The Hard Boiled Haggerty Centennial

I think it would be really funny if some terrible and yet physically rambunctious actor claimed to have studied at HB Studio, but the H.B. turned out to stand not for Herbert Berghof, but for Hard Boiled Haggerty a.k.a H.B. Haggerty (Don Stansauk, 1925-2004), who was born 100 years ago this very day. How perfect that he shares a birthday with Sandow!

Haggerty was a World War 2 vet and an alum of Pasadena City College and the University of Denver who was also very, very large. Staring in 1950 he played two seasons with the NFL as a defensive tackle, first with the Detroit Lions, then with the Green Bay Packers. He then spent about 15 years as a professional wrestler, performing as a heel for various regional leagues in the mid-west, Texas, Canada, the west coast and Hawaii. At one point he formed a tag team with Lenny Montana.

Then, like Montana, he found work in the acting biz. Naturally he usually played roles befitting his size (wrestler, henchmen, etc), but unlike many with his sort of background he wasn’t only a bit player. He often got proper speaking roles in guest starring parts. His movies include Paint Your Wagon (1969), A Dream of Kings (1969), The Wrestler (the 1974 one with Ed Asner), Foxy Brown (1974), Earthquake (1974), The Four Deuces (1975), Walking Tall: Final Chapter (1977), The One and Only (1978), The Muppet Movie (1979), Mickie and Maude (1984), Penelope Spheeris’ Hollywood Death Squad (1986), Hal Needham’s Rad (1986), and the all-star (sort of) Million Dollar Mystery (1987), among many others.

H.B. played Hairless Joe in a 1971 made-for-tv version of Li’l Abner, and had guest appearances on such shows as Adam-12, Kung Fu, Police Story, Far Out Space Nuts, Monster Squad, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, The Krofft Super Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, Happy Days, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Incredible Hulk, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and many others.

In retirement he became involved in the Cauliflower Alley Club, the social club for retired wrestler, winning an Iron Mike Mazurki Award in 1993. A decade later, Haggerty sustained a broken neck and several other life threatening injuries in an automobile accident. He succumbed to the opponent no one ever beats about six months later.

For more on show biz history, consultNo Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous,And please stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety