Paradise Alley (novel)
''Paradise Alley'' is a 1978 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone (in his feature directorial debut). The film tells the story of three Italian American brothers in Hell's Kitchen in the 1940s who become involved in professional wrestling. Kevin Conway, Anne Archer, Joe Spinell, Armand Assante, Lee Canalito, Frank McRae, Joyce Ingalls, and Tom Waits co-star in the film. A number of professional wrestlers appeared portraying supporting characters and in cameos, including Terry Funk, Ted DiBiase, Bob Roop, Dick Murdoch, Dory Funk Jr., Don Leo Jonathan, Don Kernodle, Gene Kiniski, Dennis Stamp, Ray Stevens, and Uliuli Fifita. Playwright and screenwriter John Monks Jr. also appeared as a bartender. ''Paradise Alley'' was released in the United States on September 22, 1978, by Universal Pictures. The film received negative reviews from critics. Plot Victor, the youngest and largest of the Carboni brothers (Cosmo and Lenny are the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, he won his first critical acclaim as an actor for his co-starring role as Stanley Rosiello in ''The Lords of Flatbush''. Stallone subsequently found gradual work as an extra or side character in films with a sizable budget until he achieved his greatest critical and commercial success as an actor and screenwriter, starting in 1976 with his role as boxer Rocky Balboa, in the first film of the successful ''Rocky'' series (1976–present), for which he also wrote the screenplays. In the films, Rocky is portrayed as an underdog boxer who fights numerous brutal opponents, and wins the world heavyweight championship twice. In 1977, Stallone was the third actor in cinema to be nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. Until the 1970s, Hell's Kitchen was a bastion of poor and working-class Irish Americans. Though its gritty reputation had long held real-estate prices below those of most other areas of Manhattan, by 1969, the City Planning Commission's ''Plan for New York City'' reported that development pressures related to its Midtown location were driving people of modest means from the area. Since the early 1980s, the area has been gentrifying, and rents have risen rapidly. Home of the Actors Studio training school, and adjacent to Broadway theatres, Hell's Kitchen has long been a home to fledgling and working actors. Today, the area has a large LGBTQ population and is home to a large number of LGBTQ bars an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Asian People
Asian people (or Asians, sometimes referred to as Asiatic people)United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purposes. are the people of Asia. The term may also refer to their descendants. Meanings by region Anglophone Africa and Caribbean In parts of anglophone Africa, especially East Africa and in parts of the Caribbean, the term "Asian" is more commonly associated with people of South Asian origin, particularly Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans. In South Africa the term "Asian" is also usually synonymous with the Indian race group. East Asians in South Africa, including Chinese were classified either as Coloureds or as honorary whites. Arab States of the Persian Gulf In the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the term "Asian" generally refers to people of South Asian and Southeast Asian descent due to the large Indian, Pakis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Monks Jr
John Cherry Monks Jr. (February 24, 1910 – December 10, 2004) was an American writer, actor, playwright, screenwriter, director, and a U.S. Marine. Biography Monks was born in Pleasantville, New York. He attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and became a stage actor. Together with a fellow former cadet Fred Finklehoffe, he co-wrote a play in 1936 titled ''Brother Rat''. The success of the play led to Warner Bros. purchasing the play for filming at VMI. Warners engaged them to write the screenplay for the film and a sequel titled ''Brother Rat and a Baby''. Monks also wrote '' Strike Up the Band'' (1940) and ''Dial 1119'' (1950) for MGM. In World War II, Monks enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He met producer Louis de Rochemont and co-wrote '' We Are the Marines''. Captain Monks served in the 3rd Marine Regiment during the Bougainville campaign and wrote an account of the Regiment in ''A Ribbon and a Star: The Third Marines At Bougainville'', published in 1945. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Uliuli Fifita
Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita (born 10 February 1959) is a Tongan professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as Haku. He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he wrestled under the name Meng. In the WWF, he also wrestled under the names King Tonga and King Haku. Fifita appeared on multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW and is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion. Sumo wrestling career Growing up on the main island of the South Pacific island-kingdom of Tonga, Fifita attended Tonga College, where he played rugby union. At the age of 15, he was part of a group of six teenagers and young men sent by the king of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo. Sione Vailahi, who would later become better known as pro-wrestler " The Barbarian", was also a part of this group. After moving to Japan in 1974, he competed under the shikona (sumo name) of . He made his debut in Novemb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ray Stevens (wrestler)
Carl Raymond Stevens (September 5, 1935 – May 3, 1996), better known as Ray "The Crippler" Stevens or Ray "Blond Bomber" Stevens, was an American professional wrestler. Stevens was a wrestling superstar since the early years of the television era until his retirement during the early 1990s. His performances and hard bumping style inspired generations of villain wrestlers who attempted to emulate his ability to provide high quality and heat-generating matches that continuously brought crowds of fans. He was also known for using two different finishing moves in his many victories: the "Bombs Away" knee drop (a diving knee drop from the top rope to the throat) and the piledriver. Stevens wrestled as both a singles performer and in tag team matches with a variety of partners. In 2006, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Early life Stevens was born on September 5, 1935 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and was raised by an aunt in Columbus, Ohio. Pro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dennis Stamp
Dennis Stamp (December 6, 1946 – March 13, 2017) was an American professional wrestler and referee. He was best known for wrestling extensively during the 1970s and 1980s for the American Wrestling Association, and for the National Wrestling Alliance territories. Professional wrestling career Early career Stamp, who grew up in Brainerd, Minnesota, won the 1965 Minnesota State High School Wrestling Championship for the 175 pound weight class. After entering professional wrestling and having his first match on August 9, 1971, in Thunder Bay Ontario, he would join Verne Gagne's AWA where he became their 1971 Rookie of the Year. Shortly thereafter, he joined Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State territory, and in 1973 he and Bull Bullinski won the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship. After losing the titles seven days later, he would regain the titles (with a new partner, Dewey Robertson) in May of that year. In 1974, Stamp had moved to the NWA's Los Angeles territory, where he was a t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gene Kiniski
Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he billed himself for promotional purposes, was born in Edmonton, Alberta.National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 211, Tim Hornbaker, ECW Press, 2007, Like Bronko Nagurski before him, Kiniski was one of the first world champions in professional wrestling to have a previous background in football. He is the father of professional wrestler Kelly Kiniski and international amateur and professional wrestler Nick Kiniski. Early life One of six children of local politician Julia Kiniski (and her husband Nicholas), Gene Kiniski grew up in Edmonton. At the age of seventeen, he was over six feet tall. Kiniski wrestled and played football at St. Joseph's High School. In March 1947, he entered ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Don Kernodle
Charles Donald Kernodle Jr. (May 2, 1950 – May 17, 2021) was an American professional wrestler with the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions. Professional wrestling career In college, Kernodle lettered four times in amateur wrestling. He was also a two time national arm wrestling champion. After graduating from Elon College, Kernodle started wrestling in 1973 in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions. He got his start by accepting a "shoot" wrestling challenge from Bob Roop. Although Roop defeated Kernodle by submission, Kernodle's skills impressed Ole Anderson and Gene Anderson who both offered to train Kernodle for free. Cobra Corps in Mid-Atlantic At first, he (now known as Pvt. Kernodle) was part of Sgt. Slaughter's "Cobra Corps" and teamed with Slaughter and Pvt. Jim Nelson. In 1982, the team of Kernodle and Nelson won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship from Porkchop Cash and Jay Youngblood. They later lost the title to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Don Leo Jonathan
Don Heaton (April 29, 1931 – October 13, 2018), also known as Don Leo Jonathan, was an American-Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Jonathan, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant" was a second generation star (his father was former wrestler Brother Jonathan) who made his professional wrestling debut after World War II. Over the course of his career, he competed around the world, making stops in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan; he wrestled more often, however, in the United States and Canada. His first championship wins occurred in Montreal with Canadian Athletic Promotions, where he twice captured their World Heavyweight title in 1955. Elsewhere in Canada, Jonathan found more success competing in Toronto's National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Maple Leaf Wrestling (where he first teamed with Gene Kiniski to win the Canadian Open Tag Team title, in 1959) and in Winnipeg, where he wrestled for NWA member Alex Turk Promotions (twice winning th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dory Funk Jr
Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion. Funk held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship once. He is the second-longest reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time, holding it for over four years. Only Lou Thesz held it longer. He held the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once and the CWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is a 2009 WWE Hall of Fame inductee. He is working for All Japan Pro Wrestling as the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) chairman and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional wrestling school. Overall in major professional wrestling promotions, he is a one-time world champion consisting of the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship which is widely recognized as a cou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dick Murdoch
Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Murdoch started his wrestling career in 1965, and three years later, he began teaming with longtime partner Dusty Rhodes as the Texas Outlaws. After they split up, Murdoch wrestled for several territories including the National Wrestling Alliance, Florida Championship Wrestling, and Mid-South Wrestling, also touring overseas. He would join the World Wrestling Federation in 1984 and teamed with Adrian Adonis to form the North-South Connection, winning the WWF Tag Team Championship. In 1981, Murdoch gained international exposure by joining New Japan Pro-Wrestling and stayed there until 1989. He later wrestled for Jim Crockett Promotions, engaging in feuds with the likes of Ric Flair, Nikita Koloff, and Dusty Rhodes. He ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |