Product Description

This is the first-ever biography of the legendary wrestler Gorgeous George, filled with incredible never-before-told stories. George directly influenced the likes of Muhammad Ali, who took his bragging and boasting from George; James Brown, who began to wear sequined capes onstage after seeing George on TV; John Waters, whose films featured the outrageous drag queen Divine as an homage to George; and too many wrestlers to count. Amid these pop culture discoveries are firsthand accounts of the pro wrestling game from the 1930s to the 1960s.

The ideal American male used to be stoic, quiet, and dignified. But for a young couple struggling to make ends meet, in the desperation born of the lingering Depression and wartime rationing, an idea was hatched that changed the face of American popular culture, an idea so bold, so over-the-top and absurd, that it was perfect. That idea transformed journeyman wrestler George Wagner from a dark-haired, clean-cut good guy to a peroxide-blond braggart who blatantly cheated every chance he got. Crowds were stunned—they had never seen anything like this before—and they came from miles around to witness it for themselves.

Suddenly George—guided by Betty, his pistol of a wife—was a draw. With his golden tresses grown long and styled in a marcel, George went from handsome to . . . well . . . gorgeous overnight, the small, dank wrestling venues giving way to major arenas. As if the hair wasn't enough, his robes—unmanly things of silk, lace, and chiffon in pale pinks, sunny yellows, and rich mauves—were but a prelude to the act: the regal entrance, the tailcoat-clad valet spraying the mat with perfume, the haughty looks and sneers for the "peasants" who paid to watch this outrageously prissy hulk prance around the ring. How they loved to see his glorious mane mussed up by his manly opponents. And how they loved that alluringly alliterative name . . . Gorgeous George . . . the self-proclaimed Toast of the Coast, the Sensation of the Nation!

All this was timed to the arrival of that new invention everyone was talking about—television. In its early days, professional wrestling and its larger-than-life characters dominated prime-time broadcasts—none more so than Gorgeous George, who sold as many sets as Uncle Miltie.

Fans came in droves—to boo him, to stick him with hatpins, to ogle his gowns, and to rejoice in his comeuppance. He was the man they loved to hate, and his provocative, gender-bending act took him to the top of the entertainment world. America would never be the same again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #463582 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Released on: 2008-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Capouya (Real Men Do Yoga) affectionately chronicles the life of the infamous Gorgeous George Wagoner. Born in 1915, Wagoner learns the ropes as a grappling carny at Sylvan Beach Amusement Park near Houston. During a stint on the grunt-and-groan circuit in Oregon, the wrestler meets his future wife Betty Hanson, whose handiness with textiles and hair dye transforms the likable babyface into a gender-bending aristocrat of the ring, a heel whom crowds love to hate. His antics off the mat (Wagoner holds all his press conferences in local beauty shops where he has his tresses marcelled before matches) and on (George takes 10 minutes to fold and refold his robe between perfumings) whips jeering crowds into frenzies. The histrionic, inexpensively staged sport proved, between 1948 and 1955, to be a perfect fit for the new medium of television. Although some of his psychoanalysis feels gratuitous, Capouya vividly portrays the ins and outs of wrestling and his own struggle to maintain the Gorgeousness of a public life in his private life as well. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In the post–Hulk Hogan/Andre the Giant world, pro rasslers from the days of grainy black-and-white TV may seem a boring lot. Not the redoubtable Gorgeous George (né George Wagner), with his elaborate, platinum blond–dyed coiffure (held in place by gold-plated “Georgie pins”); pompous manner; and effete ways. Needless to say, his gaudy persona inflamed the sexually paranoid pro-wrestling audience of the 1940s and ’50s, making George a huge (for the day) media star. Later bad-guy wrestlers like Brutus Beefcake owe much to George’s groundbreaking exploration of over-the-top flamboyance in the “squared circle.” Capouya tells George’s story in well-researched detail, showing how the creation of the “Gorgeous” persona was carefully planned and cultivated by George and wife Betty and stood in stark contrast to the personality of George Wagner. In many ways, Gorgeous George superficially resembled Liberace, but that resemblance ended immediately beneath the image. As a show-biz bio and, for those who subscribe to a loose definition of sport, a sports bio, too, this is great stuff, entertaining and well referenced. --Mike Tribby

Review
"Finally, the tawdry but glamorous details behind the legend of one of my first childhood heroes. Gorgeous George is such a good read I felt like bleaching my hair afterwards." -- John Waters

"Gorgeous George invented a style of showmanship that was imitated by entertainers and athletes. With this biography, John Capouya has done an excellent job in introducing the most inventive of sport’s anti-heroes to a new generation of readers." -- Ishmael Reed (novelist, poet, and cultural critic)

"Like the man himself, this inside look at a legendary performer challenges the reader to think beyond the wrestling ring. We give it four suplexes out of five." -- Pro Wrestling Illustrated

"One can explain the American condition as an eternal, televised battle between the Babyface and the Heel. That said, there’s never been a heel like Gorgeous George. John Capouya has done a fine job here, excavating a forgotten life and explaining why it mattered." -- Mark Kriegel, author of Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich; National Columnist for FOXSports.com

Customer Reviews

Gorgeous George...Ulitmate wrestler....Ultimate Book!
Today's fans of the WWE's "entertainment" version of Professional Wrestling now have a chance to read about how the kayfabe era of the business was. For fans of that generation, mention Gorgeous George, and the stories start to unfold. Author John Capouya absolutely reveals the way it was, and shows all of us a Gorgeous George that even the most rabid fans did not know.

His account of George's career is chronicled in a way that is easy to follow, and he end's up giving us a book that is hard to put down.

As I read through his account of George's ups and downs, I felt like I was back sitting ringside again, watching the "Human Orchi" strut his stuff in the squared circle....and I could almost see him throwing those gold "Georgie Pins" to the crowd.

John also gives us an insightful personal side to George Wagner, who lived the life, and sadly boozed it all away. John's research and homework into George's background is to be commended.

Over the last decade, there have been many excellant books published on pro wrestling.....but John's book is "The Main Event". It is a must read, and one that you will read again, and again.

Blast From the Past
I was never a big "rasslin'" fan myself but my grandpa and my younger brother were. I remember staying overnight at my grandparents' house and because our bed was made in the living room my sister and I had to stay awake while Grandpa watched the Saturday night rasslin'. He took my little brother to see Gorgeous George in person in our town during the late 1950's and they talked about it for weeks. Last summer when our family was creating a memory book about the way we remembered our grandparents, now long gone, and my brother (60 years old himself) immediately said he wanted to include the story about seeing Gorgeous George. It was the only time he had seen Grandpa get riled up. I bought this book to give my brother for Christmas. I had hoped there would be more about the days, late in his career, when he wrestled in small southwest towns. I was disappointed there was nothing much about those days but I did enjoy being reminded about an era long forgotten. I guess I was paying more attention to the TV than I thought I was because I sure remembered a lot of it. It pretty well researched and easy to read. The photos are great.

Memories of times passed
In the early days of TV in my life, I remember my aged aunt sitting in her mohair chair screaming in Swedish at the small, black and white image of Gorgeous George prancing across the screen. What she said, I'd not wish to repeat, but it did have some reflections on his parents and some mention of bodily functions. Otherwise, my aunt was prim and proper... we kids would sit out stunned at what we were hearing. This book does some justice to George, but doesn't quite get ot the impact on small town middle American as I recollect it.