I was watching thet masked French wrestler, the Human Beast, being introduced on Youtube and they also introduced a celebrity ringside-seater, French actor Roger Hanin.
So I got to thinking about our celebrity fans.
Dame Mary Rand we certainly know well.
Bessy Braddock famously photographed at the Royal Albert Hall
The Duke of Edinburgh (well, he did return for a second helping)
Geoff Hurst's involvement remains mysterious
Duke Ellington was allegedly a fan of Steve Logan.
Sir Peter Blake, well reported.
There have probably been plenty of closet fans. But who do we actually know were keen?
We need to exclude those who were merely photographed with wrestlers like Raquel Welch, The Beatles and Dickie Henderson.
Mick McManus could be the captain.The problem maybe the handshake wether the masons or the wrestler. Top secret? 🤼♀️
Well Farmers Boy Pete Ross, Tony Francis,Glitter Boy Evans & myself were or are masons, maybe we should have had a masons tag team!!! Regards Les 💪
Yes Les, hence my comment. Thanks. But I'm asking whether any wrestlers were fellow masons - to make the link.
May be Anglo, if Mick McManus was on the bill,he could have taken the H R H The Duke of Kent along. After all the Duke has been the First Grand Principal of the Freemasons for over 50 years !!!
We always get fixated on Prince Philip but what about The Duke of Kent? I don't know if we can claim him as a fan as it looks like once was enough for him. Also a bit too recent for my deep interest, but hey, an accolade for the Crabtree years to have got him there. Thank heavens to be able to say something positive!
I wonder who got him there? Were any of the wrestlers masons?
I wonder what he thought of it all? At least he's still alive. Any press anywhere of his thoughts on proceedings?
Yes, I meant that. 10 is still good and he just misses out on bronze.
That’s right Hack, Stan Ogden had a bout with Wild Ian Campbell, and did Ena Sharples jump into the ring and hit Campbell with her handbag 👜 or am I wrong? Regards Les. 💪
"...Off the wrestling topic completely, can anyone else have appeared in ten Bond films?..."
Do you mean anyone at all Anglo, Desmond Llewelyn (who played the gadget man, "Q") appeared in 17, Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), 14, Bernard Lee (as "M") in 11 of them.
I seem to think that Doug Robinson was a real wrestler, not sure he ever did the "Pro" stuff.
If I am correct, then it is Doug Robinson (standing in for Harrison Ford), who is chased by the giant stone ball, in the famous scene at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I seem to recall a documentary about the film, behind the scenes, etc., and think Doug was on that.
Hey Saxonwolf, back to Bond: I have found a wrestler who appeared in no less than 10 Bond films.
On our topic here, he says that Connery was friendly with him and got his fee raised from £2,000 to £9,000 for Diamonds Are For Ever (after losing out on an earlier leading role to Robert Shaw, who had allegedly got the nod because he was Connery's golfing buddy.)
My problem was establishing that he was indeed a wrestler, in fact he's not in our A-Z, but I can do here:
The man in question is Doug Robinson, brother of Tiger Joe.
All a bit distant from the main topic here, but interesting nonetheless.
Off the wrestling topic completely, can anyone else have appeared in ten Bond films?
I remember that episode of Whickers World as well, he was a real Yorkshireman and it seemed that all the money never changed him, he liked wrestling and invited his friends and neighbours around on Sunday for tradiational Sunday roast dinner, with loads of bottles of beer!
One of the most reported celebrity wrestling fans was Percy Shaw, millionaire inventor of cat's eyes. I remember Whicker's World doing a profile of him and how he was set up never to miss ITC wrestling. I don't recall if he ever attended live shows, I'm sure he did.
Mention of Doris Speed, remember that wrestling was once a big Corrie storyline,
The Day The Soap Met The Sport
That’s fine Anglo. I think Sean Connery entered the Mr. Universe competition many many years ago. Wrestling and physical culture go hand in hand. Also, the great Jo Robinson has a superb scrap with Mr. Connery, in Diamonds are Forever.
As a regular wrestler at the spa at Scarborough,Doris Speed who played Annie Walker in Coronation St, was a front row punter on odd occasions. And would you believe that Fred Feast who played the barman Fred Gee in Corry was known to referee at the Spa (as he was quite friendly with the promoter Don Robinson) supposedly he’d wrestled when he was a para in the army . 💪
Yes, Powerlock, but Graham seems to be right as "our"wrestlers appeared in Sean Connery films, + Yuri Borienko as I mentioned. Only one appearance of one of our wrestlers in a Roger Moore film - and that was The Mighty Chang who had already worked on with Connery as Bond, so this was a return and in any case he was an actor by then.
Great to know Sean Connery is a fan, thanks Graham.
As someone who has read a lot of books on the making of the James Bond films, I have never read that Sean Connery had a hand in any of the casting. Tosh Togo (Harold Sakata) was spotted by one of the crew (although I also read that he was chosen by producers Saltzman and Broccoli). I'll grab one of my books and check again. Obviously someone in the casting department could have been a wrestling fan, although only Harold Sakata and Peter Maivia had no prior acting experience, same for Joe Cornelius although his film was not considered part of the official Bond lineage.
British or British based (at the time of filming) Wrestlers in James Bond films
Milton Reid (Mighty Chang) - DR. NO
Harold Sakata (Tosh Togo/Great Togo) GOLDFINGER
Dazzler Joe Cornelius CASINO ROYALE
Milton Reid (Mighty Chang) CASINO ROYALE
Peter Maivia YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
Yuri Borienko ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
Joe Robinson DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
Sonny Calindez THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
Milton Reid (Mighty Chang) THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
Pat Roach NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
Blimey. Les Prest. Still alive? Only kidding Les.
Hack, you are right it was Con Cluske, he was the tall one in the middle of the Bachelors. Who owned the Warren club at Mixenden where he did a spot of promoting in the 70s
Leslie Crowther was a fan and defended the legitimate toughness of the wrestlers in TV interviews
Sean Connery’s fight with Pat Roach in Never say Never again was one of the best fight scenes. Apparently, Connery had asked for Pat Roach’s fighting skills which were very diverse.