Max Baer

Max Baer is arguably best known today for siring Max Baer Jr the actor who played Jethro Bodine on the classic TV series The Beverly Hillbillies 1962 However oldtimers followers of the sweet science and viewers of the film Cinderella Man 2005 all know that Max Sr was boxings heavyweight champion of the world for all of 364 days from the time he knocked out Primo Carnera on June 14 1934 to the day he lost his title to Jimmy Braddock on June 13 1935 Cinephiles also will remember the colorful Max from his numerous bit roles in films including Bud Abbott and Lou Costellos Africa Screams 1949 to his nearautobiographical turn in the Budd Schulberg boxing expose The Harder They Fall 1956 starring Humphrey Bogart Ironically it was his acting in the latter film that likely led to his misrepresentation in Cinderella Man as being something akin to a monster when actually according to his family and those who knew him he was an amiable man Some fight fans thought that it was his good nature which they attributed to his clowning that eventually did him in as he would not bear down on his opponents in the latter part of his career Max Jr says that his father wanted to be an actor an insight that explains the flashy persona he displayed in and outside the ring as he wisecracked and clowned his way through careers as a boxer and performer in movies and nightclubs Blessed with what The Boxing Register International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book terms the most powerful right hand in heavyweight history Baer used that right to gain a fearsome reputation as a California prizefighter before moving to New York and taking on the top ranks of the heavyweight division