Hollywood Champions of the "Early Years" and the "Roaring Twenties"
Since early "gold rush" days women had fought in California. At first it was prostitutes but soon the saloon girls joined in, then miners wives and even farm girls struck gold in the "squared circle." Eventually, the actresses, singers and dancers of Hollywood got into the act when money men crawled out of the woodpile to throw money at the participants.
When actor/director Douglas Fairbanks and famed director D.W. Griffith formed their own studio, they annointed Fairbank's wife Mary Pickford "America's Sweetheart." They crowned her "the Champion of Hollywood" and, with expert tutoring, she was able to beat several untrained starlets to 'legitimize' her claim as the "toughest woman in tinseltown." She's shown above just after the conclusion of her fight with ...
...Theda Bara, who appeared on the fight scene in 1919 and gave Hollywood it's first "undisputed champion." The popular silent screen star was known to her ring fans as "The Vamp" - both for her ability to seduce referees into allowing several patently illegal moves as well as for other reasons.
In 1925 Louise Brooks wrested the title from Bara but held it just over seven months before being dethroned by Myrna Loy. Although she lost the championship less than a year after winning it, Brooks cleverly used it as a stepping stone to a brief, highly controversial, film career.
At the end of 1925 another "unknown" came from nowhere to win the title. Pretty, petite, Myrna Loy was expected to be the next "easy" victim for reigning champion Brooks. Her surprise victory catapulted her into the realm of the "moguls" who chose the next superstar. After winning the title, Louise appreared in ten (10) films in 1926. It got her the notice she needed to launch a career that spanned 7 decades with 134 film and TV appearances.
Beautiful and blonde, "scream queen" Fay Wray took advantage of Myrna Loy's exhausting schedule and dethroned the champion. She held the title long enough to catch the eye of a couple of producers who gave her roles in a series of small, forgotten features. Her career languished until she met her "dream man" - a three foot tall stuffed ape named "King Kong" in the role that gave her undying recognition from movie fans worldwide.
Petite Clara Bow had been a favorite in Hollywood for a decade but talkies put her career in jeopardy. In a futile attempt to revive her career, she tried fighting and, surprisingly, won the title in a long, hard battle with Wray in 1928. On the right, she's in the costume of "The Cowgirl" - a wrestling character Joan Blondell successfully revived in the 1930's.
French-born Claudette Colbert beat Bow in 1929 and, with her victory, the right to call herself "Champion" for a brief period. After losing the title, she fought in many unofficial underground fights in which she proved herself worthy of a top ranking. Like many other champions, Colbert had a long and honored career as a serious actress.
