Brawn won out over brain as well when it came to wrestler athlete Nat Pendleton's professional movie career. For two decades, this massively-built, dark-haired, good-looking lug played a number of kind-hearted lunkheads, goons, henchmen and Joe Palooka-like buffoons. Nathaniel Greene Pendleton was born on August 9, 1895 on a farm close to Davenport, Iowa. The son of Nathaniel G. Pendleton, a lawyer, and mother Adelaide Elizabeth Johnson, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio when Nat was a mere two months of age. His uncle was well-known Cincinnati-born 'D.W. Griffith , Nat turned to TV before retiring in 1956. The twice-married actor/wrestler died of a heart attack on October 12, 1967 at age 72.
Former Olympic wrestler turned actor.
Two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) champion (1914-1915) in the 175-lb class while at Columbia University, from which he graduated in 1916.
Wrestled for the United States at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium, earning a silver medal, and lost 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.
On the 1920 census he was living in Manhattan with his Puerto Rican first wife Juanita Alfonzo (age 22) and her brother Ramon Alfonso (age 13). He was working as a sports manager.
He 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, his remains were interred at Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory in San Diego, California. His location plot is Corridor A NW, #9 on the inside of the door frame on the left side.
Inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 (inaugural class).
Two brothers: Steven Gaylord and Edmund.
Never smoked and seldom drank.
Member of the Delta Epsilon fraternity at Columbia University.
According to Mike Chapman in his article on Pendleton in Classic Images (May 2015), Nat was a direct descendant of Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene, who won key victories over the British. It also is reported that Pendleton is a distant relative of "Star-Spangled Banner" composer Francis Scott Key.
Auditioned for the role of Tarzan for MGM but lost out to Johnny Weissmuller.
A voracious reader, he wrote poetry, played the banjo and was an avid chess player.
