- Maxie Rosenbloom
-
Maxie Rosenbloom Statistics Real name Max Everitt Rosenbloom Nickname(s) Slapsie Maxie Rated at Light Heavyweight Nationality 
AmericanBorn November 1, 1907
Leonard's Bridge, ConnecticutDied March 6, 1976 (aged 68)
South Pasadena, CaliforniaStance Orthodox Boxing record Total fights 298 Wins 222 Wins by KO 19 Losses 42 Draws 31 No contests 3 Max Everitt Rosenbloom, known as Slapsie Maxie (November 1, 1907[1] – March 6, 1976) was an American boxer, actor, and television personality.
Contents
Life and career
Born in Leonard's Bridge, Connecticut, Rosenbloom was nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie" by a journalist due to his open gloved style of boxing.[2] In 1930, he won the New York light heavyweight title.[1] In 1932, he won the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World.[2] He held and defended the title until November 1934, when he lost it to Bob Olin.[3] As a professional boxer, Rosenbloom relied on hitting and moving to score points. He was very difficult to hit cleanly with a power punch and his fights often went the full number of required rounds. In his boxing matches he suffered thousands of head punches, which eventually led to the deterioration of his motor functions.[4]
In 1936, he had a brief fling with a women from Oklahoma. They met at a restaurant while he was traveling to a fight. There have been rumors that a child was conceived due to their brief relationship. However, there is no other information related to this event. In 1937, he accepted a role in a Hollywood film. He became a character actor, portraying comical "big guys," in movies that included Each Dawn I Die.[5] After retiring from boxing in 1939 he operated nightclubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles.[6] He continued acting on radio, television, and in a number of films, usually playing comedy roles as a big, clumsy, punch-drunk—but lovable—lout.[7] He appeared in a number of episodes (playing himself)of the Fred Allen Radio Show - including a skit with Marlene Dietrich. Rosenbloom played an important part in television's first 90-minute drama, Requiem for a Heavyweight, written by Rod Serling, and starring Jack Palance as a boxer at the end of his career. Rosenbloom played an ex pug, whose life revolved around retelling old boxing stories night after night to other ex-pugs in a down and out bar. It is the fate that looms for Palance (as "Mountain McClintock") if he cannot adjust to a new life outside the ring.[8]
In The Honeymooners episode "TV Or Not TV," Jackie Gleason's character, Ralph Kramden, reads aloud a TV listing from the newspaper, "Fights Of The World: Maxie Rosenbloom vs. Kingfish Levinsky."[9]
Death
Rosenbloom died of Paget's disease of bone in 1976 at the age of 68,[3] and was interred in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.
Halls of Fame
Rosenbloom was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972.[10]
In 1984 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[4] In 1929, he had fought with four other Jewish boxers in a benefit at Madison Square Garden to raise relief funds for Palestine.[11] During 1935, he postponed a scheduled fight with Tiger Jack Fox that was scheduled to fall between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur so that they could take place after the Jewish holidays.[12]
Rosenbloom was also inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1985.[13]
In 1993 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.[14]
See also
References
- ^ According to Rosenbloom's headstone in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, his birth date is November 1, 1907
- ^ Siegman, Joseph (2000). Jewish Sports Legends: The International Jewish Hall of Fame. Brassey's. pp. 63. ISBN 1-574-88284-8.
- ^ Blady, Ken (1988). The Jewish Boxers Hall of Fame. SP Books. pp. 226. ISBN 0-933-50387-3.
- ^ http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/Tables/Sport/Boxing.htm
External links
Categories:- 1907 births
- 1976 deaths
- American boxers
- American film actors
- American television actors
- Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
- Jewish American sportspeople
- Jewish boxers
- People from New York City
- World boxing champions
- World light-heavyweight boxing champions
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
