Nov 23 2006
Alex Siodmak Dies
On Tuesday November 21st, 2006 my father, Alex Siodmak passed away at the age of 89. He died quietly with my mother by his side. As per his wishes he will be cremated following a small private service on Friday, November 24th at 1pm at Baggett & Summer Funeral Home in Daytona Beach,
FL.
Alex was born in Dresden, Germany on August 11, 1917. His father, a dairy merchant, died from a heart attack when he was only 6 years old so he and his mother relocated to Berlin. His older brothers Erich and Manfred migrated to the US in the early 1930’s but Alex remained in Germany so he could finish his High School education. This plan was cut short in 1933 when the Nazi party took control of the German government and he and his mother fled to the United States.
With a strong interest in photography as a boy, Alex became a professional photographer. During World War II he used this skill to his advantage where he persuaded his commanding officer to transfer him from the US Army to a post on the island of Hawaii with the US Air Force. After the war he opened his own commercial photography studio.
Alex received his diploma from George Washington High School. He later received his college degree from Columbia University. On August 7, 1953 Alex married one of his models, Rosemarie Martello and on October 31, 1963 they had a son, Oliver Siodmak (me). He and Rosemarie lived in NYC until his retirement in 1987 when they relocated to Daytona Beach, FL.
Throughout his professional career Alex was a commercial photographer, photo journalist, teacher and projectionist. His photographs are on record at the Smithsonian Archive of American Art, as part of dozens of commercial advertisements, on display of the Queens Museum (1939 World’s Fair) and on the January 1955 cover of Playboy magazine. His articles have printed in the NY Times, various photographic publications and numerous nudist magazines.
During the later part of his life Alex was an active speaker on the Holocaust. He was also a strong advocate for nudist rights.
Read Alex’s obituary in the Daytona Beach News-Journal
