athletes in the world. Moreover, on May 26, 1950, Gorgeous George defeated Don Eagle to claim the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version), which he held for several months. During this reign he was beaten by the National Wrestling Alliance World Champion Lou Thesz in a highly publicized bout in Chicago. However, perhaps Gorgeous George's most famous match was against his longtime rival Whipper Billy Watson on March 12, 1959, in which a beaten George had his treasured golden locks shaved bald before 20,000 fans at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens and millions more who watched the match on CBC Television. In one of his final matches, Gorgeous George later faced off against (and lost to) an up-and-coming Bruno Sammartino, though he would lose his precious hair again when he was defeated by the Destroyer in a hair vs. mask match at the Olympic Auditorium on November 7, 1962. This was his final match, as he was nearly 50 years old and suffering from the effects of alcoholism. Gorgeous George appeared in one motion picture, Alias the Champ, made in 1949, which also featured wrestler Tor Johnson. Retirement and death As his wrestling career wound down, Wagner invested in a turkey ranch built in Beaumont, California, and he used his showman skills to promote his prized poultry at his wrestling matches and sport shows. He raised turkeys and owned a cocktail lounge in Van Nuys, California, which he named "Gorgeous George's Ringside Restaurant". Wagner was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in 1962 and his doctors instructed him to retire from wrestling. This, combined with financial troubles that stemmed from a recent divorce, worsened his health. He suffered a heart attack on December 24, 1963, and died two days later, at age 48. A plaque at his gravesite reads "Love to our Daddy Gorgeous George". Legacy Muhammad Ali and James Brown acknowledged that their own approach to flamboyant self-promotion was influenced by George. This was referenced in the 2021 movie One Night in Miami.... A 19-year-old Ali met a 46-year-old George at a Las Vegas radio station. During George's radio interview, the wrestler's promo caught the attention of the future heavyweight champion. If George lost to Classy Freddie Blassie, George exclaimed, "I'll crawl across the ring and cut my hair off! But that's not gonna happen because I'm the greatest wrestler in the world!" Ali, who later echoed that very promo when taunting