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Famous Like Me > Actor > W > George Wagner

Profile of George Wagner on Famous Like Me

 
Name: George Wagner  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 9th January 1947
   
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
   
Profession: Actor
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia

George Raymond Wagner, or Gorgeous George (March 24, 1915 - December 26, 1963) was a professional wrestler.

He was born in Nebraska, but his family moved to Texas while he was a boy.

Career

Wagner was a wrestler with an undistinguished career until he recreated his professional image in the early 1940s as the flamboyant Gorgeous George. The image was created in part by growing his hair long, dying it blonde, and putting gold-plated bobby pins in it. He had a valet accompany him in his ring appearances, and was also probably the first wrestler to have music, Pomp and Circumstance, played during his appearances. He wore elaborately sequinned robes and the air had to be sprayed with disinfectant before he would start wrestling. Once the match began, he would cheat in every way he could. This flamboyant image and his showman's ability to work a crowd were so successful in the early days of television that he became the most famous wrestler of his time, drawing furious heel heat wherever he appeared.

Gorgeous George attained his wrestling peak in May 1950 when he won the American Wrestling Association world title, by defeating Don Eagle. While George Wagner may have been considered a mere gimmick wrestler, he was actually a very competent freestyle wrestler, having started learning the sport in amateur wrestling as a teenager, and he could handle himself quite well if it came to a legitimate contest. The great Lou Thesz, who would take this AWA title away from Wagner, and who was probably the best "legit" wrestler in professional wrestling during the 20th century, displayed some disdain for the gimmick wrestlers. Nevertheless, he admitted that Wagner "could wrestle pretty well," but added that, "he [Wagner] could never draw a fan until he became Gorgeous George."

Wagner wrestled for another ten years. In one of his last matches he was defeated by the up-and-coming Bruno Sammartino. As his wrestling career wound down he raised turkeys and owned a restaurant.

He appeared in one motion picture, Alias the Champ, made in 1949.

He was married twice, first to Betty Hanson in the late 1930s. (They were married in the ring.) They had two children (some sources say they were adopted). In 1951, after divorcing Betty, he married Cherie Dupré. They had one son. Although he made a lot of money during his career, he died poor. His funeral was attended by many notable people from the show business and sports world. A plaque at his gravesite reads "Love to our Daddy Gorgeous George".

Wrestling historians give differing accounts of the inspirations for the Gorgeous George gimmick; according to Thesz, Wagner admitted he got the initial idea from another wrestler, Lord Patrick Lansdowne.

In any event, the Gorgeous George persona has had an extensive direct and indirect influence on entertainers since. Muhammad Ali and James Brown acknowledged that their own approach to flamboyant self-promotion was influenced by George's. Musical performers such as Liberace, Little Richard, and Elton John show signs of the George meme. Some consider George to have been an early advancer of camp. And without doubt, uncounted numbers of dyed-blonde professional wrestling heels in the decades since can all trace their heritage back to Gorgeous George.

Championships and accomplishments

  • 2-Time Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time AWA World Champion
  • 1-Time NWA Southern Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time GCCW Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time Northwest Middleweight Champion
  • Charter member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article George Wagner