Coley Wallace (April 5, 1927 – January 30, 2005) was an American

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 ...

and

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who once outpointed

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...

in a very close split decision three-round amateur fight. Although Wallace, a

Jacksonville, FL 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 ...

native, had a respectable record as a professional (20-7-0), his claim to fame came in 1948 when, as an amateur, he once defeated in a very close split decision future

champion

in the finals of the

New York Golden Gloves The New York Golden Gloves boxing tournament was considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Chicago Golden Gloves. Named for the small golden gloves given out to the winners of each weigh ...

Tournament. The decision was not welcomed by crowd and many considered it drawn. Wallace fought

Ezzard Charles Ezzard Mack Charles (July 7, 1921 – May 28, 1975), known as the Cincinnati Cobra, was an American professional boxer and World Heavyweight Champion. Known for his slick defense and precision, he is often considered the greatest light heavywei ...

in his professional career, among others. Wallace's contract was "owned" under the table by the notorious Frank "Blinky" Palermo, a member of the

Philadelphia crime family The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Philadelphia Mafia, the Philly Mob or Philly Mafia, the Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia, or Bruno-Scarfo family is an Italian-American Mafia family based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed and ...

. Palermo was imprisoned in 1961 for conspiracy and extortion for the covert ownership of prizefighters. After boxing career, Wallace acted in four movies, twice portraying the boxer

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

. Wallace died on January 30, 2005, of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Filmography

*''

The Joe Louis Story ''The Joe Louis Story'' is a 1953 American film noir drama (genre), drama sport film directed by Robert Gordon (director), Robert Gordon and starring Coley Wallace, Hilda Silmms and Paul Stewart (actor), Paul Stewart. Plot Biographical film abou ...

'' (1953) - Joe Louis *''

Carib Gold ''Carib Gold'' is a maritime-themed 1956 B-movie, written and filmed almost entirely in Key West, Florida, with locally-cast musicians and extras. Its cast is largely African-American headlined by Ethel Waters and features the first known film r ...

'' (1957) - Ryan *'' Marciano'' (1979 TV movie) - Joe Louis *''

Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: My St ...

'' (1980) - Joe Louis - Cerdan Fight *'' Rooftops'' (1989) - Lester (final film role)

References

External links

* * 1927 births 2005 deaths Male actors from Florida Boxers from Florida Heavyweight boxers National Golden Gloves champions Sportspeople from Jacksonville, Florida Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers American male boxers Rocky Marciano {{US-boxing-bio-stub