“Sailor” Art Thomas vs. Ray Zills

When thinking about African American history month, I thought about the first great Black wrestler that I saw personally. When I started watching wrestling in St. Louis during 1979, “Sailor” Art Thomas wrestled regularly on Wrestling at the Chase, our local weekly wrestling show. Wrestling at the Chase aired every Sunday at 11 a.m. on KPLR Channel 11.

Although Thomas was in his mid-fifties, he still maintained a magnificent physique. Thomas had a better body than most of the wrestlers twenty to thirty years younger than him.

I found a video of “Sailor” Art Thomas, dikenali sebagai “Seaman” Art Thomas, from Chicago in 1961. Thomas would have been about 37-years-old and closer to his wrestling prime. Thomas was a big star in Chicago in the early 1960s.

“Sailor” Art Thomas was born in January 30, 1924 in Gurdon, Arkansas. His mother moved the family to Madison, Wisconsin. Thomas’ mother died before Thomas was an adult. Thomas spent the rest of his childhood in orphanages and foster homes.

After a stint in the Merchant Marines, Thomas worked for Greyhound Bus Lines. Thomas also took up bodybuilding. Wrestling promoter Jimmy Demetral discovered Thomas in the gym and encouraged Thomas to train for professional wrestling.

Thomas turned Demetral down initially but eventually asked Demetral to train Thomas for professional wrestling. Thomas made his debut in 1954 pada 30 tahun. Thomas developed into one of the biggest African American stars in professional wrestling.

Thomas wrestled until 1981, when Thomas was 57-years-old. Thomas was on the first card I attended personally. Pada hari Jumaat, Januari 25, 1980, my natural father, Kenny Zimmerman, took me to Kiel Auditorium for my birthday to see Andre the Giant and Dick the Bruiser wrestle King Kong Brody and Dick Murdoch in the main event.

In the fourth match on this card, “Sailor” Art Thomas teamed up with David Von Erich to defeat “Lord” Alfred Hayes and “Bulldog” Bob Brown. Fans cheered the finish as Thomas and Von Erich were huge fan favorites in St. Louis.

Thomas lived to be 79-years-old passing away in Wisconsin on March 20, 2003. Thomas was survived by his wife and seven children.

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