Theodore Vetoyanis ( el, Θεόδωρος Βετογιάνης, February 27, 1908 – May 22, 1984) was an American professional wrestler and sports promoter known by his ring name George Zaharias. He was also popularly known as "The Crying Greek from
Cripple Creek" or "The Greek Hyena" during the 1930s. Often cast as a villain or sore loser, one of his most celebrated bouts was a 1932 match with
Jim Londos
Christos Theofilou ( el, Χρήστος Θεοφίλου; January 2, 1894 – August 19, 1975), better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos (Greek: Τζίμ Λόντος), was a Greek American professional wrestler. Londos was one of the most p ...
at a sold-out
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, which Londos won. The audience of 14,500 was the highest attendance for any North American wrestling match that year.
Background
![George and Babe Zaharias](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/George_and_Babe_Zaharias.jpg)
In 1938, Zaharias met
Babe Didrikson
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer O ...
, a talented athlete best known as a golfer, at a charity golf event; the promoter had matched the wrestler, the golfer, and a minister in a threesome as a gag. Zaharias and Didrikson married later that year, and Zaharias quit wrestling in order to manage his wife's career. He promoted wrestlers and ran a cigar store in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. As Babe's career soared, he managed a
tailor
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century.
History
Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
ing shop, a women's sports clothier in
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
, and a golf course in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, where the couple retired.
In 1975,
Alex Karras
Alexander George Karras (July 15, 1935 – October 10, 2012) was an American football player, professional wrestler, sportscaster, and actor. He was a four-time Pro Bowl player with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), ...
portrayed George Zaharias in the TV movie ''Babe'', (opposite his future wife, actress Susan Clark), which told the story of Didrikson, who won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Olympics and returned to become a champion golfer, her battles to be accepted as a woman in a man's sports world, and her fight against cancer.
Zaharias also did some part-time acting. The Zahariases had no children and were rebuffed by authorities when they sought to adopt. He died in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, having outlived Babe by 28 years. He married actress Betty Burgess in January 1960 in Las Vegas.
[ :File:George Zaharias and Betty Burgess 1960.jpg] He married one of Babe's nurses several years before his death.
[Babe Zaharias fact sheet, Babe Zaharias Memorial, ]Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
.
Championships and accomplishments
*
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 ...
**Class of 2020
References
External links
"George Zaharias, Husband Of Babe Didrikson, Is Dead" ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. May 24, 1984.
Special Collections and Lamar University Archives: Husband of athlete Babe Zaharias diesArticle on marriage to actress Betty Burgess*
Babe', a 1975
TV movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
biography, at
The Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaharias, George
1908 births
1984 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male professional wrestlers
American people of Greek descent
People from Cripple Creek, Colorado
People from Pueblo, Colorado
Professional wrestlers from Colorado
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
Sportspeople from Pueblo, Colorado