- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLajos Tiza
- Height6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
- Lou Thesz is one of wrestling's living legends. Thesz started wrestling in the 1930s, and from the 1930s to the 1960s, he was one of the most dominant figures in the business. Thesz won his first World Heavyweight Title in the 1930s, and went on to become a 6-time World Heavyweight Champion, many of those reigns as the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) world champion. Thesz' last reign was in the 1960s when he lost the NWA world title to Gene Kiniski. Thesz' last match was in the early 1990s when he lost via submission to one of his protoges, Masahiro Chono. Thesz has also written an autobiography.
- IMDb mini biography by: Barry L. Laws, Jr.
- SpousesEvelyn Katherine Ernst(March 22, 1937 - 1944) (divorced)Charlie Thesz(? - April 28, 2002) (his death, 3 children)Fredda Huddleston Winter(? - 1975) (divorced, 3 children)
- Always maintained outstanding physical condition and never used any ouytrageous costuming; appearing in wrestling trunks, wrestling shoes and waem-up robe.
- Inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, 2002
- He sometimes wrestled 200 to 250 times a year, often after driving all night from one site to the next. By his count, his career encompassed 6,000 matches, 200 broken bones and 16 million miles.
- He was the six-time world champion of the National Wrestling Alliance, the most important governing body of the era, winning his first title at 21. He held the title a total of 13 years, a record.
- He won 936 consecutive matches from 1948 to 1955.
- His father Martin, a shoemaker, had been an amateur wrestling champion in his native Hungary.
- The reality, or substance, of professional wrestling is the ability to perpetuate a fantasy. I never distinguished between fantasy and reality. I made my fantasy reality for over 60 years.
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