BUDDY BAER

Buddy Baer, was an American heavyweight boxer and actor. Standing 6′6½″ with a powerful punch.

Baer, born Jacob Henry Baer in Denver, Colorado, on June 11, 1915, to father Jacob, a butcher, and mother Dora Bales. However, a few sources, such as his brother Max, list his birthplace as Omaha, Nebraska. He moved with his family to California in 1928, living first in Livermore in 1926 and then Hayward, before settling in the early 1930s in Sacramento, where he would later retire. Both Buddy and his brother Max had a large Jewish following, for they claimed Jewish ancestry on their father's side and frequently wore a Star of David on their boxing trunks. Neither brother, however, appeared to be observant or openly religious.

Baer retired from boxing after the second Louis bout and enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces at McClellan Air Force Base in 1942, the early years of America's involvement in World War II.[1]

With the war over, and his Army discharge complete in September 1945, he returned to Sacramento and started his most successful business, Buddy Baer's Bar of Music at 1411 11th Street, which he opened with Fred Cullincini. He dabbled with less success in a variety of other businesses, including a health food store, a clothing shop, heavy equipment sales and real estate.

After his brother Max's death in 1959 of a heart ailment, he served as the national chairman for the Fraternal Order of Eagles Max Baer Heart Fund. He later worked as a marshal or sergeant at arms for the California State Legislature in the 1970s.

For a number of years he supported himself as a nightclub singer, putting his bass-baritone voice to use at such places as New York's Leon and Eddie's, and the Charles Club in Baltimore. He performed in 1952 with Pearl Bailey at the Paramount Theatre in New York.

In 1957, Baer appeared in an episode of television's Gunsmoke, the episode entitled, "Never Pester Chester". In 1958, Baer appeared in an episode of the syndicated Adventures of Superman TV series, playing the role of Atlas, a circus strongman, who is duped by his fellow circus performers into stealing for them. They tell him that Superman is a crook and that he can help right the Man of Steel's wrongs by doing so.

In 1958, Baer appeared in Season 1 Episode 33 of Wagon Train, “The Daniel Hogan Story”. He played a boxer nicknamed “The Tinsmith”.

Baer's other television credits included guest roles on The Abbott and Costello Show, Adventures of Superman, Captain Midnight, Cheyenne, Circus Boy, Climax!, Have Gun – Will Travel, Peter Gunn, Rawhide, Sky King, Wagon Train, Tales of the Vikings, Toast of the Town, and in the adventure series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Baer’s most memorable character role was, perhaps, Stobo, on the aforementioned episode of Gunsmoke.

Baer's last years were spent battling ailments that included diabetes, hypertension, and Alzheimer's disease. After a transfer from Sutter Memorial Hospital, he was admitted to the Martinez Veterans Hospital one week before his death and died on July 18, 1986, in Martinez, California. He was survived by his wife Vicki Farrell Brumbelow, whom he had married in 1964, a daughter Sheila, and three grandchildren. Baer had three previous marriages.