Jim Londos
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Christos Theofilou or Christopher Theophelus (January 2, 1897 - August 19, 1975) better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos was a professional wrestler who was one of the most popular stars wrestling offered during the Great Depression.
[edit] Career
Jim Londos was born Christos Theofilou in the late 1800's in Argos, Greece as the youngest of thirteen children. At age thirteen he ran away from home and eventually ended up immigrating to the United States. Working whenever he could Theophelus landed a job as a catcher in a carnival acrobatic act. It was during this period that he was exposed to professional wrestling and began training.
Londos' first matches would be as "the Wrestling Plasterer" Christos Theofilou, a gimmick that saw him coming to the ring in overalls. After a number of years he dropped this in favour of wrestling under the name Jim Londos and being a no nonsense wrestler.
Londos was well known for his good looks and his well muscled physique. He capitalized on this by having himself matched up against the ugliest apponents he could find. This promotional tactic worked very well and Londos became one of the most popular wrestlers in the 1930's and early 40's. Considered to be a national hero in Greece, Londos once drew a crowd estimated to be made of nearly 100,000 fans to see one of his matches when he travelled there.
Londos retired in 1946 and would spend the remainder of his life working for charitable organizations. His favorite charities dealt with Greek war orphans of the Second World War. He died of a heart attack August 19, 1975.
