These are our shorter biographical portraits which we would like to extend if you can provide information or memories.
Henri LeMao
French lightweight Henri LeMao made a couple of visits to Britain around 1960. He came over in 1959 at the invitation of Paul Lincoln and wrestled George kidd in Woolwich for Kidd’s World Lightweight title. He returned two years later to face more Lincoln hopefuls that included Zoltan Boscik, Peter Cortez, Peter Rann ,Linde Caulder and Johnny Williams.
Ray Leslie
Middlesbrough’s Ray Leslie trained at St Lukes, Middlesbrough, under the guidance of mid heavyweight champion Norman Walsh. He was one of a team of wrestlers known as the St Lukes Matmen (founded by Freddy Dawson) who often put on wrestling shows in aid of charity. After working throughout the north and Scotland for the first couple of years of his career he moved south in 1962 lured by the cheque book of independent promoter Paul Lincoln. Ray returned to Joint Promotions in 1964 and we enjoyed cheering him on before disappearing from our rings around 1967.
Luther Lindsay
One short 1961 visit to the UK was sufficient for us to select American Luther Lindsay for our A-Z. Few visitors, if any, could boast a KO win over Mike Marino at the Royal Albert Hall, or destruction of Josef Zaranoff on television. Luther Lindsay could.
In his native United States Luther Lindsay was one of the first African American wrestlers to achieve star billing, being billed as the Coloured American Heavyweight Champion. During the 1950s Luther took part in many inter-racial contests, which was something of a rarity in those days. He was a frequent challengers for Lou Thesz’s world title, often holding the champion to sixty minute draws.
World Heavyweight Champion, Lou Thesz, said of Lindsay,
“the best black wrestler ever. Luther had a fantastic body and limitless energy to compliment his skill. Like many other industries, wrestling was not open to African-American wrestlers during his career, so it was an amazing accomplishment for Luther to even learn his craft. His place in history is not because he was black; it is in spite of the fact he was black.”
Lindsay died, aged 48, from heart failure following a match against Bobby Paul on February 21st, 1972.
Hardy Lingus
Known as “The Leeds Tornado” Hardy Lingus worked for the independent promoters in the midlands and north during the second half of the 1960s and 1970s.
Carl Linskey
Not quite the American he was claimed to be. 1960s independent worker was Brian Linskey from Barnsley. He was another of the proteges from the Glover Junction gymnasium. His son is Christian Linskey, the world class athlete.
Chick Linton
Scottish welterweight Chick Linton was only five feet four inches tall, but was reckoned to be as hard as nails and was nicknamed the Scottish Pocket Hercules. Born in Dundee in 1924 Chick turned professional in the late 1940s following a successful amateur career and wrestling in the Highland Games. Although an accomplished technician that was not the path chosen by Chick. He quickly established himself as a very rough wrestler, willing to work outside the rules whenever it pleased him, which was often. He moved down south in the 1950s, basing himself in London, and was a regular worker in the south of England. Chick continued wrestling until the early 1970s, ending his career on the independent circuit. he died in January, 2010, aged 86.
Al Lipman
Times were hard in the 1920s and 1930s, nowhere more so than the industrial communities of Britain. Al Lipman came from a hard background, Aldgate in London’s east end. It was a battle to survive; youngsters grew up the hard way and learned to fend for themselves at an early age. It was a childhood that well prepared curly haired Al Lipman for the wrestling world. More interested in sport than the academic subjects at school Al’s first interest was boxing and he joined a boxing club. A near neighbour of Al was a hard Stepney wrestler called Harry Rabin. From boxing Al went on to wrestle, and was taught the rudiments of the sport by Harry, Al began wrestling professionally in 1935, though we find him for the first time in November, 1937, wrestling Len Ring at Chesterfield. Some promoters took to billing him as Canadian, but this boy was London through and through.
Al quickly gained a reputation as a very fast wrestler and descriptions such as “Jack in the Box” and “Live Wire” accompanied his name on the posters. That’s not to say he was missing out in the aggression stakes. He certainly wasn’t as he acquired a reputation to mix it when necessary. It was the speed, though, that made him distinctive and acquired him the names ““The Aldgate Flyer” or “The Jewish Flash”
Al’s wrestling activities were inevitably restricted, but not curtailed, during the war whilst he served for his country. When peace resumed he returned to regular wrestling activities travelling up and down the country. Following the end of the war BBC television resumed a series of short wrestling demonstrations. On 26th May, 1947, Mick McManus made his first television appearance, his opponent was Al Lipman. Mick and Al were set to become frequent opponents in the late 1940s, with George Kidd a memorable rival in the early 1950s. Following his retirement Al went into business and acquired a chain of clothing shops.
Johnny Lipman
Another Aldgate flyer who was active in the 1940s and 1950s.
Johnny was one of the first wrestlers to appear on television. In August, 1947 he was in the BBC television programme, “I Want To Be A Wrestler,” alongside fellow wrestlers Vic Coleman and Saxon Elliot with presenter McDonald Hobley. In the same year he was again on television, this time in wrestling matches opposing Jack Quesick and Percy Pitman.
In March, 1951 Johnny was one of the eight wrestlers competing in the British Empire Middleweight Championship Tournament in Wimbledon. He lost to New Zealander Russ Bishop in a tournament won by Vic Coleman.
The Liquidator
A low key 1970s masked man for the independent promoters, or more likely a name given to numerous wrestlers wearing a mask. One Liquidator was unmasked as Bob Lincoln, and we have heard that Carl Heinz was under the hood in the 1980s. The only intriguing aspect of this masked man was that he was for some reason featured in The Wrestler magazine.A low key 1970s masked man for the independent promoters, or more likely a name given to numerous wrestlers wearing a mask. One Liquidator was unmasked as Bob Lincoln, and we have heard that Carl Heinz was under the hood in the 1980s. The only intriguing aspect of this masked man was that he was for some reason featured in The Wrestler magazine.
Jack Little
Little in name, large in stature. Stratford upon Avon’s Jack Little, oft Sergeant Little, was one of Jack Taylor’s heavies in the 1960s and first opponent of Pat Roach.
Steve Logan (Birmingham)
Around 1980 wrestling fans were surprised to find that the Steve Logan appearing in the ring that night was not the long haired iron man we had grown accustomed to booing but a clean-cut newcomer who was nothing like his famous namesake. Whilst we may speculate whether or not this was a promoter’s ploy to mislead the fans we can offer a case in the young Birmingham wrestlers defence. Firstly, Steve Logan was his real name. Secondly, the original had retired shortly before (though many fans were unaware of this), and thirdly, the boy could wrestle. In the 1980s he continued to improve and was one of the top prospects of the decade. Had British wrestling managed to reverse it’s terminal decline we may well have been cheering on British champion Steve Logan to this day. We all know that things didn’t turn out quite like that. Steve wrestled throughout the 1980s, in Britain and overseas, including a spell for Stampede Wrestling in Canada. In the 1990s he turned his considerable skill to training youngsters how to wrestle and promoting professional wrestling under the KStar Promotions name.
Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo was a familiar name to wrestling fans of the 1950s. A worker for Atholl Oakeley and later Dale Martin Promotions he faced some of the best in the business – Mike Marino, Count Bartelli, Gordon Nelson and Geoff Portz. We find our Guy Lomabardo for the first time wrestling in Eastbourne in March 1952, wrestling Cab Cashford of Bolton in a match described in thos politically incorrect days as a Black v White contest. He was often billed from Singapore. This wouldn’t mean that he was from Singapore, but might suggest he was one of the many British wrestlers who wrestled in Singapore in the late 1940s. In 1953 he wrestled Milo Popocopolis at the Royal Albert Hall, one of the last shows promoted at the venue by Atholl Oakeley. Our last sighting is in July 1961.
Tiger Louis Lombardo
Muscular heavyweight of the 1960s and 1970 Tiger Louis Lombardo was another fvourite who learned the trade on the independent circuit before being signed up by Joint Promotions. Born in Jamaica, or so we w ere told, Louis lived in Birmingham and trained during his amateur days at the Birmingham Athletics Institute. A popular, strong, skillfull wrestler but he never made it into the top grade.
Jack London
Born in West Hartlepool as John George Harper he took his ring name from Jack London, an American author, and made his professional boxing debut in January, 1931. Said to have never been a stylish fighter, and not one of the crowd’s favourites London did box some quality international opponents with some success. In September, 1944, he outpointed Freddie Mills to win the British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship. He lost the title in July, 1945, knocked out by Bruce Woodcock.
Jack London fought his last boxing match in 1949. Three years later he was back in the ring; a wrestling ring this time, and fought a number of boxer v wrestler contests in 1952. This adventure lasted for only a short time until the ex boxer took up club management, re-locating to Blackpool where he had been based whilst serving in the army. He was the father of another British heavyweight champion, Brian London.
Chris Londos (Also known as Young Londos)
A young Chris Londos emerged onto the British wrestling scene in the mid 1930s, and he was set to become a permanent fixture in British and European rings for more than twenty years. His clever, scientific style made him a popular figure in Britain and continental Europe. Nephew of American World Heavyweight Champion Jim Londos newcomer Chris had the sort of youthful appearance and athletic build that led to an inevitable billing as “Young Londos, the Modern Hercules.”
Initially facing other preliminary workers the calibre of Chris’s opponents had increased dramatically by the late 1930s when he was in combat with the best wrestlers of the day – Harold Angus, Norman Morrell and Jack Dale. A report of a contest with Harold Angus in 1938 shows just how the youngster had progressed in such a short time. Inevitably appearances were severely curtailed during the war years until Chris re-emerged against the best of the post war welterweights, Jack Dempsey, Cliff Beaumont and Alan Colbeck.
By the early 1950s Chris was recognised as European welterweight champion until narrowly losing it to British champion Alan Colbeck in December, 1951. Londos was leading the British champion until an unfortunate back injury robbed him of the belt. A good man could not be kept down, and in the return contest, again at Dundee’s Caird Hall, Londos took the title for a second time when newspapers reported him “A worthy winner.” Amongst his Royal Albert Hall matches are included a win over Mick McManus in April, 1953, an Atholl Oakeley Promotion. Following that he began working exclusively for Joint Promotions, usually Dale Martin, and returned to the Royal Albert Hall in 1956 to defeat Cyril Knowles. He faded from the British wrestling scene a couple of years later.
As an aside we can tell you that Chris’s famous uncle, Jim Londos, was also born Christos, and in his early career was also known as Chris Londos.
Jim Londos
Golden Greek and former World heavyweight champion Jim Londos came to Britain on 26th October, 1937, to wrestle George Pencheff in a match described as “Catch as Catch Can,” and decidedly not “All In.” The Daily Mirror reported a clean and gruelling contest following which barefooted victor, Londos, was carried shoulder high back to the dressing room. In what is believed to be his only other match outside of London Londos defeated Jack Pye at Liverpool Stadium, a match promoted by William Bankier.
Les Lonsdale
Les Lonsdale trained with Dave Parfait and wrestled mainly in the North East from 1973 and into the 1980s, working for promoters Cyril Knowles, Don Robinson, and George deRelwyskow amongst others.
Brian Lord
An unfortunate motor cycle crash brought the wrestling aspirations to an end almost as soon as he had started. Born in Skegness Brian moved to Peterborough where he worked on the railways. Each week he travelled to Skegness on his motorbike to visit his parents who worked at Butlins holiday camp. It was here that he performed the duties of a second and met wrestler Romeo Joe Critchley. Joe taught Brian to wrestle and in 1967 he worked for Wryton Promotions, with matches against Jeff Kaye, Terry Downs and Romeo Joe. No sooner was he getting into the business than a serious injury in a motorcycle accident led to retirement after just eight matches.
Dennis Lord
Dennis Lord has swapped the world of weird and colourful characters of the wrestling ring with the equally weird and colourful characters of his 007 roadshow, which features Bond movie lookalikes available for hire. Dennis hadn’t planned a life as a professional wrestler, nor as the lookalike Bond villain Jaws come to that. Events just seemed to transpire which brought him to work in Ron Taylor’s wrestling booth. It was a demanding start to a wrestling career, taking on challengers from around the country, numerous bouts a night and never being quite sure what lay around the corner. He was in good company, learning the trade alongside Big Pat Roach amongst others, and has many happy memories of those early days. With experience under his belt Dennis was persuaded to try his hand in the professional ring, a career that was to last the best part of a decade. He was an immediate success and soon began to gain regular work on the independent circuit. Fans loved him in fast, technical bouts, but seemed to like it even more when he gave away weight to tackle some of the best villains on the independent circuit, the Wildman of Borneo, Klondyke Bill and Doctor Death amongst them. Stardom always seemed on the horizon, but Dennis’ aspirations were shattered when a serious road accident in 1976 brought a sudden end to his wrestling career. By now wrestling was in his blood and when Dennis recovered he returned to the business as a promoter, putting on quality shows around the country. Invariably crowds began to fall away, a sign of the times, and Dennis re-considered his business opportunities. He decided to move further into the entertainment business, assembling a group of characters you’d probably prefer not to meet on a dark night, and started an 007 roadshow of Bond lookalikes.
Lolita Loren
The second Lolita,who took over the role from Ann Barton. One of Cowboy Jack Cassidy’s wrestling daughters Chrissie Thompson weighed a mere 10 stone and was only 5.1”tall. Nevertheless she was a ferocious opponent regularly tagging with Klondyke Kate. She began wrestling aged 14 and originally appeared dressed in army gear under the name Anglo Spitfire. She won a British title aged 32 and, a top class villain, defended it for the next 15 years until her retirement aged 47. After she retired she trained as a chef working in Wilmslow. She died age 59 in January 2012. Although she had been suffering from lung cancer during her illness she continued to raise money for charity until her death.
Contributed by James Morton
Tommy Lorne
Leicestershire villain came onto the scene in the late 1970s. A man who dressed to impress, adorned in leathers and studs as one half of the Rockers tag team alongside Pete Lapaque. They were everything that the Royal Brothers were not, and consequently the fans booed and jeered them, usually towards disqualification.
Villainy did not make Tommy and his partner and less popular and they became well known nationwide as they made almost a dozen television appearances in the 1980s.
Tragedy struck in 1986. Returning from a show in Holmbeach Tommy and tag partner Pete were involved in a serious car crash. Pete suffered serious injuries and Tommy was killed.
Bob Lortie
Montreal’s Bob Lortie was the younger of the Lortie brothers and wrestled for a short time in Britain during November, 1937.
Paul Lortie
Billed from France, a thrilling French Ace no less, but actually from Montreal, Canada, heavyweight Paul Lortie worked in Britain between 1935 and 1939 against top men such as Bert Mansfield and Jack Sherry. Whilst in Britain he was featured in an exhibition of wrestling with Mike Demitre broadcast on television in 1939. He was the elder of the Lortie brothers, and found greater success than brother Bob. Paul Lortie died on 14th April, 1953 at the untimely age of just 38.
Roberto Lothario
Visiting Panamanian heavyweight during 1970-71 certainly looked the part but had a mixed bag of results against top British stars. Went down to Tibor Szakacs, as most did, wins over Johnny Czeslaw, Bobby Graham and Mike Powers, but often came unstuck against fully blown heavies of distinction such as Albert Wall, Steve Veidor, Gwyn Davies and Bruno Elrington. Challenged Mike Marino for the World mid heavyweight belt, losing by two straight falls in Halifax.
Duke Lynch
In the 1950s Duke Lynch was a useful wrestler working around the north of England, a win over Arthur Beaumont at Belle Vue gives testimony to that. Heritage member Ray Noble asked, “What happened to Duke Lynch? I used to see see him at Manchester School of Building in the 50s when he was an apprentice bricklayer and I was an apprentice plumber. We called him slim but not to his face. The last time I saw him wrestle was at the Whaley Bridge Drill Hall about 1957.” We do know that Duke moved across to the independents in 1957 and our last recorded match for him is in Wolverhampton in 1961.
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Wrestling Heritage 