Gorgeous George was a major national celebrity at his peak, and was largely or even solely responsible for establishing television as a viable entertainment medium, in its early days.
11 Facts About Gorgeous George
2.
Gorgeous George was posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002 and the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010.
3.
Gorgeous George was recruited to Los Angeles by promoter Johnny Doyle.
4.
Gorgeous George strolled nobly to the ring to the sounds of "Pomp and Circumstance", followed by his valet and a purple spotlight.
5.
Gorgeous George was the industry's first true cowardly villain, and he would cheat at every opportunity, which infuriated the crowd.
6.
Consequently, it was Gorgeous George who brought the sport into the nation's living rooms, as his histrionics and melodramatic behavior made him a larger-than-life figure in American pop culture.
7.
In one of his final matches, Gorgeous George later faced off against an up-and-coming Bruno Sammartino, though he would lose his precious hair again when he was defeated by the Destroyer in a hair vs mask match at the Olympic Auditorium on November 7,1962.
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Bruno Sammartino 8.
Gorgeous George appeared in one motion picture, Alias the Champ, made in 1949, which featured wrestler Tor Johnson.
9.
Gorgeous George raised turkeys and owned a cocktail lounge in Van Nuys, California, which he named "Gorgeous George's Ringside Restaurant".
10.
Gorgeous George suffered a heart attack on December 24,1963, and died two days later, at age 48.
11.
In September 2008, the first full-length biography of Gorgeous George was published by HarperEntertainment Press.