James J. Corbett : A Biography of the Heavyweight Boxing Champion and Popular Theater Headliner

by Fields, Armond

• ISBN13: 9780786409099
• ISBN10: 0786409096
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc Pub

Summary

When he died in 1933, James J. "Gentleman Jim" Corbett was honored by two distinguished groups of people: the professional boxing public, who celebrated him as America's greatest boxing champion, and the world of popular theater admirers, who revered him as one of Broadway's top vaudeville headliners. Corbett was uniquely instrumental in making boxing and popular theater both justifiable commercial enterprises, to be enjoyed by all classes of people. He became America's first national sports hero and went on to formulate the theater world's star system. This is the first definitive biography of the man who knocked out heavyweight champion John J. Sullivan, and who also knocked out audiences who flocked to see him in vaudeville and silent pictures. The focus herein is on the real man, the influences on his life, and the social and commercial environment within which he functioned. The author reveals that Corbett was a complex, driven, enigmatic man whose dedicated participation in popular entertainment changed American social values and mores, and at the same time reinvented the notion of a national hero.

Author Biography

Armond Fields, of Culver City, California, is a social historian specializing in American popular theater. Among his other works are biographies of early stage greats Lillian Russell and Eddie Foy

Table of Contents

Preface	1	(5)
Hard Road to Respectability	5	(10)
Escapades In and Out of the Ring	15	(20)
The Road to Sullivan	35	(18)
Fight of the Century	53	(14)
The Irresolute Champion	67	(21)
Trial and Tribulation	88	(23)
On the Edge	111	(18)
Knock Down, Knock Out	129	(15)
Tour de Force	144	(17)
Men of Color	161	(15)
Multi-Media Headliner	176	(20)
A Man for All Occasions	196	(17)
Anything for the Money	213	(14)
Epilogue	227	(8)
Performance Chronology	235	(8)
Chapter Notes	243	(4)
Bibliography	247	(4)
Index	251