The Quiet Champion Wins Audience Over
(October 27, 2011)
Downieville's Mountain Messenger Critics Review reports, "In the world of boxing, it takes a rare combination of strength, stamina, and speed, to produce a "winner." In the world of theater it takes the rare combination of playwright, material, and actor to produce a "winner". In the isolated communities of Camptonville and Alleghany, the odds of this rare combination of talents coming together are even greater. But this rare occurrence was seen Saturday Afternoon (October 15, 2011) on the stage of the Yuba Theatre recently with the "winning" performance of Brian Price in "The Quiet Champion," a play written by Sierra County author and historian, Bud Buczkowske.
If ever there was an actor made to play the role of former World Heavyweight Champion Boxer, Ezzard Charles, it was Brian Price. Price was perfectly cast for the role of Charles, but Price's portrayal went beyond type-casting. Price captured the `strength. and courage of this "Quiet Champion" as he faces the challenges of the ring and the challenges of, life. Price's performance was quite a feat, considering that he was the only actor on stage in this one-man one-act play. The audience was well entertained by his heartfelt performance, as he moved across the stage from locker room to bong ring, and finally to a wheel-chair, as the life of Ezzard Charles unfolded. Afflicted with ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease, Charles met the challenges of life-after-boxing supported and cared for by his loving wife Gladys. Audience members were visibly moved by the final scenes of Price's bravura performance as the life of Ezzard Charles came to a bittersweet ending.
The authentic voice of author Buczkowske, one-tinge friend of Charles and his wife Gladys captured the glamour and the tragedy of a bygone era, one of the greatest times in the history of boxing. Names like Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis lent weight to this true life story. Buczkowske’s attention to the details of time and place created a realistic setting for this depiction of the life of a valiant boxing champion .and a valiant human being, Ezzard Charles. The Sierra County Arts Council, State-Local Partner with the California Arts Council, was proud to bring this production to the Yuba Theatre in Downieville and is committed to continue to support Community Theater in Sierra."
Belle Tauer wrote in the The Mountain Messenger, "I hear Bud Buczkowske's play was' wonderful! It was a one-man, one-act play about heavyweight champion boxer, Ezzard Charles. The play told the story of Charles' rise to box ing fame, how he accidentally killed a man in the ring and the way it affected the rest of his boxing career, and how he met and fell in love with his wife, Gladys. It also told how he eventually died of Lou-Gehrig's disease. Brian Price was great as Charles; he has a beautiful and loud speaking voice. It was a remarkable story; exciting and tragic. I actually saw a few people leave the theater with tears in their eyes. That is a sign of a compelling story, great job Bud!"
Ezzard Charles, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, was a personal friend of Sierra County playwright Bud Buczkowske for nine years while the two men lived in Chicago. Bud’s personal interviews with Ezzard were captivating, something that he could never let go off. These interviews were used as the foundation material for a play that Bud has worked on for many years. So, after a number of readings and years of honing his script, the opportunity for theatrical production finally arrived. “The Quiet Champion” staring actor Brian Price of Camptonville, tells the story of how Ezzard and his loving wife Gladys overcome unscrupulous managers, and the exploitation of young fighters. This stirring dramatization of a quiet man’s life unfolds as Ezzard Charles begins his quest of becoming World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Because of his gentleness and wit, he didn’t seem to fit the stereotype of a professional fighter. Ezzard Mack Charles was born on a sweltering hot day in Lawrenceville, Georgia on July 7, 1921. While wearing his mothers robe and mittens with a clothesline draped over kitchen chairs and a door knob he would dance about fighting an imaginary opponent announcing himself as Champion of the World. The young fighter really began working out at the age of fourteen. He first picked up boxing pointers from the comic strip character Joe Palooka and Joe Jinks. The first man to train him on boxing techniques was a local janitor. Ezzard’s first training room was the basement of the Shoemaker Clinic Building in Cincinnati, Ohio. During his amateur boxing in his teen years, Ezzard won 42 amateur fights as a welterweight and a middleweight. He was already becoming a well-known fighter known as "The Cincinnati Cobra." In 1939 he won the (Chicago Golden Gloves) Amateur Athletic Union national middleweight title. He graduated from Woodward High School in 1942.
Ezzard began his professional boxing career in March 1940 and fought 38 matches over the next three years. He won 33, lost four and had one draw. Twenty-one of his 33 victories were by knockouts. Twenty-two of his 38 matches were held in Cincinnati. Ezzard served in the military in 1944 and 1945. In February 1946 he once again was back in the ring, now in the light heavyweight division, picking up many notable wins over leading light heavyweight as well as heavyweight contenders Archie Moore, Jimmy Bivins, Lloyd Marshall, and Elmer Ray. Shortly after his knock-out of Moore in their third and final meeting, tragedy struck. In 1947 Ezzard fought a young contender named Sam Baroudi, knocking him out in Round 10. Baroudi died of the injuries he sustained in this bout. Ezzard was so devastated he almost gave up fighting. It had a profound effect on his fighting career to adapt a more cautious style trying not to hurt his opponents.
Charles was unable to secure a title shot at light heavyweight, and moved up to heavyweight. After knocking out Joe Baksi and Johnny Haynes, Charles won the vacant National Boxing Association world heavyweight title when he outpointed Jersey Joe Walcott (right) over 15 rounds on June 22, 1949. The following year, he outpointed his idol and former world heavyweight champion Joe Louis to become the recognized lineal champion. Successful defenses against Walcott, Lee Oma and Joey Maxim would follow. In 1951, Charles fought Walcott a third time and lost the title by knockout in the seventh round. Charles lost a controversial decision in the fourth and final bout. If Charles had won this fight he would have become the first man in history to regain the heavyweight championship. When Joe Louis decided to return to the ring in June of 1950, Ezzard knew defeating him would be the only way that he would be recognized as World Champion.
Some boxing fans feel Ezzard became Champion at the wrong time never receiving the proper accolades he deserved. He first had to conquer a legend and that meant, “Beating the great Joe Louis.” Then there was Rocky Marciano, the first potential white heavyweight contender since James J. Braddock. His two stirring battles with Marciano are regarded as ring classics. In the first bout, held in June 1954, he valiantly took Rocky the distance, going down on points in a vintage heavyweight bout. Charles is the only man ever to last the full 15-round distance against Marciano.In their September rematch, a severely cut Marciano rallied to KO Charles in the 8th round, in a bout that was named Ring Magazine's "Fight of the Year." Financial problems forced Charles to continue fighting, losing 12 of his final 23 fights. He retired with a record of 96-25-1 (58 KOs).Ezzard was also a respected double bass player who played with some of the jazz greats in the 1940s and 1950s at such notable places as Birdland (jazz composer George Russell wrote the famous tune Ezz-Thetic in his honor) . He was very close with Rocky Marciano and a neighbor and friend of Muhammad Ali when they both lived on 85th street in Chicago. Charles also starred in one motion picture: "Mau Mau Drums", an independent (and unreleased) jungle-adventure film shot in and around Cincinnati in 1960 by filmmaker Earl Schwieterman.
The uncertainty and confusion he faces after retiring from the ring are conquered through the love of his wife Gladys. Early in 1966 Ezzard walked with a slight limp, later a leg brace and a walking cane, then a walker and finally a wheelchair. After two years he was finally diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gherig’s disease). In the nine years of struggling with the dreaded ALS, neither Ezzard nor his beautiful wife Gladys ever complained they took life in stride. Ezzard Charles died May 28, 1975, in Chicago at 53 years of age, and was interred in the historic Burr Oak Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois. In 1976 Cincinnati honored Ezzard by changing the name of Lincoln Park Drive to Ezzard Charles Drive. This was the street of his residence during the height of his career.He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2002, Charles was ranked #13 on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. In 2006, Ezzard Charles was named the 11th greatest fighter of all time by the IBRO (International Boxing Research Organisation). "The “Cincinnati Cobra” was a master boxer of extraordinary skill and ability. He had speed, agility, fast hands and excellent footwork. Charles possessed a masterful jab and was a superb combination puncher. He was at his peak as a light-heavyweight. His record is quite impressive. Against top rate opposition like Archie Moore, Charley Burley, Lloyd Marshall, Jimmy Bivins, and Joey Maxim he was an impressive 16-2 combined. Despite being a natural light-heavy he won the heavyweight title and made 9 successful title defenses. Nearly 25% of voters had Charles in the top 10. Half of the voters had him in the top 15. Two thirds of voters had him inside the top 20." In 2007, ESPN online ranks Ezzard Charles as the 27th greatest boxer of all time, ahead of such notable fighters as Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes and Jake LaMotta. In 2009, Boxing Magazine listed Ezzard Charles as the greatest Light Heavyweight fighter ever, beating the likes of Archie Moore, Bob Foster, Gene Tunney. Prominent Boxing historian, Bert Sugar, listed Charles as the 7th greatest Heavyweight of all time.
Here are the main characters involved in The Quiet Champion.
Photos of Bud with Ezzard and Gladys Charles.
Brian Price portrays Ezzard in the play... and chats with Clint Walker.
Bud...because of you we learned things we weren't aware of before. Thanks for continuing your creativity and sharing with everyone.
