![]() ![]() Homburg was disqualified in the eleventh round, after having knocked out Del Papa, because the referee declared a subtle head movement by Von Homburg to have been an illegal headbutt. ![]() Von Homburg got his first championship match in 1966 against Piero del Papa for the EBU Regional Light Heavyweight title in Berlin. He grew his blonde hair over his ears, for which he was nicknamed the "Beatle Boxer." One reporter for Der Spiegel ranked Von Homburg as seventh in the world. and then his native Germany where he wore fur coats, smoked cigars, and taunted referees and crowds in a way that stunned the normally sedate German boxing world. He won 16 of 21 professional fights in the U.S., fighting throughout California as a light heavyweight before traveling across the U.S. Von Homburg switched careers to boxing in 1962, employing the showmanship and the boastful, cocky persona he had developed as a wrestler. He would later regret using it in Hollywood, saying, "In an industry that was ruled by the Jews, it was really dumb to call myself 'von Homburg.' Who do they think that is? A Nazi nobleman." After their wrestling partnership ended, the father and son grew estranged. He sometimes wore a monocle and German eagle. Grupe thought his last name sounded too much like the word groupie, and changed it to Prince Wilhelm von Homburg. They subsequently changed their name to the Von Homburg Brothers, under which they performed as heels for less than a hundred dollars a night in total. The father and son duo would don Viking costumes, with which they were billed as the tag-team by the name of The Vikings, wrestling at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Madison Square Garden. Around 1960, Richard emigrated to the United States to further his wrestling career, and Grupe, who stood at 6'3" and 227 pounds by this time, would soon follow, spending time at California's notable Venice weight pen, where he became acquainted with future film star Arnold Schwarzenegger. By the time he finished school, Grupe, who had begun training in boxing at age 10, had won several amateur boxing matches. In his youth, Grupe worked as a meatpacker, stevedore, butcher, longshoreman, and a waiter. Career Early work and professional wrestling According to Rona, Grupe exhibited a bitter jealousy toward Winfried, because Winfried's mother was a daily presence for him, whereas Grupe's absent mother would not even speak to him. Richard's second wife Ursula, much younger and closer in age to Grupe himself, gave birth to Grupe's sister, Rona. Later, Richard's first wife gave birth to Grupe's brother Winfried. ![]() I'm very sorry for what Hitler did to the Jewish people."Īfter the war, Richard boxed professionally from 1946 to 1952, earning a record of 26 wins (20 by knockout), 8 losses, and 6 draws. I was not in the Hitler Youth.I was a pastryman.I have not much luck with the Jewish people. Richard would later say of this period, "I was never a Nazi. He was the son of Richard Grupe (1915 – August 5, 1988), who worked as a baker in Nazi Germany, and later become both a championship-winning boxer and a local policeman who worked at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Norbert Grupe was born in Berlin on August 25, 1940. Norbert Grupe (Aug– March 10, 2004), better known outside Germany by his stage name Wilhelm von Homburg, was a German boxer, actor, and professional wrestler known for his villainous supporting roles in various high-profile films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II, the henchman James in Die Hard, and Souteneur in Werner Herzog's Stroszek. ![]()
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