William Joe Varga (January 10, 1919 – January 11, 2013), billed as Count Billy Varga, was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was born to Rose and Joe Varga; his father was a professional wrestler in Europe known as Count Joseph Varga and taught his son wrestling at the age of five. He attended

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

and graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. Varga won the world's light-heavyweight title in 1941 and later joined the Navy until he arrived home in 1947. Varga's wrestling career began to fall apart in the 1970s as he was busy in television and movie work.

Personal life

Varga married Rosabelle Varga who died in 1992. He resided in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named Zelzah by settlers in 1908, the comm ...

. He had three sons, Billy, Courtland and Royce, all of whom preceded him in death, and five grandchildren. He suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

by the beginning of 2005 and died in 2013.

Filmography

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Ha ...

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in 1935. From February ...

( 1 time) **

NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of 50th State Big Time Wrestling and was defended between 1952 and 1979 when it was phased out. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000. It is ...

( 1 time) - with

Sam Steamboat Samuel K. Mokuahi (May 4, 1934 – May 2, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Sammy Steamboat. Early life Mokuahi grew up in Honolulu, attending President Theodore Roosevelt High School, where he pla ...

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

** NWA International Television Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Hardy Kruskamp (2 times) and Mario LaPentero (1 time)

References

External links

*
RIP: Count Billy Varga
at

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Abram ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varga, Billy 1919 births 2013 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers American male film actors American male television actors American male professional wrestlers People associated with physical culture Professional wrestlers from Ohio Sportspeople from Cleveland Stampede Wrestling alumni University of Southern California alumni