Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Jack Dempsey


Appearing with the Sells-Floto Circus in 1919. Posted by Picasa

Posted by Buckles at 1/17/2007 05:59:00 AM

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boxers have a long history with circus. In the late 1850s, one of the world's best boxers, John Heenan, joined the Howes & Cushing circus when it was in England, and made a brief appearance with Dan Rice's circus in 1861 in Cincinnati. (He also married the actress Ada Isaacs Menken, notorious for her famous lovers.)

Tom Sayer beat Heenan in a famous fight, and the rivals were so renowned that Rice named one of his pairs of comic mules after them. A generation later Mark Twain named "Tom Sawyer" after "sawyer," a river term, but he may have been influenced by the great fame of Tom Sayer, known to every boy at the time.

17 January, 2007 09:00
Anonymous said...

I hope that everyone got a chance to visit Jack Dempsey's Broadway Bar, in Manhattan. The walls were all murals with paintings of the many famous persons he numbered among his friends. You get a glimpse of it in the original THE GODFATHER.

In 1974, I went in for a beer, and there was the great Champ at his back table with half a dozen cronies. He noticed me wandering around like a tourist admiring the murals and finding all the famous faces. He got up and came over with a smile. His hands were as big as skillets. He introduced himself and shook hands and I was a little overawed at the size of this man. I asked him about knowing Clyde Beatty and he repeated a quote of his I'd seen over the years. "Now, you know, Clyde was a little guy, but he had more sheer guts than any man I've ever known." Our visit was brief, as someone called him to attend business, but you don't forget the day you met Jack Dempsey.

It seemed like it was not long after this that I saw him being interviewed on TV when it was announced the building owners were tearing down to make a parking garage. Dempsey was heartbroken, but his famous bar was gone. I hope some of you got to be there in its heyday.

17 January, 2007 16:40
24-HOUR-MAN said...

Walking down the street in New York, saying to who ever I was with, "look there's Jack Dempsey's Bar", about that time, not watching where I was going, I ran into the biggest chest I ever saw. I looked up into Jack Dempsey's face, meekly apologiized, he smiled, and I sort of stumbled around him, feeling very small in more ways than one.

17 January, 2007 22:56
Anonymous said...

I was in Jack Dempseys bar and restaurant on Bdwy in 1950 and huge blown up photos of great athletes was prominent in the main room. And along with them was a great photo of Poodles Hanneford doing his step off of the finish horse. Made me proud to be a circus person.

19 January, 2007 19:39
Anonymous said...

Because he was such a macho, vibrant, tough little guy Jack Dempsey referred to Paul Nelson as "Battling Nelson" in reference to another great pugilist.

19 January, 2007 19:44
Anonymous said...

I also have fond memories of Jack Dempsey's Bar. Went there on a family visit to the city in my youth and remember getting to see Jack Dempsey in person was a thrill.

22 January, 2007 21:59
pixie herculon said...

My grandfather, William Sobule, is the man with the hat. I would be interested in finding the original photo.

25 January, 2021 22:30

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