Frankie Grandetta

Name: Frankie Grandetta
Alias: Hollywood Sheik
Hometown: Spokane, Washington, USA
Died: 1984-01-21 (Age:78)
Pro Boxer: Record

Division: Bantamweight
Managers: Willie Bernstein & Eddie Quinn

Frankie Grandetta moved from Washington state to California around 1927. He had been a newsboy in Spokane, and an amateur boxer at Spokane's Amateur Athletic Club.

According to the May 15, 1927 Spokane Spokesman-Review, he started his amateur career at the S.A.A.C. in 1919 vs. Sammy Plastino. His next bout was at Medical Lake, WA vs. Harvey Nelson. Per the Los Angeles Times, March 7, 1922, he was suspended in Spokane as an amateur for engaging in "unsanctioned competition." And per the June 27, 1923 Bellingham American newspaper (Bellingham, WA), he had started his professional career a few months earlier, after having won the Pacific Northwest Association's Amateur Flyweight Championship at Portland, Oregon. According to the May 15, 1927 Spokane Spokesman-Review, he had fought over 150 professional bouts by then.

Grandetta appeared in Hollywood movies. (Click here for his movie credits.) According to a 1934 article in the Spokane Spokesman-Review, Grandetta was the driver for Hollywood actress Mae West.

Another photo of Grandetta, with Sailor Willie Gordon, can be found in the April 7, 1927 Spokane Spokesman-Review.