Ron Historyo Goes On The Trail
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Looking through my archive collection some names just stick in your memory. Some turn out to be world famous, some just eye catching. Some of the early low carders that were needed when wrestling started.
Examples such as Herbie Rosenburg, the Sneering Jew, he soon faded away like another Oakeley creation Slim Giles who morphed into Gilo Giles and Jumbo Giles and then Gilo Goliath; all some guy called Giles from Oxford. Tremendous Tremorgan turned out to be Trevor Morgan.
Then we got attempts to sensationalize Carver Doone who was Jack Baltus, who could hardly wrestle. The Russian Bear Karchinski, various Red Devils and Masked Marvels, even Question Marks and Masked Top Hats.
Who was Wild Tarzan? The Golden Ace? The Golden Phantom? Le Ghoul?
Wrestling in the 1930’s needed wrestlers and it also needed colour.
I very quickly know when I start an investigation if we have the real thing or not. If a wrestler was a short lived thing because the Trail petered out it was because he had little significance or he has changed identity. I can’t tell you who Cyclone Probos was or Battling Muldoon, Mose Moont, Gorilla Jones or Chopper Simms.
Enough anyway, this is a story of Manolo Hector Trudeau billed below, a few months after his arrival in a British wrestling ring back in 1937.
South America was it? Well it was according to Relwyskow, the promoter. He must have had a fixation at the time about South America. I ask you, did South America have any wrestling in 1938? At least Relwyskow stuck to his own script at Dundee, the same as Hull. Not satisfied with that Relwyskow even bills Joe Concle from the same place.
I am starting to think Relwyskow was a close second to Atholl Oakeley in use of the imagination.
But back in December 1937, Bob Heath the promoter at Millbay Rinkeries in Plymouth had seen things differently, fighting Paul Lortie of France, Hec Trudeau was billed from Belgium. Preston had him South America.
It’s a good job I have a sense of humour, I just enjoy being a time detective. I don’t even know that much about wrestling except I saw a lot at the end of the Golden Age. If I wasn’t doing this I would be doing yet another fiendish Sudoku or some other puzzle or maybe another mystery.
So, the big question is, was this guy a relatively real deal?
Looks to me like Trudeau was based in the north. Maybe Manchester is a good place to start.
His career here seemed to stop in 1947 and in 1946 I found Wryton Promotions billing him as French Canadian. It just goes to show, without the internet promoters could get away with a lot. It was more the provincial evening papers rather than national papers that covered wrestling, so not really possible in those days to compare notes.
In fact I have a bill here from Gloucestershire and incredibly the wrestlers all seem to be from Greater Manchester.
Well maybe not Jack Pye, but he was Blackpool. Where was Hec from, could it be Manchester? Of course we have the French Canadian identity again. Whatever happened to South America? The Bill Benny billing below is outlandish ….Mexico !!!!
To make it even more complicated as far as New Brighton went Hec Trudeau was just plain French.
The time had come for some detective work. Any Trudeau Wrestlers traveling the world by ship, especially in 1947? Had Hec gone home or was he in Manchester retired?
2nd February 1947 Trudeau had got on the Aquitania at Southampton. He had a wife Edna, very much younger than himself and a young son, Donald F Trudeau. (age 6). Trudeau’s real name was Francis H Trudeau (probably Hector) and he was born in 1901. Destination was Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Occupation Wrestler.
My suspicions were correct, he had been residing at 1 Madison Road Droylsden, Manchester. That part had not been that hard to work out, because all through the war the only way a wrestler could earn a living was in the north and Manchester was one of the Hot Spots.
You only need to look at Belle Vue during the war and with twice a week wrestling it is not hard to find Trudeau on countless occasions. Of course living in Manchester, Trudeau and Carl Van Wurden were tailor made for traveling together up to Newcastle and Dundee along with other city dwellers such as Jack Atherton and Padvo Peltonin (Martin Bucht). All these guys were about the right weight as well as was Billy Riley and Vic Hessle.
At the end of 1939 Trudeau broke a leg wrestling in a show for the troops at Morecambe with Vic Hessel, and in Februaury 1940 Relwyskow held a benefit night for him to raise some money.
Back home in Canada I found Hec wrestling the odd match for the next few years. Here and there, Vancouver, Calgary, British Columbia and even as a referee in Montana and it is only to be expected that in his later forties his career was over.
But the question was burning for me about his origin, he had given Britain a good decade of service but was about 36 when he came over. It was a hard slog to pick him up before this, I couldn’t get a bill but found him on what was to become the Stampede circuit later, but this was in 1934. Finally going to another source I picked him up in Vancouver. The proof (left) that Britain got a man of some sort of pedigree. (spelling variations)
I don’t seem to be able to find Hec Trudeau any younger, but I have proved he was the real article. I do have one last problem that I have been unable to crack. Texas is along way south but there was a French Canadian working there about the same weight.
I am not so sure, it just begs another Question . Was Manolo Hector Trudeau also known as Frenchy Trudeau?
The business with Frenchy has been a burning irritation. I think Britain got his best years. I will finish with one highlight. After the usual prayer mat caper Trudeau riled Ali the Wicked by grabbing his whiskers and throwing him. The mayhem that followed ended with Trudeau being knocked out. He was often described as a clown, a puncher or a whirlwind, but certainly a showman.
It did not stop him being descried as Unbeaten in England the following year. Total nonsense of course. He won some, he lost some.
More like “undefeated in Blackburn.”
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