Nellya Baughman (August 21, 1935 – May 11, 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 ...

who was best known by her

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projectin ...

Judy Grable. She was an active wrestler during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to her nickname "The Barefoot Contessa" due to her preference for wrestling barefoot, she was also known as "the acrobatic blonde with the educated flying feet."

Professional wrestling career

Grable trained for her professional wrestling career with

The Fabulous Moolah Mary Lillian Ellison (July 22, 1923 – November 2, 2007) was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah. She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildr ...

in her school in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the ci ...

. She debuted in 1953 using the name Peaches Grable. Moolah's female trainees worked in Boston under promoter Paul Bowser, and in Boston, Grable and Moolah were involved in a

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...

. She wrestled in the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

(NWA) territories through the 1950s and the 1960s. In September 1956, a

battle royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

was held to determine the new NWA World Women's Champion, but Grable lost to long-time rival The Fabulous Moolah.Ellison, Lillian. ''First Goddess of the Squared Circle'', p.98. On September 20, 1959, Grable made an appearance as a contestant on the popular television show ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity paneli ...

'' The episode became famous in part because of the highly risque banter from guest panelist Groucho Marx and consequent

malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...

s by regular panelist

Dorothy Kilgallen Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birt ...

and host John Daly. Even though she retired in the late 1960s, Grable's last in-ring work occurred in Superstar Wrestling in 1974. On March 31, 2017, Grable was posthumously inducted into the

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously ...

as a part of the Legacy wing.

Personal life

Grable was the youngest of six children, including four brothers and one sister. She was a

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men ...

who liked fishing, hunting, and sports. She also wrestled at

Grand Junction High School Grand Junction High School (GJHS) is a public high school located in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Mesa County Valley School District 51. It is one of four high schools located within the Grand Valley. History Ori ...

. Her family later moved to Florida, where Grable became interested in the

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and uni ...

. She was employed at Ringling Brothers Circus as an acrobat for six months, deciding she would rather wrestle after falling off a high wire. In the late 1960s, Grable retired from wrestling after marrying a serviceman and returned to school, graduating in 1978. She was then employed as a nurse's assistant in a home for veterans. One of her daughters works as a wrestler under the name Debbie Grable. Grable died on May 11, 2008, after living with diabetes, strokes, and

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a 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 remembering recent events. As ...

Championships and accomplishments

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 (

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

) *

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 ...

:* NWA Southern Women's Championship (Georgia version) (2 times) * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum **Women's wrestler (2011) * WWE :*

(Class of 2017)

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grable, Judy 1935 births 2008 deaths American female professional wrestlers Place of death missing People from Bremerton, Washington Professional wrestlers from Washington (state) Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum WWE Hall of Fame Legacy inductees Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century American women 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century American women