Early Life and Career
Gallico was born in New York City. His father was the famous Italian concert pianist, composer and music teacher Paolo Gallico (Trieste, May 13, 1868 - New York, July 6, 1955) and his mother, Hortense Erlich, came from Austria; they had emigrated to New York in 1895. Gallico graduated from Columbia University in 1919 and first achieved notability in the 1920s as a sportswriter, sports columnist, and sports editor of the New York Daily News.
Gallico's career was launched by an interview with boxer Jack Dempsey in which he asked Dempsey to spar with him, and described how it felt to be knocked out by the heavyweight champion. He followed up with accounts of catching Dizzy Dean's fastball and golfing with Bobby Jones. He became a national celebrity and one of the highest-paid sportswriters in America. He founded the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. His 1941 book, Lou Gehrig: Pride of the Yankees was adapted into the classic sports movie The Pride of the Yankees (1942), starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright.
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