Musumeci.   This group which accompanied the Circus included Billy Eisenberg, Bobby Goldman, Bob Hamman Jim Jacoby,  Mike Lawrence and Bobby Wolff.

The triumvirate was rounded out by a team composed of LOCAL EXPERTS,  prepared to give the visitors a run for their money and pump up their hometown fans with exuberance, spirit and pride.                                                                                                                                                                                           

By a strange stroke of fate, I was drafted to oversee the competition planned for the City of Brotherly Love.  It included greeting, welcoming and transporting all of the circus performers from Philadelphia International Airport via a motorcade to the Drake Hotel in Center City (the site of their official four-day appearance), arranging for local press coverage, recorders, monitors, and much more  — but the volunteers were emerging from the woodwork (with reserves hanging from the rafters) so my job was a piece of cake.  Everyone was enthralled that Philly was one of the chosen few and determined to show that we were deserving of our selection!

We were the last on a seven-stop North American tour — starting in Chicago, continuing through Winnipeg, Los Angeles, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Dallas, Detroit — ending in Philadelphia!   As you can imagine, this bridge odyssey was quite costly and the Circus had two enthusiastic and generous sponsors:   Stancraft Playing Cards and Cosco (card table and chair manufacturers).   The entourage actually had a technical staff as well.   It included Bud Dietrich, a gifted emcee who was also a handsome magician, card manipulator and singer; National Director Al Neilsen who handled the electronics and vu-graph operation;  and of course,  Mike Ledeen, wearing many hats, was a disciple of the Italian Blue Club System and a master of analysis which enhanced the enjoyment of the live audience.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Duplicates (interspersed with participating Circus players) were scheduled in the afternoons, followed by dinner breaks before the start of the vu-graph matches.   At first I was apprehensive at the prospect of Philly not making an impressive showing at the duplicates and then the light dawned!  Philadelphia is unique in that it has a Woman’s Bridge League with dozens of country clubs, each having anywhere from one to six teams.   There were Men’s Leagues as well — but minuscule in comparison to the women’s involvement.   I contacted every one of them by mail  (before the days of cyberspace) and they arrived in droves to welcome our famous guests.   The duplicates were packed and I recall a funny incident stemming from a telephone call from an older woman who was in quest of a reservation.   I asked if she preferred NS or EW, to which she replied,  "What’s that?   I don’t play bridge.   I just want to sit next to Omar."    And, I might add, it was not an isolated request.

To call the Philadelphia contingent the "Local Team" was a slight misnomer because the awesome foursome consisted of Bobby Jordan, Arthur Robinson, my late husband, Norman Kay and his partner, New Yorker Edgar Kaplan, who was imported for the occasion.    They did us proud as they beat both Omar’s group and the Aces. However, that dual victory was overshadowed when our devotees shattered all attendance records for both the number of duplicate entries and vu-graph audiences as the Circus took their final curtain call at the Drake Hotel that Sunday evening.  When it came to love of the game, Philadelphia did not have to take a back seat to anyone!

As an interesting ‘aside,’ I learned from a reliable source and eyewitness close to me that after the play of 840 hands during a seven week span (with several changes of lead),  the Aces prevailed over the Circus by 101 Imps.  However, it was not a crushing victory by a long shot –  considering how many boards were in play.

Some days I have trouble counting trump, but Omar’s pilgrimage to Philly will remain a treasured memory and always have a special place in my heart.