Joseph E. Stiglitz (Winner of Nobel Prize for Economics, 2001)
Karl Malden (Actor) [Real name is Mladen Sekulovich]
George Molchan (Advertising - "Little Oscar")
Michael Jackson (Music)
Rodney Taylor (Music) [One of The Essex of "Easier Said Than Done" fame]
The Spaniels (Recording Artists)
Deniece Williams (Recording Artist)
Vee-Jay Records (Once had The Beatles under contract!)
Charlie O. Finley (Baseball Owner)
Milt May (Baseball)
Ron Kittle (Baseball)
Lloyd McClendon (Baseball)
Dan Plesac (Baseball)
Tom Harmon (College Football)
Alex Karras (NFL)
Hank Stram (NFL)
Bob Kuechenberg (NFL)
Dick Barnett (NBA)
Known as "The Man of Steel," middleweight champion Tony Zale is best remembered for his thrilling
three-fight series with fellow Hall-of-Famer Rocky Graziano. Born Anthony
Florian Zaleski, in Gary, Indiana, Zale opted for a boxing career rather than a
lifetime spent working in Gary's steel mills. He worked the mills
throughout his amateur career but turned to boxing fulltime when he entered the
pro ranks in 1934. By 1939, Zale was considered a top-10 middleweight by
virtue of splitting a four-fight series with contender Nate Bolden. He was
considered impervious to pain. He managed to endure endless punishment and
time and again would snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In 1940, he
decisioned NBA middleweight champ Al Hostak in a non-title fight. That win
earned him a return match with Hostak. This time, with the belt on the
line, Zale knocked Hostak out in the 13th to win the title. Zale remained
busy, splitting a pair of non-title fights with Billy Soose and Fred Apostoli to
close out the 1940 campaign. In 1941, he defended the NBA title with
knockout victories over Steve Mamakos and Hostak. Then he gained universal
recognition as middleweight champion by decisioning New York State king Georgie
Abrams. In 1942, Zale dropped a 12-round decision to former light heavy
king Billy Conn and then joined the Navy, serving until the end of World War
II. Zale, now 33, was still recognized as
champion when the war ended and thus began his series with Graziano. In the
first match, at Yankee Stadium, each fighter went down in the first two rounds.
Then Graziano assumed control of the fight, battering Zale through the fifth
round. But somehow, Zale came out and knocked Graziano out in the sixth. That
win earned Zale Fighter of the Year honors from Ring Magazine and the Boxing
Writers Association of America. The rematch in 1947 was just as brutal
as the first fight, with Graziano winning this time by sixth-round knockout. In
the third and final match, later in '47, Zale knocked out Graziano in three to
regain the crown. Three months later, Zale lost the title
to Marcel Cerdan and retired from boxing. So exciting were Zale's fights that
two of the Graizano contests and the Cerdan fight were named Fight of The Year
by Ring Magazine. Walter Hellman (World Champion Checkers Player) Dillinger Escape 'Humiliated' Sheriff Valparaiso -- Thousands
of people are tickled pink "Public Enemies," the John Dillinger biopic, is being
filmed in Crown Point. But there's one lady who, if alive, would "try to get as
far away from that movie as she could." That lady is Lillian Holley.
Lake County's first
female sheriff at the time of John Dillinger's famous 1934 escape from Lake
County Jail, wouldn't talk about it, even around her family, said her
90-year-old niece, LaVanche West. "I just think she wanted that terrifying part
of her life to be over," West said. "It made her feel humiliated, to think that
he could get out of that jail when she was so sure that he wouldn't escape."
Adding insult to injury was the getaway vehicle Dillinger used -- a brand new
V-8 Ford owned by Holley herself.
Holley proclaimed the
Lake County Jail the strongest in Indiana, according to Bryan Burrough's book
"Public Enemies," on which the movie is based.
West said her aunt faced
a lot of scrutiny, "just because she was a woman." That only increased after
Dillinger broke free. People speculated she was afraid of Dillinger, and
intended to let him escape, but Holley was cleared of involvement. The staunch
Democrat also upset people with her theory that town Republicans had smuggled a
gun to Dillinger, West said.
"She didn't like to be
sheriff and didn't want to be in that position," West said. "She was a homebody
and I think she always wanted to stay in Hammond in her beautiful home and just
be a social lady." Her husband, Roy "Doc" Holley, preceded her as Lake County
sheriff. But he was shot and killed in 1933 trying to solve a dispute between a
pair of farmers in Ross Township. Lillian Holley agreed to finish his term. West
said Holley primarily accepted the position so she could pay for her twin
daughters' college education.
After Dillinger broke
out, West said, Holley's daughters had to be protected by bodyguards, in case
the outlaw wanted to take revenge. West herself was in Terre Haute at the time,
but she was still afraid. "I didn't think anything like that would ever happen
in our family," West said. "I feared they would be harmed by the fellow who
escaped."
Holley didn't seem too
scared when she spoke to reporters after Dillinger's escape. Her words to the
Post-Tribune are famous: "If I ever get John Dillinger back in the Lake County
Jail, I'll shoot him in the head with my own gun." Holley never had the chance,
not that she would really take it, West said. "She would have never shot a gun
at anyone," West said. "She was a little, petite person. I'm sure that was just
bravado."
Holley dreaded media
recaps of the Dillinger escape, all the way until 1994, when she died at age
103. But West herself is eager to see "Public Enemies," and thinks actress Lili
Taylor ("The Haunting," "Six Feet Under"), who plays Holley in the film, bears a
resemblance to her.
See additional info
on: Little Oscar, Tom Harmon and the Spaniels If you know of others omitted from this "auspicious" list, do let me know via
Return to: HOME/DIRECTORY
Tony Zale [Real Name: Anthony Zaleski]
Total
Bouts: 87 Won: 67 Lost: 18 Draws:
2 KO's: 45
Boxing
Hall of Fame Induction: 1991
The "Chicago Picasso" (Manufactured at U.S. Steel-Gary Works)
John Dillinger, posing on arrest with the Prosecutor Robert "Fighting Bob" Estill and Sheriff Lillian Holley. Not the typical mugshot!
(Not from Gary. Rather, Escapee from the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, IN -
1934.)
Anna Sage, the "Lady in Red" who accompanied Dillinger to the Biograph the
night of his death. Prior to being paid off by J. Edgar Hoover, Ms. Sage was
the Madam of a house of ill repute in da' Region. Her real name was Ana Cumpanas.Octave Chanute (Not from Gary. Did his early flight experiments there - 1896)
"The only people who voluntarily travel to Gary are duty-bound realatives." - Time Magazine
"The best way to see Gary, through the rear-view
mirror!" - New City
= BLOG IT
=> [Category: Gary, Indiana - The "Steel
City"]
Updated 8 Jul 2008 - 14:32:19 Hrs.