Max Baer

Max Baer

Born: February 11, 1909
Died: November 21, 1959
in Omaha - Nebraska - USA
Max Baer is arguably best known today for siring Max Baer Jr., the actor who played Jethro Bodine on the classic TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). However, old-timers, followers of the sweet science, and viewers of the film Cinderella Man (2005) all know that Max Sr. was boxing's heavyweight champion of the world for all of 364 days, from the time he knocked out Primo Carnera on June 14, 1934, to the day he lost his title to Jimmy Braddock on June 13, 1935. Cinephiles also will remember the colorful Max from his numerous bit roles in films, including Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's Africa Screams (1949) to his near-autobiographical turn in the Budd Schulberg boxing expose The Harder They Fall (1956) starring Humphrey Bogart. Ironically, it was his acting in the latter film that likely led to his misrepresentation in "Cinderella Man" as being something akin to a monster, when actually, according to his family and those who knew him, he was an amiable man. Some fight fans thought that it was his good nature, which they attributed to his clowning, that eventually did him in, as he would not bear down on his opponents in the latter part of his career. Max Jr. says that his father wanted to be an actor, an insight that explains the flashy persona he displayed in and outside the ring as he wisecracked and clowned his way through careers as a boxer and performer in movies and nightclubs. Blessed with what "The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book" terms the most powerful right hand in heavyweight history, Baer used that right to gain a fearsome reputation as a California prizefighter before moving to New York and taking on the top ranks of the heavyweight division.

Movies for Max Baer...

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Title: Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: February 25, 1983
Type: Movie
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.
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Tender Hearted Tiger: Max Baer
Title: Tender Hearted Tiger: Max Baer
Released: January 1, 1964
Type: Movie
A documentary film about the life and career of one-time Heavyweight boxing champion of the world Max Baer.
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Once Upon a Horse...
Title: Once Upon a Horse...
Character: Ben
Released: September 1, 1958
Type: Movie
Two zany cowboys steal a herd of cattle only to discover it costs more to feed them than they are worth.
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Utah Blaine
Title: Utah Blaine
Character: Gus Ortmann
Released: February 1, 1957
Type: Movie
Western about Calhoun helping to overcome land-grabbing outlaws.
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Requiem for a Heavyweight
Title: Requiem for a Heavyweight
Character: Mike
Released: October 11, 1956
Type: Movie
An over-the-hill heavyweight boxing champion who suffers from the ravages of years of head trauma is exploited by his manager, despite the efforts of a compassionate young woman who tries to help him recover his self-respect.
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Title: Playhouse 90
Character: Mike
Released: October 4, 1956
Type: TV
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s were usually hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual, a weekly series of hour-and-a-half dramas rather than 60-minute plays. Playhouse 90 began as a pitch by Frank Stanton—the formidable, forward-thinking right-hand man to CBS chairman William S. Paley—during a brainstorming session for program ideas. The project was ultimately developed by Hubbell Robinson, a CBS vice president who received no screen credit on Playhouse 90 but is often described as its creator.
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The Harder They Fall
Title: The Harder They Fall
Character: Buddy Brannen
Released: May 9, 1956
Type: Movie
Jobless sportswriter Eddie Willis is hired by corrupt fight promoter Nick Benko to promote his current protégé, an unknown Argentinian boxer named Toro Moreno. Although Moreno is a hulking giant, his chances for success are hampered by a powder-puff punch and a glass jaw. Exploiting Willis' reputation for integrity and standing in the boxing community, Benko arranges a series of fixed fights that propel the unsophisticated Moreno to #1 contender for the championship. The reigning champ, the sadistic Buddy Brannen, harbors resentment at the publicity Toro has been receiving and vows to viciously punish him in the ring. Eddie must now decide whether or not to tell the naive Toro the truth.
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The Champs Step Out
Title: The Champs Step Out
Character: Max
Released: November 15, 1951
Type: Movie
In the third of four shorts in this series, two ex-prizefighters, Max Baer and Maxie Rosenbloom, are hired by an archaeologist, Professor Bentley, to guard a million dollars worth of antiques and relics in his home. During the night, each makes a play for the professor's secretary, Miss Pearson, who is working for a gang of crooks planning to rob the place. She slips them a mickey-finn but they come to soon enough to catch the crooks and save the relics.
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Skipalong Rosenbloom
Title: Skipalong Rosenbloom
Character: Butcher Baer
Released: April 30, 1951
Type: Movie
Skipalong Rosenbloom is the star of a heavily commercialized TV kiddie show, presided over by a smarmy announcer. He is at odds with western bad guy Butcher Baer.
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Riding High
Title: Riding High
Character: Bertie (uncredited)
Released: April 12, 1950
Type: Movie
A horse trainer who has fallen on hard times looks to his horse, Broadway Bill, to finally win the big race.
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Bride for Sale
Title: Bride for Sale
Character: Litka
Released: November 12, 1949
Type: Movie
Nora Shelley is a tax expert for the accounting company which is led by Paul Martin. She thinks she can find a suitable husband by inspecting their clients' tax documents. Martin finds out and tries to dissuade her from this approach, later enlisting the help of his friend Steve Adams, who tries to woo Shelley.
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Africa Screams
Title: Africa Screams
Character: Grappler McCoy
Released: May 4, 1949
Type: Movie
When bookseller Buzz cons Diana into thinking that his friend Stanley knows all there is to know about Africa, they are abducted and ordered to lead Diana and her henchmen to an African tribe in search of a fortune in jewels.
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Buckskin Frontier
Title: Buckskin Frontier
Character: Tiny
Released: May 14, 1943
Type: Movie
A railroad man and the owner of a freight line battle for control of a crucial mountain pass.
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Ladies' Day
Title: Ladies' Day
Character: Hippo Jones
Released: April 9, 1943
Type: Movie
A top baseball pitcher "loses" his pitching skills whenever he falls in love. After marrying a movie star extreme measures are taken for the benefit of the team.
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The McGuerins from Brooklyn
Title: The McGuerins from Brooklyn
Character: Professor Samson
Released: December 31, 1942
Type: Movie
Tim McGuerin and Eddie Corbett operates a big taxi-fleet company together and because of a misunderstanding Tim's wife Sadie thinks he is having an affair with his secretary, Ms. Lucy Gibbs. To annoy Tim, Sadie starts taking classes with a fitness instructor, Samson, and later going with him to his out-of-town health club. To sort out all the misunderstandings both Tim and Eddie go to the health club as well.
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The Navy Comes Through
Title: The Navy Comes Through
Character: Coxswain G. Berringer
Released: October 30, 1942
Type: Movie
A U.S. Navy crew aboard a merchant marine ship battle Nazis.
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Fisticuffs
Title: Fisticuffs
Character: Himself
Released: August 27, 1938
Type: Movie
This Pete Smith Specialty short showcases former heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer with various sparring partners in the ring. Slow motion is used to illustrate how Baer uses his skills.
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Over She Goes
Title: Over She Goes
Character: Silas Morner
Released: August 16, 1937
Type: Movie
Plot and counter-plot jostle each other in this romantic comedy about a music-hall star who finds himself much in demand when he inherits a title!
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The Prizefighter and the Lady
Title: The Prizefighter and the Lady
Character: Steve Morgan
Released: November 10, 1933
Type: Movie
An ex-sailor turned boxer finds romance and gets a shot at the heavyweight title.