Donald B. Curtis (born Donald Beitelman) (May 22, 1927 – March 6, 2008) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, best known for being a member of a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

with

Mark Lewin Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. Early life Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette Hi ...

in the 1950s and 1960s. During his partnership with Lewin, they won the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...

. Curtis was a

wrestling promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

until 1981.

Professional wrestling career

Beitelman decided to become a professional wrestler in 1951, after working out with

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

. During his early career, he worked in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, appearing as "Don Curtis." In 1958 promoter

Eddie Graham Edward F. Gossett (January 15, 1930 – January 21, 1985), better known as Eddie Graham, was an American professional wrestler. He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida and President of the NWA in the 1970s. ...

teamed Curtis with Mark Lewin. Curtis and Lewin held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) twice in 1958, trading it with Graham and his "brother" Jerry. Curtis teamed up with Graham in May 1960 to win the

NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version) The Florida version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a top tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Florida territory, Championship Wrestling from Florida. It existed from 1960 until 1971, when the title was abandoned. Ti ...

. He held the title with Joe Scarpa in October 1962; Cowboy Bob Ellis in March 1964; and

Jose Lothario Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya * Jose the Galil ...

in March 1967. In 1962, Curtis moved to Florida and teamed with Joe Scarpa to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) from Kurt and

Karl Von Brauner Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

. In January 1963, he won the title with Lewin from

The Fabulous Kangaroos :''This team is not to be mistaken for the similarly named team The Royal Kangaroos of Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III'' The Fabulous Kangaroos were a professional wrestling tag team who existed in various forms from 1957 until 1 ...

(

Al Costello Giacomo Costa (14 December 1919 – 22 January 2000) was an Italian Australian professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Al Costello. Costello was the first professional wrestler to be nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Holds" because of ...

and

Roy Heffernan Laurence Roy Heffernan (12 July 1925 – 24 September 1992) was an Australian professional wrestler. Roy Heffernan toured all over the world, but is most famous for being one half of the original version of the tag team the Fabulous Kangaroos (wi ...

). After vacating the title, Curtis and Lewin regained it in December from the Assassins. Lewin left the team the following month, and the title was once again vacated. In May 1964, Curtis teamed with

Abe Jacobs Abe Jacobs (born June 18, 1928) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler. He was one of the first men to follow fellow New Zealander Pat O'Connor to the United States where, like O'Connor, Jacobs became a major star in the National Wres ...

to hold the title for the last time. In

, Curtis promoted shows and managed the coliseum.

Personal life and death

Curtis attended the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

, where he played football and was an amateur wrestler. He was the wrestling team captain during 1949 and 1950. After retiring from professional wrestling, Curtis worked in real estate as well as managing the Jacksonville Coliseum. In 1980, he was inducted into the University of Buffalo Athletic Hall of Fame for wrestling and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. On February 26, 2008, Curtis suffered a "massive stroke", and his wife, Dotty, released a statement that it was "due to a

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of ...

breaking loose and hitting the left side of his brain." He was admitted into the Mayo Clinic Hospice facility that day, and died on March 6, 2008 at the age of 80. In 2009, Curtis was posthumously inducted into the

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas currently closed to water leaks. The museum was founded by Tony Vellano in 1999, and was previo ...

along with Mark Lewin (under the "Tag Team" category).

Championships and accomplishments

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing ...

** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Northeast version) (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with

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 Abra ...

**Other honoree ( 1997) *

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

(3 times) with

(1), Bob Ellis (1) and

(1) **

NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) The Florida version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling championship for tag teams in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) that was used between 1961 and 1969. When the National Wrestling Alliance (NW ...

(4 times) - with

(2), Joe Scarpa (1) and

(1) *

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) Between May 1955 and 1969 the professional wrestling promotion ABC Booking (later known as Georgia Championship Wrestling; GCW) promoted their own regional version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, a professional wrestling championship for ...

- (1 time) - with Joe Scarpa *

George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame museum located within the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum's Dan Gable Museum. The hall of fame honors wrestlers with a strong amat ...

** Class of 2012 *

**Class of 2009 (

Tag Team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

) - with Mark Lewin

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Don 1927 births 2008 deaths American male professional wrestlers Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Professional wrestling promoters Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York Buffalo Bulls football players Professional wrestlers from New York (state) 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Brass Knuckles Champions (Florida version) NWA World Tag Team Champions (Florida version)

Professional wrestling career

Personal life and death

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links