William Muldoon
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William Muldoon | |
---|---|
Born | May 25, 1852 Caneadea, New York, U.S. |
Died | June 3, 1933 (aged 81) Purchase, New York, U.S. |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Bill Muldoon |
Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
Billed weight | 192–212 lb (87–96 kg) |
Debut | 1870 (amateur) 1876 (semi-pro) 1881 (pro) |
Retired | March, 1890 |
William Muldoon (May 25, 1852 – June 3, 1933)
Nicknamed "The Solid Man,"
Early life
Born in
Muldoon journeyed to Paris to serve as a volunteer in the
By 1876, Muldoon was living in
The Solid Man
In 1880, Muldoon gained recognition when he won the
Following the celebrated match with Whistler, Muldoon assembled an athletic combination and toured the country promoting athletic events and defending his title against all comers. Muldoon became involved in theater around this time, stemming from his fame in athletics. In 1883 he shared the bill with Maurice Barrymore, a boxer turned actor, in Madame Modjeska's production of Shakespeare's As You Like It. Barrymore played Orlando and Muldoon was Charles the Wrestler. In 1887, he appeared on Broadway as "The Fighting Gaul" in Spartacus.
Muldoon was one of a party of gentlemen entertained by Robert Emmet Odlum, brother of women's rights activist Charlotte Odlum Smith, on the morning of May 19, 1885, the day he jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge and was killed. Muldoon assisted in unsuccessful resuscitation efforts and summoned an ambulance, which arrived too late to save Odlum.[6][7]
In 1889 Muldoon trained
On May 28, Muldoon and Sullivan would have an exhibition wrestling bout contested under London Prize Ring Rules that ended on a 5-5 draw.[8] The two would later have a three-round bout where Muldoon would win two of three bouts[9][10]
Muldoon was never defeated for his Greco-Roman Championship. He wrestled in his final championship match in 1890, defeating Evan Lewis in Philadelphia. Despite being implored by promoters and challengers to come out of retirement, Muldoon never wrestled another finish match or claimed any active championship. He symbolically passed his World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship to protégé Ernest Roeber (whom Lewis later defeated). Muldoon would make his final public appearance as a wrestler in a charity exhibition match against Roeber at Madison Square Garden in 1894.
That same year Muldoon moved his health farm from
Later years
In 1900, Muldoon opened what would become the work of his life, the well-known health institute The Olympia at
In the spring of 1909 Muldoon made a final return to the stage in a theatrical tour organized in benefit of The Lambs. Muldoon dedicated a Civil War monument to the town of Belfast, New York, listing the names of local veterans in 1915, including that of his older brother John.[11]
In 1921 Muldoon was personally tapped by Governor
In 1927 Muldoon was profiled by The New Yorker magazine and in 1929 by The Saturday Evening Post.[12][13] A biography was published in 1928, with a foreword by Jack Dempsey.[14]
William Muldoon died at age 81 in Westchester County, New York, and was interred in a grandiose private mausoleum at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Sometime after the end of his wrestling career and before the turn of the century, Muldoon had claimed for years that he was born in 1845, and seven years older than his age verified in the Muldoon Family Bible, which documents his real birth year.
In 1996, Muldoon was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum under the "Pioneer Era" category.
Personal
Muldoon claimed to be a lifelong bachelor. However, he was married twice; the first marriage ended in divorce, the second in separation. His housekeeper of 30 years, Leonie Lutringer, left her entire estate to Muldoon in 1922. It was revealed later in his life that he had adopted his longtime secretary Margaret Farrell – she received his entire estate at his death. Muldoon was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1931, though his doctors did not reveal the nature of his illness to him. Muldoon died two years later. Retired boxing champion
Muldoon was a strong advocate of compulsory military service, equestrianism, physical culture and the Boy Scouts of America, citing the latter as the only organization left devoted to leadership-building for young men.
Championships and accomplishments
- Other titles
- Hall of Fame Inductions
- International Boxing Hall of Fame, 1996 (Non-Participant)[17]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1997)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, 2004 (Pioneer Era)
- George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, 2001[18]
- International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2021)[19]
- Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)[20]
- New York State Boxing Hall of Fame (Class of 2014)
Notes and references
- ^ "Bill Muldoon Dies in Sleep at 88". New York Times, June 4 1933.
- P.T. Barnum exhibit claimed to be the petrified remains of an ancestral missing link between man and ape, later revealed as a hoax.
- 1860 United States Federal Census
- Ring Magazine publisher Nat Fleischerin his volume, "From Milo to Londos" (The Ring Athletic Library, Book No. 13, 1936)
- ^ Whistler, who died young, was later eulogized by Muldoon as the toughest man he ever met on the mat. Their 1881 match ignited a professional and personal rivalry that punctuated wrestling's popularity in the early to mid-1880s.
- ^ Odlum, Catherine (1885). The Life and Adventures of Prof. Robert Emmet Odlum, Containing an Account of his Splendid Natatorium at the National Capital. Gray and Clarkson.
- ^ "Odlum's Leap to Death". The New York Times. May 20, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ^ "Sullivan as a wrestler". The Nebraska State Journal. May 29, 1889. p. 4. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
- ^ "Threw John L. Twice". Evening Edition of The World. May 31, 1889. p. 4. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
- ^ "Why the Baddest Man on the Planet's a Pro Wrestler". 27 June 2012.
- ^ [1] www.usgennet.org.
- ^ Walker, Stanley (9 July 1927). "Profiles: Spartacus in Westchester". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ^ "Contents Lists". Philsp.com. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ^ Van Every, Edward (1928). Muldoon – The Solid Man of Sport. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company.
- ^ "William Muldoon: ' Iron Duke' of Athletics, Idol of Boxing World, Was John L. Sullivan's Trainer. Veteran of the Civil War As State Commissioner He Won Renown for Raising Standards of Pugilism". The New York Times. June 4, 1933.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (January 19, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/19): Ric Flair wins WWF title in 1992 Royal Rumble". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
- Gas House District smokers in the 1870s and had the occasional professional bout during his wrestling career. He continued to spar late into his life. http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php/IBHOF:_1996_Induction
- Canadian Online Explorer. August 4, 2003. Archived from the originalon July 31, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Induction Weekend 2022 | Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame".
- ^ "Bkbhof Inductees". Archived from the original on 2017-04-28.
External links
- portrait of Muldoon by Sarony(archived)