August 07, 2004
Tiger man Sasha Siemel
During the 1950s, stories about Sasha Siemel’s adventures in the Brazilian jungle were a thrill for many readers. Siemel was a Latvian who immigrated to South America and became a well-known jaguar hunter.
Born in 1890 in Rīga, Alexander “Sasha” Siemel is reputed to have killed more than 300 big cats during his years in the Mato Grosso jungle of Brazil. He died in 1970 in his home in Pennsylvania, according to an article by Hugo J. Byrne in the electronic Spanish-language journal Guaracabuya.
Legend has it that Siemel killed many of the cats with just a spear, but several sources say the majority were shot with a rifle or handgun.
Siemel’s exploits were retold in books and articles about him, as well as in his own writings. Among the earliest was Tiger-Man: An Odyssey of Freedom by Julian Duguid, published in 1932 in the United Kingdom and in the United States, but in 1933 in France under the title Tiger-Man: Histoire de Sacha Siemel, le tueur de jaguar. Duguid also wrote about Siemel in his 1950 book, Green Hell.
Siemel’s stories about hunting appeared in American magazines such as Argosy, Blue Book Magazine and Cavalcade, according to The FictionMags Index, while stories about him also appeared in hunting magazines such as Feathered Shaft. Siemel also wrote a 1952 article for National Geographic, “The Jungle Was My Home.”
He wrote or co-wrote at least four books: Jungle Wife (1949), Tigrero! (1953), Jungle Fury (1954) and Sashino: The Story of Jaguar Hunt in Brazil (1965). Tigrero! was to be made into Hollywood feature film, starring John Wayne and Ava Gardner, but the 20th Century Fox studio pulled the plan after it learned it would cost too much to insure the movie stars, according to The New York Times. Instead Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki in 1996 released Tigrero: The Film That Was Never Made, a documentary that took independent director Jim Jarmusch and screenwriter Sam Fuller back to the Brazilian jungle that Fuller had explored in 1954 as he research the screenplay.
Siemel also appeared in the 1937 Jungle Menace film series, which starred animal trapper Frank Buck. Siemel played the role of “Tiger” Van Dorn. A total of 15 episodes were made, according to the Internet Movie Database. He also appeared in the same role in the 1946 feature film Jungle Terror.
In 1953, Siemel was interviewed by journalist Charles Collingwood for the “Adventure” series produced by the American Museum of Natural History and broadcast on the CBS television network.
Siemel also was among big-game hunters profiled in Peter Hathaway Capstick’s 1981 book, Death in the Silent Places.
Andris Straumanis is editor of Latvians Online.
The article may be found online at http://latviansonline.com/index.php/dyk/article/375/
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