Gary Alexander is an American martial artist, karate fighter,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He was

Black Belt Magazine ''Black Belt'' is an American magazine covering martial arts and combat sports. The magazine is based in Valencia, California, and is one of the oldest titles dedicated to martial arts in the United States. History and profile The magazine w ...

's Co-Instructor of the Year (1974)Black Belt Magazine, Dec. 1974 and is known as the "First International Bare Knuckle Contact Karate Champion. On November 17, 1962, Gary Alexander won the first Canadian Karate Championship sponsored by Mas Tsuruoka.Black Belt magazine, Summer, 1963 issueAsbury Park Press, December 14, 1962 On November 24, 1962, Gary Alexander won the North American Championship sponsored by

Mas Oyama , more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and acquired Japanese ...

, which was held at the Madison Square Garden. Both events were bare knuckle full contact, whereas the winner was the fighter still standing. Alexander is a member of the Black Belt Magazine's Hall of Fame, Action Martial Arts Hall of Fame, World Karate Union Hall of Fame, and the

Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame The Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame is an award for Australian martial art practitioners of any style, The hall of fame recognizes those who make an outstanding contribution to martial arts, consistently demonstrate excellence and unselfish ...

. Gary Alexander is a marine veteran who served in the Pacific with Weapons Company, First Battalion, Fighting Ninth Marines,

Fleet Marine Force The United States Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general- and special-purpose forces within the United States Department of the Navy that perform offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment. The Flee ...

, and has acted in films and on television, specifically

Gideon Oliver ''Gideon Oliver'' is a prime time television series that ran on the ABC television network between February 1989 and May 1989 as part of the '' ABC Mystery Movie'' rotation, along with '' B.L. Stryker'', ''Kojak'' and '' Columbo''. On the air ...

with Lou Gossett, Jr. for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, and

Avenging Force ''Avenging Force'' is a 1986 American action film directed by Sam Firstenberg. The screenplay was written by James Booth, who co-starred in the film. It was originally intended as a sequel to the 1985 film '' Invasion U.S.A.'', which starred Chu ...

with

Michael Dudikoff Michael Joseph Stephen Dudikoff Jr. (born October 8, 1954) is an American actor and martial artist. Born in New York City, his family later moved to Los Angeles. Dudikoff did different jobs to pay for his education, during this time he became a mo ...

for Cannon Pictures.Gary Alexander (III), Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB), August 18, 2011 He is also the producer and star of a series of twenty martial arts instructional videos and is also the author of "Unarmed and Dangerous, Hand to Hand Combat and Defense Systems".

References

Living people American male karateka United States Marines Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American people {{US-karate-bio-stub