Life and Career
Born in Leonard's Bridge, Connecticut, Rosenbloom was nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie" by a journalist due to his open gloved style of boxing. In 1930, he won the New York light heavyweight title. In 1932, he won the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World. He held and defended the title until November 1934, when he lost it to Bob Olin. As a professional boxer, Rosenbloom relied on hitting and moving to score points. He was very difficult to hit cleanly with a power punch and his fights often went the full number of required rounds. In his boxing matches he suffered thousands of head punches, which eventually led to the deterioration of his motor functions.
In 1937, he accepted a role in a Hollywood film. He became a character actor, portraying comical "big guys," in movies that included Each Dawn I Die. Slapsy Maxie's, the first comedy club, opened in San Francisco and Los Angeles., and Maxie retired from boxing permanently in 1939. He continued acting on radio, television, and in a number of films, usually playing comedy roles as a big, clumsy, punch-drunk—but lovable—character. He appeared in a number of episodes (playing himself)of the Fred Allen Radio Show - including a skit with Marlene Dietrich. Rosenbloom played an important part in television's first 90-minute drama, Requiem for a Heavyweight, written by Rod Serling, and starring Jack Palance as a boxer at the end of his career. The subsequent movie, in which Rosenbloom did not appear, also starred Jackie Gleason, who was very good friends with Maxie. Rosenbloom played an ex pug, whose life revolved around retelling old boxing stories night after night to other ex-pugs in a down and out bar. It is the fate that looms for Palance (as "Mountain McClintock") if he cannot adjust to a new life outside the ring.
In The Honeymooners popular episode "Captain Video," Jackie Gleason's character Ralph Kramden pays homage to Maxie. He read aloud a TV listing from the newspaper, "Fights Of The World: Maxie Rosenbloom vs. Kingfish Levinsky." To read more about Slapsie Maxie, please visit https://www.facebook.com/SlapsieMaxie
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