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Toast Of The Coast

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By BOB D'ANGELO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

He was the Human Orchid, the Toast of the Coast, the most outrageous professional wrestler of his time.

Gorgeous George.

His bleached-blond hair was styled in tight curls. He wore long, flowing robes and passed out gold-plated "Georgie Pins" (because bobby pins were unworthy). His valet sprayed the ring with "Chanel No. 10" to keep the ring clean, and more than once, "G.G." admonished a referee to "keep your filthy hands off me."

Pro wrestling in post-World War II America oozed with machismo and cauliflower ears, with matches played out in grimy auditoriums. But here was Gorgeous George flitting across the ring, the sneering bully who could change into a sissified coward. The public loved it, and his effeminate antics made him a star in television's infancy.

And yet, he died penniless in late 1963.

Previously, the best treatment of Gorgeous George (born George Wagner in 1915) came in the early chapters of Joe Jares' 1974 book, "Whatever Happened to Gorgeous George." Jares was the son of a pro wrestler and provided an intimate look at the profession - G.G. was just one part of it.

Enter John Capouya, a professor of journalism and writing at the University of Tampa. In "Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture" (HarperEntertainment, $25.95), Capouya combines extensive research and interviews with a colorful writing style and presents Gorgeous George as a cultural pioneer.

While the book's subtitle may seem overly ambitious, Capouya backs it up. It is no secret that Muhammad Ali was influenced by George's bombast, but Capouya quotes singers James Brown and Bob Dylan professing their inspiration and debt to the wrestler's flamboyance.

Gorgeous George "made a spectacle of himself when that word was still a term of disapproval," Capouya writes.

Capouya, who published his first book in 2003 ("Real Men Do Yoga"), has a sports background, mostly from the editor's chair. He began as an editorial assistant at Sport magazine, also wrote for Sports Illustrated and covered pro basketball. Outside of sports, he edited at The New York Times, Newsweek and Smart Money.

Capouya had not seen a wrestling match until becoming intrigued by the Gorgeous George character. In his book, he displays excellent economy with his words, yet he still creates a vivid picture. Gorgeous George's platinum hair, for example, was not only blatant: "It shrieked."

Of G.G.'s success, Capouya writes that he was "the greatest, silliest practitioner of a faux, lowbrow sport."

What makes this book resonate are the interviews Capouya conducted with George's childhood friends, fellow wrestlers and his first wife, Betty (George's second wife, Cherie Dupre, died in 2000). Betty helped create and drive the Gorgeous George character, and she reveals the man's family life and the demons he faced as his career went downhill.

George parlayed his TV exposure into a lucrative career, catching lightning in a bottle.

"His success was at once hard-earned and an amazing fluke, something that could have only happened when it did," Capouya writes.

Capouya warms to his subject, and it is hard not to like Gorgeous George, even if he was a notorious "heel." Capouya's words are as fast-paced as the action in the ring and connect with the reader as solidly as a dropkick to George's kisser.

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