George R. Wagner

(1915-1963) born in Butte, Boyd County, lived in Holt and Seward Counties. Professional wrestler known as “Gorgeous George” actor, toured the nation’s wrestling arenas and through television reached the homes of many people who were unfamiliar with “professional” wrestling, considered a TV pioneer of wrestling and one of the most popular TV stars from 1947 to 1952. Consult Time, May 31, 1948, pp. 51-52 and Newsweek, September 13, 1948, p. 56 and Reader’s Digest, July 1950, pp. 9-13 and New York Times obituary, December 27, 1963, p. 25 and Joe Jaros, Whatever Happened to Gorgeous George? (Prentice-Hall, 1974), pp. 11-23, 151-152 and Crete /NE/ News, July 7, 2004, p. B-3 and American National Biography, Sup 2 (2005) 576-577.

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