Alan Garfield

An approximately 25-year wrestling career that we are now twenty years into dissecting online, in little bursts that recur every Olympic year, seemingly.

In the run up to the Athens Olympics, all aspects of "our" wrestling history were up for discussion and exploration: we didn't know who William Matthews was; I didn't know who The Outlaw was; Masambula was from Gambia; after a few bouts in the South, Paul Mitchell would never be heard of again; The Royals were unquestioned as brothers.

We hadn't had the exposure to Kendo Nagasaki that has abounded in the last five years. Saxonwolf harped on about the hope of a Nagasaki autobiography. Politely I told him it just wouldn't happen!

Dreams do come true.

But Nagasaki had a website. I was discovering websites in 2003/4. I hadn't got as far as apps and pdfs. I seem to recall the website invited us to name our favourite wrestler, an ever so slightly loaded question. Anyway, I stated Nagasaki was great, which seemed only courteous to the host, but that my Number One was Alan Garfield, My memories of him were magical.

To many small-screen fans he was quite simply an unknown name. But I was heartened that some Southern stalwarts, like Ballymoss now, were quick to chime in with similar recollections and it all took off. I remember with great affection our deceased but still revered forum friends Old David and Grizzled Veteran. Recollections of a Garfield/Nagasaki feud even emerged.

So our collective resources led to that magnificent Voyage of Discovery, that continues today even through our intrepid NSW agent's unstinting attempts to track down Garfield's daughter (who I met in 1971 - I wonder if she remembers me?)

Dreams do indeed come true.

Maybe one day we will even discover what he said to Kent Walton during his 1965 Bradford match with Gwyn Davies that would lead to his television ban.

The Original Alan Garfield Thread

Anglo Italian's original 2004 thread didn't make it to this forum, but is kept safely on Heritage. Read it (it will take a while but well worth it) and continue the discussion here.

I doubt if any other wrestler has managed to attract so much attention in the Forum than Alan Garfield, a considerable feat as his television appearances were rather restricted then sadly terminated.

When one Dudley Gillingham transformed into Alan Garfield and commenced his lengthy wrestling career back in 1947 he could have not believed he would be the subject of discussion among wrestling enthusiasts nearly 80 years later. In retrospect his decision to evolve into a "sporting gentleman' was a stroke of genius in what was then a class dominated society, and to act as a villian gave added stimulus and brought crowds flocking eager to see him given his comeuppence. Of course he had to possess the wrestling ability and charisma to achieve his status and this he had in abundance. Few wrestlers could manage to enrage a crowd as Alan Garfield with his underhand tactics and insults to a largely working class audience were guaranteed to activate derision.

I was fortunate to see the great man live on several occasions and once at Maidstone(not a venue for the fainthearted) I wondered if he would actually reach the safety of the dressing room- he returned safely. Yet there was one venue where he actually received acclaim the rather quirky Lime Grove Baths in Shepherds Bush.

Lime Grove was opposite the then BBC television studios and attracted a slighty more middle class patronage and although this is only conjecture this may have been the reason a substantial segment of the audience actually cheered the great man. I witnessed this once when he was matched against a "heel" from memory "Rough House" Alf Cadman who was informed by Garfield that he was a cad and to loud cheers was subjected to a vicious looking Boston Crab- a Garfield speciality which terminated the bout.

This may have been a one off occasion but I wonder if there was any other venue where Alan Garfield was accorded "blue eye" status.

A sign we are getting old. These photos have appeared on Heritage several times over. Actually it’s fine, as we can relive those days and those people involved in quite an eccentric entertainment. (Bash for cash)?

Thanks Saxonwolf, took me a while but managed to get through it.

Probably written by Garfield himself; he clearly thought he could get away with murder in the USA. Interesting that he shows respect even there for Assirati; yet specifically names Dennis Mitchell as the man he beat for the British title. I wonder what Mitchell thought about that?

The moustache-tweaking is clearly the whole point of the article, priming the audience to know what to look out for. We know McManus was the only wrestler at his funeral and I'm wondering whether it was out of thanks for giving him the idea about having his ears tweaked - "Not the ears!"

I'll give my eyes a rest and have a squint at The Ost's later.

Alan writes about physical culture, late 1940's:

I'll try again, and post the article I found in a US Wrestling magazine of the early 60's.

Very informative it is, as well, it gives you the date that "Sir" Alan was knighted, talks of him being a major in the Army, and his days the special forces........click the pages to enlarge.

Saxonwolf reminds us that Tinker Todd was Ramon Napolitano - complete with genuine WW2 military career. And also with Californian family.

Garfield had done the same Bentley gimmick on his earlier tour, with Oliver Winrush as tag partner. It seems Winrush was also Napolitano.

And yet Garfield's title bouts and championship reign in tag were alongside Karl Von Schober - don't tell me that was Ramon Napolitano too!

Once again, Garfield pushing believability with his "array" of tag partners.

I know Ron loves to rise to these sorts of challenges: I wonder what history we can see in British rings of Garfield and Napolitano on the same bill? Probably, if at all, in opposite corners.

Since John is with us, and mindful that Garfield was billed from Sydney for ten years, and has to this day a restaurant named after him in the Dandenongs: did Alan Garfield ever wrestle in Australia?

Hi Ron

Part of my fascination with Alan Garfield - and there are many many parts - is that he mischievously wanted to push the level of (in)credibility as far as a he could. Here he taunts Americans by giving them vent to their stereotypes of foreigners. So hard for us to judge now: you call it tosh, but it clearly put bums on seats. Impossible to know how many US fans would have swallowed even part of this way back then. At least Garfield was British! For my part back in the sixties I knew that Nagasaki was Japanese. Thanks for the post, we have quite good coverage of his two US tours.

Hi John

Just because we have only one poster for Garfield in France it doesn't mean that he only wrestled there the once. Judo Al Hayes linked up plenty of UK wrestler for work in France. We have only scratched at the surface and probably are aware of fewer than one per cent of French bills. Given that we know that the likes of Royal and Davies and Taylor and Hesselle and Bert and many others channel-hopped with some regularity, also pre-1961, and not to mention Hayes and Hunter, we can also imagine that Garfield did too - though chunks of his career were spent in South Africa and Stateside. Interesting that the likes of Dr Death and McManus, invincible on their own bills, were wise enough not to expect French stars to succumb to them.

Hi Anglo. Years ago I asked Alan (Riot Squad) for more detail on Heritage's remarks that Alan (Garfield) was very popular in Paris. He said something along the lines of 'Now look here old chap, I have no idea about the subject you raise, get in touch with Anglo' I don't believe I ever did. I have, over the years trolled through Bob Plantin's huge French blog and have only come up with one mention, down the bottom of the bill, name spelled incorrectly. I even asked Bob P. If he recalled Alan (Garfield) and he replied 'I started my career in '61 and don't know of him, maybe he was retired by then'! Don't know him, retired by '61, what?!

So Anglo, do you have any idea, as suggested by Alan (Riot, not Garfield) who gave the information all those years ago, to Heritage, that Alan (Garfield not Riot) was 'popular in Paris'?

I'm joining in this lovely 'rehash'! A.G. Was my favourite villain. Looked every bit of a 'toff', every bit of a villain and every bit of a wrestler. When he fought Ricki Starr at Brighton Stadium the first time, all the cheers from the packed venue, were for his opponent, an American! Another time, same place, he beat Johnny Yearsley to face Joe Cornelius in the final of a one night knockout competition. Joe made the final after he had been mauled by Danny Lynch and had rosin smeared in his eyes by Jack Bence and faced Alan with one eye bruised and closed. Joe was the darling of Brighton (as well as many other places) so of course he was going to win, after a hammering, stealing a winning fall. He DIDN'T. He LOST, in the best bit of booking I ever witnessed in the U.K. (Maybe it was just fluke booking). The crowd was devastated.

Alan Garfield master Villain, v Joe Cornelius, Consummate hero. It couldn't be any better than that!

A very old thread revived because I have found a treat for Anglo.

SUCH TOSH (click to enlarge)

Do we have an approximate idea of when he retired from the ring?

I seem to think his nephew told us this on the old 1-stop site, over a decade ago?

Oh yes, good point Ballymoss. I was only considering Billy Barber's DM days. And Lincoln programmes largely stopped their creativity after 1966. So I will now revise my guess based on studying Garfield's match record and the periods when he faced Hayes on Lincoln bills.

This throws up 4th January 1962 in Leyton. I'll plump for that as the Garfield I remember ten years later had an older physique.

Mate of MM will reveal all, perhaps? Of course the photo could have been used years later so we'll never really know.

A brilliant find and I can recall seeing this picture being in a Paul Lincoln programme. I wonder if it was a little earlier only because Billy Barber was gradually replaced as Lincoln's principal referee by Max Ward, before 1969. Of course this is only a guess, and I now realise I first saw Alan Garfield live nearly sixty years ago !!

Here's another corker from Main Mask. I'm wondering which publication this appeared in? Rare shot of Billy Barber.

I'm taking a stab at the year: 1969.

Anglo italian suggested the description meant Garfield had an unbeaten run.

Possibly, as tickets were on sale at Ye Olde Humbugge Shop

Another Rare FLYER Featuring the 'TURBULENT ONE' for you ANGLO!- This one 1961 from

BURNT OAK!!

MAIN MASK

Asking whether Garfield has "finally met his match" in these latest Main Mask contributions rather implies some kind of unbeaten run, doesn't it?

Here's a shot of Alan with one of his famous 1930's era Bentleys. Interestingly the article makes no mention of him and focuses on the likes of Rex Gable.