JACK KID BERG

EARLY LIFE

Judah Bergman was born in Romford Street, near Cable Street, in St George in the East, Stepney, London, to a Jewish immigrant family from Odessa.

His father, Judah Bergman Sr., worked as a tailor, and his mother was Mildred Bergman. His siblings included Wolf, later known as Willie, Rebecca, and Sarah.

Berg was apprenticed as a lather boy in a barber's shop before taking up boxing.

MILITARY SERVICE

Berg was a corporal in the RAF during World War II.

LIFE AFTER BOXING

After retiring from boxing, Berg transitioned into work as a film stuntman, appearing in several low-profile productions and leveraging his athletic background in roles such as extras in Westerns. He had earlier made acting cameos during his boxing career in British films like Money Talks (1932) and Lost Money (1933), and continued with a role in The Square Ring (1953).

He also and owned a restaurant in London.

PERSONAL LIFE

In 1930 Berg's marriage to New York University student Eleanor Kraus, the daughter of a New York silk merchant, was announced, although by November 1931 the relationship had ended.

Berg married Bunty Pain (also know as Payne), a dancer at the Trocadero, on 11 August 1933 at Prince's Row register office in London.

Berg's third and longest-lasting marriage was to Moyra Smith (sometimes spelled Morya) on February 20, 1943, a union that endured until his death in 1991 and supported him through his post-boxing years as a stuntman and family provider. The couple had at least one child, a daughter named Stephanie, born around 1946.

During his peak years in the early 1930s, particularly while based in the United States, Berg was rumored to have had a romantic entanglement with actress Mae West, with whom he shared a building in New York; his trainer Ray Arcel later recalled narrow escapes from discovery, though the affair remains unverified and is noted primarily in biographical accounts of Berg's flamboyant off-ring life.

Berg's connections to the East End underworld in the 1930s included a close friendship with Jack "Spot" Comer, a prominent Jewish gangster known for anti-fascist activities, though Berg himself avoided criminal charges despite occasional minor brushes with gang elements in Whitechapel.

LEGACY

He is commemorated by a blue plaque on Noble Court, Cable Street, close to the place where he was born. Stepney Historical Trust presented the plaque.

Berg was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Berg was also inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Berg, who was Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. The non-religious Berg used his Jewishness to get the crowd on his side, entering the ring wearing tephillin. Berg boxed with a Star of David on his trunks.