Kenneth Richmond
Kenneth "Ken" Alan Richmond (born July 10, 1926 in London , † August 2, 2006 in Christchurch , Dorset ) was a British wrestler .
Career
Ken Richmond grew up in London. As a teenager he worked to earn money at Ranks Pinewood Studios in London and in 1944 even got a small film role in the film "Henry V." In 1944 he was to be drafted. As a pacifist , however, he refused military service and spent seven months in prison. After he was released, he worked in a shipyard, including a trip to Antarctica . The end of the 1940s he began at a judo school with judo , but soon moved to rings . With a height of 1.90 m and a weight of 120 kg he was a splendid heavyweight. As early as 1950 he wrestled internationally and won the bronze medal in heavyweight freestyle at the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 . In 1956 he almost repeated this success, but had to make do with a thankless 4th place.
Ken Richmond had never lost contact with Rank-Film and took part in other films in 1950 and 1954. In 1955 he struck a big gong for the opening credits of the J. Arthur Rank films and, as Gongman, became the "symbol" of the Rank films. In those years he was certainly one of the most widely seen "actors" in cinemas around the world.
In the late 1960s he joined the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group and spent two years as a missionary in Malta . He then worked for this group in southern England until his death. In the south of England he discovered windsurfing , which he practiced into old age.
International success
(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, F = Freestyle, S = Heavyweight)
- 1950, 3rd place , British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Auckland , F, S, behind Jim Armstrong , Australia and Pat O'Connor , New Zealand ;
- 1951, 7th place , World Championship in Helsinki , F, S, after defeats against Adil Candemir , Turkey and Natale Vecchi , Italy ;
- 1952, bronze medal , OS in Helsinki, F, S, with victories over József Kovács , Hungary and Adolfo Ramírez , Argentina and defeats against Bertil Antonsson , Sweden and Arsen Mekokishvili , USSR;
- 1953, 2nd place , World Youth Festival in Bucharest , F, S, behind Arsen Mekokishvili and in front of Josef Růžička , CSSR;
- 1954, 1st place, British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Vancouver , F, S, in front of Keith Mallman , Canada ;
- 1956, 4th place, OS in Melbourne , F, S, with victories over Lila Ram Sangwan , India and William Kerslake , USA and defeats against Jusein Mehmedow , Bulgaria and Iwan Vychristiuk , USSR
Web links
- Kenneth Richmond's profile at the Institute of Applied Exercise Science
- Kenneth Richmond in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Ken Richmond, 80, Gong-Striker Familiar to Filmgoers, Dies , New York Times obituary, August 14, 2006
- Kenneth Richmond in theInternet Movie Database(English)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Richmond, Kenneth |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Richmond, Kenneth Alan (full name); Richmond, Ken (nickname) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British wrestler |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 10, 1926 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
DATE OF DEATH | August 2, 2006 |
Place of death | Christchurch , Dorset |