George Kidd went to Clepington Primary School, and being a wee lad, he would often get picked on by bullies, which lead to him becoming a bit of a scrapper.
To develop his skills further he took up boxing, Jujitsu, yoga and was a regular at the gym.
After a stint in the Navy he opted for wrestling as his profession and studied the sport in Wigan, London and France.
A couple of quirky procedures he used to do was, drink a pint of bulls blood before a match, this he would get fresh from regular visits to the abattoir.
He also bathed his ears in hot vinegar to toughen them up like leather.
This all lead to George being crowned World Lightweight Champion.
He used to be on TV quite a lot in the 60's & 70's. Wrestling went on around 4.00 pm on Saturday afternoons, before the football results.
I watched it quite a lot as a schoolboy back then because it was often amusing.
George himself came up with some original moves and was particularly well liked by everyone.
He even performed in London's Albert Hall.
Back home in Dundee when he retired in the 70's, he ran the Ellenbank Bar in Alexander Street.
He died in 1998.
The photos are...
Top - George in the wrestling ring.
Mid - George in his Ellenbank Bar.
Low - George with a trophy presented to him by City Of Dundee in recognition of his world title.
And below is footage of George in action.
His physique even then, was more publican than athlete. Very amusing, and there were some great wrestling characters on our screen back then. Very staged, which added to the fun & entertainment.
ReplyDeleteWhen young people say they are bored, in this Ipod ,internet and Xbox age , just remind them of the good old days of 3 TV channels and spending a wet saturday afternoon watching wrestling, then tell them that they have never had it so good.
ReplyDeleteHe was a neighbour of mine and one day I was dared by my pals to go and get his autograph. I rang his doorbell (..with my pals keekin' round the corner from the bottom of the street..) and asked him for the autograph and he took me out to his garage where he had cardboard boxes full of publicity photos which he signed and gave to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that the only youtube footage of George is so late in his career. In the 1950s and early 1960s he was fit and agile, and someone Dundee should be vry proud of.
ReplyDeletehGeorge Kidd the master of a thousand
ReplyDeleteholds.A wonderful technical wrestler
and a tough guy despite his small
physique.