Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad - Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture »

John Capouya is a professor of journalism and writing at the University of Tampa. He was formerly an editor at Newsweek, the New York Times, SmartMoney magazine, and New York Newsday, among other places. He is the author of Real Men Do Yoga and has contributed to numerous publications, including Sports Illustrated, Travel & Leisure, and Life. He and his wife, the artist and photo editor Suzanne Williamson, live in Tampa and New York City.

This is the first-ever biography of the legendary wrestler Gorgeous George, filled with incredible never-before-told stories. George directly influenced the likes of Muhammad Ali, who took his bragging and boasting from George; James Brown, who began to wear sequined capes onstage after seeing George on TV; John Waters, whose films featured the outrageous drag queen Divine as an homage to George; and too many wrestlers to count. Amid these pop culture discoveries are firsthand accounts of the pro wrestling game from the 1930s to the 1960s.

The ideal American male used to be stoic, quiet, and dignified. But for a young couple struggling to make ends meet, in the desperation born of the lingering Depression and wartime rationing, an idea was hatched that changed the face of American popular culture, an idea so bold, so over-the-top and absurd, that it was perfect. That idea transformed journeyman wrestler George Wagner from a dark-haired, clean-cut good guy to a peroxide-blond braggart who blatantly cheated every chance he got. Crowds were stunned—they had never seen anything like this before—and they came from miles around to witness it for themselves.

Suddenly George—guided by Betty, his pistol of a wife—was a draw. With his golden tresses grown long and styled in a marcel, George went from handsome to . . . well . . . gorgeous overnight, the small, dank wrestling venues giving way to major arenas. As if the hair wasn't enough, his robes—unmanly things of silk, lace, and chiffon in pale pinks, sunny yellows, and rich mauves—were but a prelude to the act: the regal entrance, the tailcoat-clad valet spraying the mat with perfume, the haughty looks and sneers for the "peasants" who paid to watch this outrageously prissy hulk prance around the ring. How they loved to see his glorious mane mussed up by his manly opponents. And how they loved that alluringly alliterative name . . . Gorgeous George . . . the self-proclaimed Toast of the Coast, the Sensation of the Nation!

All this was timed to the arrival of that new invention everyone was talking about—television. In its early days, professional wrestling and its larger-than-life characters dominated prime-time broadcasts—none more so than Gorgeous George, who sold as many sets as Uncle Miltie.

Fans came in droves—to boo him, to stick him with hatpins, to ogle his gowns, and to rejoice in his comeuppance. He was the man they loved to hate, and his provocative, gender-bending act took him to the top of the entertainment world. America would never be the same again.

The Barnes & Noble Review

James Brown learned about fashion from him, Muhammad Ali studied self-promotion under him, a young Bob Dylan rode a confidence-building moment he shared with him for years, and millions of American in the earliest days of television either loved him or hated him. He is the renowned wrestler Gorgeous George, one of television's first stars. There weren't tons of shows to put on the air in the early days, and wrestling entertainment, which happened in every city across America nearly every night, was cheap and plentiful -- and viewers loved it. And Gorgeous George was made for TV (or, as he says, "television was made for me"). George Wagner had been just another wrestler on the circuit until he and his wife slowly developed the persona of Gorgeous George, a preening, self-absorbed, bleach-blond prissy boy complete with a valet to carry his ridiculous props (such as a feather duster for his chair and tea cups for between-round refreshments) and outrageously beautiful capes. Known as the Human Orchid, George was the king of early wrestling on TV and the prototype of nearly every bad-boy wrestler who has come after him. Gorgeous George author John Capouya doesn't just capture the ups and downs of this incredible man, but he casually opens cultural doors to readers and exposes us to the backrooms and highways, carnival bigtops and fashion choices of the times. The book isn't just about a man but about postwar America and why we'd even want such a character as Gorgeous George to throw ourselves at: "After World War II, America was readjusting, reforming and reassembling itself into what exactly no one knew. But it was clearly going to be different," Capouya writes. "Then television came and took hold, and Gorgeous George did as much as any single person to ensure that new device became a fixture." --Mark J. Miller