Expug wrote:kikibalt wrote:“Judo” Gene LeBell, the Ageless Wonder
By Dan Hernandez
“A man that enjoys his work never goes to work”
Gene LeBell
Most commonly referred to as “Judo” Gene LeBell, LeBell is also known to his legion of fans as “The Godfather of Grappling” as well as “The Toughest Man Alive”. I met Gene recently at the Redondo Beach performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach, Ca. where he was one of the judges for the night’s card featuring Lance “Mount” Whitaker in the boxing arena and Sean “The Destroyer” Loeffler in the MMA event. Although this was our first meeting, I have known about LeBell since I was a boy attending the boxing matches at the fabled Olympic Auditorium in Downtown, Los Angeles, Ca. His mother, Aileen Eaton was one of the most successful women promoters in the history of the sport.
I recall seeing Gene perform in wrestling matches in the 1960’s and he was one of the well-known figures at many of the events around Los Angeles. It was just as exciting to see him, as it was to see many of the stars of stage, screen, and sports fame that walked through the doors of the old arena. Gene has authored at least 12 books, has appeared in over 110 films and TV productions as an actor, and has been involved in over 246 productions as a stunt man or stunt coordinator. Three of those films had LeBell in minor rolls, beginning fights with Elvis Presley and working on the set of the Green Hornet TV Show where he developed a solid friendship with Bruce Lee. Lee & LeBell went on to exchange many positive ideas on martial arts.
Gene was instrumental in teaching grappling skills to such well-respected wrestlers and martial artists as; ”Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Mando Guerrero, The Rock, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Ken Shamrock, “Judo” Chris Adams, Benny ‘The Jet” Urquidez, Goker Chivichyan, Robert Wall (Bob Wall), Ed Parker, and Larry Zbysko. In addition to these credits “Judo” Gene has received numerous awards including the 2005 Frank Gotch Award to celebrate the positive recognition he has brought to the sport of wrestling. LeBell won the AAU National Judo Championships at 165 pounds in both 1955 and 1956. In 1963, LeBell accepted a public challenge to fight boxer Milo Savage, choking him unconscious in the 4th round. Gene also refereed the boxing-versus-wrestling contest between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki.
A pink GI, a trademark of Gene LeBell, was actually the result of a laundry mix-up. While in Japan for a competition, a pair of red shorts was mixed into the laundry that contained his Gi and turned the uniform a shade of pink. There was no time to correct the mistake and he was forced to compete in the pink-colored Gi. This insulted the Japanese crowd and the wound was deeper as LeBell won the competition.
When I viewed LeBell in the parking lot of the event I was covering in Redondo, I made it to his side immediately, introduced myself, stated my affiliation, and waited for his words of wisdom. Mr. Gene LeBell said to me, “Hi, nice to meet you.” He had me at Hi. One of the nicest fellows you would ever want to meet, he made me feel immediately like I had known him most of my life. Within seconds, we were laughing and sharing stories, without hesitation, he agreed to an interview. He even admired my camera, asking if it was a camera/phone, since it was so small. I explained that it was a Sony pocket camera and that my son-in-law Robert, had one that I had admired a few years ago and soon after received this camera in the mail. I then added how I also admired Robert’s BMW and as yet had not found a BMW in the mail. Gene was kind enough to laugh at my joke and it was clear I had a new friend.
DH: Gene, the records show you were born in…
Forget about that, I don’t want everybody to know when I was born. I don’t want you tell them.
DH: OK Gene, you got it, however, it is a matter of record.
I know everybody knows but don’t put it in there. It’s like first they find out your personal address, then they know everything about you, and there are too many things like identity theft, etc. You get all sorts of hassles; people knocking on the door, people get a hold of my phone number. They call me all hours just to make friends with me, and I don’t know them. Don’t put anything like phone numbers or driver license numbers on your checks; believe me I know, nothing but trouble.
DH: Well Gene, it was a real pleasure meeting you the other day. It is always a thrill to meet one of your favorite personalities.
Yeah, with that and $5.00 you can buy a four dollar hamburger.
DH: There are probably not too many good four-dollar hamburgers anymore.
You know on my answer phone, I’ve been working on a couple of shows and when I got your message, I guess it was today, I called up and said to call me after 8PM and I didn’t know if your message was new or old.
DH: I just left the message yesterday.
I was working on something for a Sarah something productions. I played an old man, which is good. I go dancing and I fall down. It’s a comedy, so when I fall I take a tablecloth with me and the whole bit… It will be seen on Comedy Central. The next time I’m in a handicapped car and I kind of sue them while I’m comatose. Doesn’t sound funny, but it is.
DH: So, you’re still doing stunt work, is that right?
Yeah, I tell everybody that I’m retired for the last 15 years, but people are still nice to me. You know when you get to be 104 years old, it’s nice to go to the studios and you see so many people that you knew 10, 20, 30, years ago. I worked on this show and the first assistant named Johnny called me up so excited and told me that he worked on his first show with me 20 years ago.
DH: It is nice to be remembered, isn’t it?
It kind of makes you feel good to be remembered.
DH: Speaking of remembrances, I remember speaking with Aileen Eaton. Was she your mother or stepmother?
Aileen was my mom, my father died when I was 7 and she re-married many years later a fellow named Eaton, Cal Eaton.
DH: Did you have a good relationship with your mom?
Oh yeah, she was good people.
DH: That’s good to hear, we, the fans, used to feel like we knew the promoters and matchmakers.
George Parnassus, all of them. They were very, very, nice.
DH: You were on the “IN” with everybody being part of that family.
I boxed and I wrestled, so I got along good with George Parnassus. All the matchmakers; Babe McCoy, you can just go down the list of the matchmakers for boxing and wrestling too. People like Jules Strongbow, Mr. Moto, and others.
DH: Whom did you find the most colorful?
In the movies or wrestling?
DH: Both, how about wrestling first.
For color, or showbiz, or really being able to wrestle?
DH: How about each of those.
Colorful, Gorgeous George, he was entertaining. His real name was George Wheeler and he could wrestle too.
DH: I understand that Muhammad Ali based his early personality on the showmanship of Gorgeous George.
Well, when Ali came to fight for us at the Olympic, he went to the boxing arena and he saw Freddie Blassie.
DH: I remember him. He used to call people, “Pencil-necked yeek”.
Yeah, yeah, “Pencil-necked yeek”! Ali said, “I want to be just like him. When he got interviewed for the fight he said, “My opponents a bore. I’m gonna knock him out in four.” His name was Cassius then and I told him, “Cassius, you don’t understand, you don’t gotta go 4 rounds” He replied, “I can knock him out in any series I want.” He bobbed and weaved and everything for three rounds, did showboat because he was that much better. Came the fourth round , a few series of punches, and the guy was out cold.. To me Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay, in his prime, was the best fighter of all time.
Ali fought Archie Moore for us, the light-heavyweight world champion. After the fight, Archie said, “This man is going to be champion, and for a lot of years. He was right.
DH: Did you ever see Joe Louis fight?
Only on film, but I did get to hire him on a Steve Allen Show. He refereed, I’ve got pictures of it, I think it’s in my life story. He was great. The thing is about Cassius Clay is that he could hit hard if he wanted to, but his main goal was not getting hit. He would see a lot of people that were punchy, from getting hit. You know they would trade punches, let themselves get hit, to give a punch. He wasn’t in that mode. He did the rope-a-dope with George Foreman until Foreman ran out of gas, then he knocked him out.
DH: Gene, why did you shy away from boxing and specialize in the martial arts?
I trained in boxing at the Main Street Gym, I worked out with Archie Moore. As a kid, I worked out with “Sugar” Ray Robinson and a few other top fighters from other divisions. My step dad Cal Eaton, was the promoter and I wanted to box. Cal said, “No”. So I wrestled, that’s all I did was wrestle and competed in Judo. I told Cal that I wanted to wrestle pro and he said that I would get killed. Well, my name is LeBell and a fellow named Vic Christie was teaching All-American football players how to wrestle and I went down there and worked out with him. Vic said, here comes the guy that’s the boss, Cal Eaton, Cal saw me and said if he ever saw me working out with pros that he would kill me. But he saw me wrestle the good guys and how easy I could handle them and he didn’t realize that I could wrestle. You know, when you do everything everyday of your life, your either good at it or bad at it and I was a fanatic and got pretty good. The funny thing is that I did a lot of Judo at the same time and I won the National in 1954 in Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco. I won the heavyweight title, although I was only weighing 165 pounds. My coach encouraged me to go heavyweight because they move slower, Larry Coughram was his name and I respected his opinion. He was primarily my Judo coach when I was young, but he was also a college wrestler.
In that time period Cal saw me wrestling and he said, “OK. You can start pro.” I told him that I couldn’t go pro because if I won the Nationals that year I would get to go to Japan for the Internationals and represent the United States. That was a big deal to me. Cal accepted my position and the Nationals turned out to be in Los Angeles. Cal told me, “You stupid idiot, if you win second, that means nothing. You have to win gold!” I had tonsil problems and nose problems that go with that and Cal told me that I better just quit then. I was brain dead then, and I’m still brain dead and I told him, “No, I’m entering it and I’m better than I was last year. A lot of guys said that I won a lot of matches by luck , and I agreed that some of those guys were a little better than me and I was maybe a little luckier.
Anyway, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) rents auditoriums, and what do they rent? The Olympic Auditorium! My home, that was funny. The first match I had I threw the guy and Cal loved to tease me and he said, “Ah, the guy jumped for you”. Now you can win the tournament with four or five wins, then the system was different and they had two days and 18 matches to declare a champion. Well the next day we were all kind of sore and some guys were complaining that they could hardly breathe. I told them, I don’t know, I feel great. “Cause that’s what Freddie Blassie used to say, “Just Psyche them out.” I think that helped me win.
DH: Then what came next?
Then they had the overall where all the champions went together and for the second year I won that. That was in 1955, 104 years ago. But I got a chance to go to Japan and compete. It was very interesting, all these experiences were terrific.
DH: Gene, these are all positive experiences. Were there any not so positive?
Negative experiences, huh?
DH: Well, it sounds as if you’ve led a charmed life. It is also clear that you have always been a hard worker, is that right?
Well, the harder you work, the luckier you get. People that don’t work hard, usually don’t get as many good things happen to them. I always tell my grandson, “If you get A’s in school, you’re gonna be making 150, 200 thousand a year. If you get B’s, you’ll be making 60 to 80 thousand, C’s, you’ll be making 45 thousand, D’s, you’ll be making 20 thousand, and F’s, you’ll probably be in jail.
DH: What a great philosophy to teach your children and grandchildren.
Yes, this grandson is 9 years old, and I have other grandkids, two from my daughter Monica and her husband, who both work for the government, have a 3 and a 4 year old. I have a step-grandson, Daniel, who is named after me, Daniel Gene, and he is a straight A gifted student, his parents are great. My other grandson comes from a broken home and that is sad to me. My wife and I buy his clothes and his shoes. Today I took him out swimming and if he can swim two lengths of the pool under water, he gets a dollar I have pigeons that live on the telephone wire by my back yard and if they land on him and eat out of his hand, he gets a quarter for each one he feeds. Later we went to another stunt mans house and he did flips on his trampoline. It’s important that he gets his share of exercise.
DH: Gene, I get the feeling that you always enjoy what you do.
A man that enjoys his work, never goes to work.
What do you like to do Dan?
DH: I enjoy this Gene, speaking with people like yourself has been a sincere treat and each new interview presents a new and interesting challenge that keeps me invigorated.
Don’t repeat it, but I’m older than you Dan and I’ve always loved racing and doing tricks on motorcycles and I test bikes for Honda of North Hollywood. That means that they give me free bikes, merchandise, and everything. In stunt work, I might get a job and do some kind of a trick down the street, but I’m not gonna compete against the young guy who will use me for tracks, but it’s something I enjoy. I’ve played a lot of Hell’s Angels and other parts like that.
DH: I’ve seen you in film for years and always enjoyed recognizing you.
I did a thing called RENO 911, I’ve done 8 or 10 of them. In one of them , they came to arrest me and the gal says “What name do we give you?” Because she didn’t read the script, I told her the name they gave me was Gene LeBell, just to tease her. So they said, “Are you Gene LeBell?” I replied yes and they said I was under arrest. I said that’s nice, I’m an old man that’s shaking and I’m in my under shorts. Then I go to the kitchen, invite them in and hop on a little motorcycle and speed out of the door.. The next thing you know, they are running down the street trying to catch me, and they don’t. So they were shooting the movie, “RENO 911” and right across the street here, I live across from a park. Well, I know the producers and they are very, very nice and I told them, “I’m not gonna watch this movie. There is an old man and you can’t even catch him on a motorcycle.” They asked me if I had a motorcycle and I responded yes and they told me to put my skivvies’ shorts on. They did the shot and gave mo more than should, and they still don’t catch me in the movie so I teased them again. So a couple of months pass and they called me and said, “I think we’re gonna beat you today.” They will never beat me. Anyway there are four comedians, one of them is called, Senior Abuse. One guy hits me with a chair, knocks me down. The other guy stabs me, I mean, it’s in different sections. Then another guy brakes a bottle over my head, and the other one kicks me in the groin. I mean I’m going up and down, you know? Four different people beat me and the producers are teasing me, saying, “Now we got you!” They showed each beating on different dates, so I got paid four different times instead of just once. But beyond the money the pleasure is working with the actors and producers of people like the ones on RENO 911. When I worked with James Garner, it was terrific. Working with Jack Benny was terrific. I try to treat people like I want, with respect.
Everybody in the world counts and if I were to give a message on my deathbed it would be that, “This would be a much better world if there wasn’t so much hate.” Everybody puts their shoes on one shoe at a time just like everybody else and we must love.
DH: How long have you been married Gene?
This time, too long, 30 years. New motorcycles come out every year, maybe I’ll trade her in.
DH: I think your past that, don‘t you?
Definitely. You know I‘ve lived in sin with my wife, Midge, II call her Mitchell. She is a very religious Catholic, I’m a heathen, .I mean I follow the 10 Commandments to the letter, but my wife wanted to get married on a Sunday. I told her, ‘You’ve got to be kidding, that’s motorcycle day.” “I’m not getting married on a Sunday!” She is very religious and a devout Catholic and insisted. I told her that regardless, I was going motorcycle riding every Sunday. I have a little cabin up in Frazier Park in an area called Pine Mountain. I told her if you want to get married on a Sunday, you’re going to get married on the back of a motorcycle. The next thing I know, she has the minister and herself on the back of a truck and I’m following along on my motorcycle. I’m doing a wheelie for about a mile or a mile and a half and I’m waving and having a good old time. Now I’ve never had a drink in my life, she got excited, had a few glasses of wine and got on my bike. She had mud in her helmet and it was hooked on her arm and I hooked my legs over her so she wouldn’t fall off the bike, ‘cause otherwise I’d have to go back and pick her up.
DH: Always a gentleman Gene. That would be a nice thing to do.
Oh yeah, so we got married and had a lot of fun. The next day she woke up and said, ‘We’re married.” And I said “we’re what?” She said, ”we got married on the back of a motorcycle.” I told her I was selling all my motorcycles.”
Midge has everything but a sense of humor. She did not find that funny. She’s good people and its been a great marriage.
By the way, you asked me earlier about my favorite wrestlers. They are: Lou Thesz, who was a world champion. Ed “Strangler” Lewis, my first coach and world champion. Karl Gotch taught me a lot, he just passed away a year ago. Those were all people that could really wrestle. Roddy Piper has been a student and friend of mine for years. He is a terrific wrestler and he gets a lot of movie work, I got him his first job in the movies.
DH: Gene, I really enjoyed your conversation and your sense of humor.
I believe a little levity is refreshing. The people that I have associated with that have a sense of humor and were not vindictive, are the ones I enjoy most. I often make myself the brunt of my jokes, which may make me sound ignorant or stupid and the fans have no trouble agreeing with that assessment. And you know, humor sells tickets.
Great interview from Mr. Hernandez about Gene.
Gene is without a doubt a very legitimate tough guy. A great Judoka one of Americas best ever.
HE isnt a guy that dwells on the negative. However, he was basicaly disowned by the powers that be in his dojo which was I believe called the Hollywood dojo back in the late fifties. They had a real problem with Gene becoming a pro wrestler after he won the Judo Nationals for the second time. The head instructor who knew Gene for years and years banished him. It was like being thrown out of his home. It must have been hard.
There was and still is politics involved in the sport. Im no Gene Lebell, but I have even felt a little disdain from some of the traditionalists here in Chicago because I was a pro boxer at one time. They respect that in a way , but at the same time I think in their minds, Im less than legit. I dont know, maybe Im just overly sensitive to it , but its a feeling I get once in awhile. Its hard to put into words. Ive heard of people talking sh.t behind my back." What does Higgins know about judo? he was a boxer."It started when I strated teaching it.
Anyway, Gene also beat in the Nationals a great Judoka named Johnny Osako. Johnny was from Chicago and was absolutely brilliant. I think they were ready to give him the Gold Medal at the weigh in . They figured nobody could beat Johnny. Gene did twice.
All of this cross training in combat sports that everyone does now in mma, Gene was doing half a century ago.
Brian . . . Thanks for the great inside story on Gene LeBell. I'm as interested in your Judo experience and knowledge as I am what we write of here.
Gene wasn't a pro boxer, but as the son of a legendary L.A. boxing promoter, and Internationally known as a true tough guy, I appreciate anything about him.
-Rick Farris
