Jerry "The King" Lawler turns 71 today! How many of you knew that the King is also a talented artist? Here is the proof! I think Lawler could have easily made a living drawing comic books or working for MAD magazine had his wrestling career not been so successful!
Funny portrait of Freebird Michael Hayes! I love the expressions of his fellow Freebirds and Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin in the background, laughing at Michael's free-spirited silliness.
Gotta love this self-portrait of Jerry Lawler as the Eighth Wonder of the World; it's even referencing the 1977 King Kong remake instead of the original. Jerry's artistic talents are what first got him in to the world of wrestling; he would send in drawings of Memphis wrestlers like Jackie Fargo to Aubrey Griffith, the local promoter. He eventually worked out a deal with Griffith—free publicity on Lawler's radio show (he was a disc jockey at the time) in exchange for wrestling lessons. Not a bad deal if you ask me!
Playboy Buddy Rose loves to eat at Burgerville and I probably would too if I lived in the Pacific Northwest! I would eat at Burgerville just on sheer principle because that is undoubtedly the best name for a burger place I have ever heard! If it was good enough for the Playboy, it’s gotta be good enough for me…right?
Ric Flair addresses the crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum after winning the NWA world heavyweight championship from Harley Race at the inaugural Starrcade in 1983! This was, of course, the beginning of the run that firmly established the Nature Boy as one of wrestling’s all-time greats!
Someone else on the Gilman booking staff was doing a bad job
putting this show together, so I stepped in about 2-3 weeks before it was to
take place. He was unhappy about me
taking over, but it only took me five minutes of brainstorming to finish a show
that he had done nothing with for the past two months. Unfortunately, this was
probably the most violent show I did that entire year. Multiple fights happened
outside the club. Several kids jumped future investigative reporter Shane Bauer
in the bathroom for no reason. Some Nazi skinhead kid even tried to steal the
keys to TOXIC NARCOTIC’s van during their set! However, the combined effort of
myself and the local bands got approximately 250 people to come to a show that
only had a few weeks of promotion, so that was cool. How does one have a difficult time setting up a TOXIC NARCOTIC show anyway?
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese. CAST: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Martin Balsam, Illeana Douglas, Fred Dalton Thompson. Martin Scorsese’s remake isn’t into implying anything at all; it goes for the throat. Some of the story elements have changed—Sam Bowden is the public defender who suppressed evidence that could have gotten his client a lesser sentence or acquittal from rape charges. Max Cady was guilty as hell, but a report about his victim’s “questionable” sexual history could have set him free and Sam was not about to have that on his conscience. You might note that this is a direct violation of Cady’s constitutional right to a proper legal defense in court. Cady discovers the report while appealing his case as a jailhouse lawyer. Now he wants vengeance. Cady gets out during a time when the Bowden family is dealing with trust issues between Sam and his wife, as well as his daughter slipping between rebellious, awkward, and sexually curious. No one is perfect in Scorsese’s Cape Fear. Max’s behavior is bolder this time around too, particularly when he corners young Danny Bowden at school. Robert De Niro is very good as Max Cady, but eventually degenerates into a parody of the irrational and becomes just another horror movie killer. Strange to see Martin Scorsese resorting to stylized techniques and unnecessary slasher film ploys. Someone else could have hung their hat on Cape Fear using the same approach, but this is Martin Scorsese and it is funny how standards work. This is not one of his better movies compared to the obvious classics on his resume, but maybe that is the point: that even the great Martin Scorsese has flaws.
