Nat Pendleton
Two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) champion (1914-1915) in the 175-lb. class at Columbia University, Pendleton graduated Class of 1916. He wrestled for the United States at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium, earning a silver medal, losing only one match due to a controversial point decision. After the Games he became a professional wrestler and was a big fan favorite, which led to Hollywood.
In the 1920 census he was living in Manhattan with his first wife Juanita Alfonzo (age 22) and her brother Ramon Alfonso (age 13). He was working as a sports manager.
Pendleton was usually cast as a circus strongman, brutish thug, dumb cop, or dense buffoon, but he had a college degree and in 1933 wrote the script for Deception (1932), in which he starred - not surprisingly - as a wrestler.
Upon his death from a heart attack, his remains were interred at Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory in San Diego, California.
Nat Pendleton was inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2006.
Filmography (111 Appearances)
Complicated Women
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
The World of Abbott and Costello
The Big Parade of Comedy
The George Gobel Show
Buck Privates Come Home
Scared to Death
Death Valley
Swing Fever
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Jail House Blues
The Mad Doctor of Market Street
Top Sergeant Mulligan
Buck Privates
Flight Command
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
The Golden Fleecing
New Moon
Phantom Raiders
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
The Ghost Comes Home
Northwest Passage
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
Another Thin Man
At the Circus
On Borrowed Time
6,000 Enemies
It's a Wonderful World
Calling Dr. Kildare
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
Breakdowns of 1938
Young Dr. Kildare
The Crowd Roars
The Chaser
The Shopworn Angel
Fast Company
Arsène Lupin Returns
Swing Your Lady
Life Begins in College
Gangway
Song of the City
Under Cover of Night
Sing Me a Love Song
Two in a Crowd
The Luckiest Girl in the World
Sworn Enemy
Trapped by Television
The Great Ziegfeld
The Garden Murder Case
It's in the Air
Here Comes the Band
Calm Yourself
Murder in the Fleet
Reckless
Baby Face Harrington
Times Square Lady
The Gay Bride
Death on the Diamond
Straight Is the Way
The Cat's-Paw
The Girl from Missouri
The Defense Rests
The Thin Man
Manhattan Melodrama
Sing and Like It
Lazy River
Fugitive Lovers
College Coach
The Chief
I'm No Angel
Lady for a Day
Penthouse
Baby Face
The Nuisance
Child of Manhattan
Parachute Jumper
Goldie Gets Along
Whistling in the Dark
The Sign of the Cross
Flesh
Deception
The Night Club Lady
Exposure
Horse Feathers
By Whose Hand?
The Tenderfoot
Attorney for the Defense
The Big Timer
Hell-Fire Austin
A Fool's Advice
The Beast of the City
Taxi!
Manhattan Parade
The Secret Witness
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Blonde Crazy
The Ruling Voice
The Star Witness
Fair Warning
Seas Beneath
Crazy House
The Sea Wolf
The Last of the Duanes
The Big Pond
The Laughing Lady
Let's Get Married
The Hoosier Schoolmaster