Item #45944 Original Drawing Signed. GORGEOUS GEORGE, George Raymond Wagner.

Original Drawing Signed.

The most famous wrestler of the 1940s and '50s, Gorgeous George practically invented the outrageous pro wrestling image standardized today: he created his "Human Orchid" persona by wearing his hair long and dying it blonde, he wore sequined robes, he was the first to use entrance music ("Pomp and Circumstance"); he cheated and broke the rules every chance he got, having as his motto, "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!"; in 1950 he won the American Wrestling Association's world championship by defeating Don Eagle; he died nearly penniless of an enlarged heart and alcohol abuse at age 48. Item #45944

ODS, 1p, 8½" X 11", n.p., n.y. [likely ca. 1960). Very good. Mildly edgeworn, mainly along two-punched left margin that has two tape stains (one 1", one ½"), impacting only the upper portion of the "G" in "Gorgeously." Original pencil sketch by unknown amateur artist showing Gorgeous George full length, standing in typically outrageous full-length elaborate robe. Vertically running up the blank left margin, the wrestler pens an enormous "Gorgeously Yours Gorgeous George" in typical light blue ballpoint. Extremely, exceptionally unusual in this format -- the only signed Gorgeous George drawing we have encountered or even heard of.

Price: $750.00

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