John Fulton, an American artist who became a professional bullfighter in Spain, has died, family friends said Saturday. He was 65.
Fulton died in the Sagrado Corazon Hospital in Seville on Friday from complications following a heart attack Feb. 8. He had been in a coma since then, said Helen Fouche, a close friend who was with him when he died.Fulton was the only professional American bullfighter to receive the coveted "confirmation" or recognition of his ranking by Madrid's renowned Las Ventas bullring, which he did in 1967.
Fulton was born in Philadelphia on May 22, 1932.
His dream to fight bulls evolved while studying art in the Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende in the early 1950s.
After a few years as an apprentice there, he moved to Seville, where he combined his love for bullfighting with painting and where he was helped out financially by Ernest Hemingway.