- Jackie Pallo
Jackie "Mr TV" Pallo (
12 June 1926 –11 February 2006 ) (born Jack Ernest Gutteridge inIslington ,London ) was an English professional wrestler, a star of British televised wrestling in its 1960s and 1970s heyday, when the "sport" had a regular 40-minute slot before the Saturday afternoon football results onITV .Even before the publication of his 1985 autobiography "You Grunt, I'll Groan" (ISBN 0-7088-3228-8), where he revealed the secrets of the wrestling entertainment business (including referees carrying razor blades to nick fighters' earlobes in order to produce the necessary blood to satisfy the bloodlust of the frenzied crowd of mostly elderly women – Pallo preferred to bite his lip to produce the same effect) crowds argued about whether wrestling bouts were staged or not. "Of course it was, it was pure showbiz right from the start," Pallo said in his book.
Apart from wrestling, Pallo also had a mainstream showbusiness career – appearing in pantomime with celebrities such as
Lionel Blair andDick Emery . He also appeared in an episode of the TV comedy "Are You Being Served? " playing Mr Franco, a parody of his Mr TV character.Playing a gravedigger in an episode of "The Avengers", Pallo was accidentally knocked unconscious during a fight with
Honor Blackman 's judo champion character, Cathy Gale – striking his head as he fell into the grave. "I want it to be made perfectly clear that this was an accident," he said afterwards. "...I have never been beaten by a woman and never intend to be."He was a first cousin of TV sports commentator
Reg Gutteridge .He died from cancer, aged 79, and is survived by his wife Georgina and his son Jackie, Jr.
Pallo lived on the outskirts of
Ramsgate on The Isle OfThanet in East Kent .References
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/16/db1602.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/02/16/ixportal.html Daily Telegraph obituary,]
16 February 2006
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4714948.stm Wrestling star Jackie Pallo dies]BBC Online ,15 February 2006
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article346186.ece The Golden Age of Grunt'n'Groan]The Independent ,18 February 2006
* [http://www.optimismsflames.com/1dukes.html Interview with Dukes of Stratosphere (XTC Psychedelia homage band) drummer EIEI Owen reveals that the song "Have You Seen Jackie" was inspired by Jackie Pallo]
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