Sammy Menacker(1914-1994)
- Actor
Slammin' Sam Menacker personified Wrestling. Born Frank Menacker in
1915, Sam became a famous wrestler (or "Rassler") in the 1940s. His
high-profile character even got him some movie roles, his most famous
being one of the 10 strongmen in "Mighty Joe Young" (1949) where,
alongside onetime world boxing champion Primo Carnera, and actor Henry
Kulky, they had a tug-rope match with the giant ape. Around 1960, Sam
migrated to Indianapolis where, retired from wrestling, he did color
commentary for the American Wrestling Association, and after 1964 for
the World Wrestling Association, on local WTTV Channel 4. Along with
the wildly popular Chuck Marlowe (and occasionally with local villain
Handsome Bobby Heenan,who later gained fame as Bobby "the brain"
Heenan) they provided exciting ringside reports every Saturday
afternoon, commenting on the tactics of Dick the Bruiser ("The World's
Most Dangerous Wrestler"), Wilbur Snyder ("The World's Most Scientific
Wrestler"), Cowboy Bob Ellis, Bobo Brazil and other arch-heroes and
arch-villains. (In 1963, when I was 10, I was amazed that every World
Champion lived in Indianapolis.) As Sam provided the lively commentary
(Wrestling shows are mainly hype) every main event, it seemed, called
for "an investigation by the Commission" and "a Re-Match" -- usually a
Lumberjack Match, or a Texas Death Match (which would not be televised,
you'd have to go to the arena and pay). Sam retired from commentating
in the late 1970s; he died in Illinois in 1994.
