The "Gorgeous Gael" Jack Doyle: Irish fighting man.

When I was doing a bit of research for my distinctly under-whelming Max Schmeling thread, I came across this guy whose name I had vaguely heard of, but knew nothing about. I did a bit of reading, and I'm glad I did. It is an amazing story of an incredible life so I thought I would share it with you.

Joe Doyle was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1913 to a working class family and quickly grew into a tall and handsome young man standing around 6 foot 4 and 16 stone of muscle by the age of 18. It is said that he changed his name to Jack after reading a book on Jack Dempsey and becoming fascinated by the Manassa Mauler. Doyle, not only interested in reading about pugilist heroes, clearly had a aptitude for fighting as well. In his early teens, Doyle was reputed to be knocking out sailors and ship workers on the local quays when he wasn't to be found doing his day job of shovelling coal at the harbour. Searching for direction in life, the good looking young scrapper tried to join the Irish Free Army but being only 16, he was rejected. Doyle then took the huge decision to leave County Cork and move to London, where he lied about his age before joining the Irish Guards brigade of the British Army. It was here that Jacks fistic skills became more obvious with legend having it that he didn't lose a single fight in inter-unit boxing, leaving the forces with a 28-0 (27) record. With his looks, devastating right hook and Irish charm he became hot property for the circling boxing promoters. The promoter who finally won his signature was a guy called Dan Sullivan who bought him out of the Army and thrust him into the world of professional prizefighting, and here is where the story gets really bizarre....

Doyle, armed with his legendary exploits in the Army, movie star looks and fighting talent, was an immediate hit in the boxing world, racking up 10 straight knockouts in under 15 rounds of boxing. And so came his first tilt at a title, the British heavyweight crown at White City Stadium in 1933 in front of more than 60,000 people. His opponent was Jack Petersen, himself a good looking and highly thought of Welshman who had yet to taste defeat. You would think that any normal prospect would get in the shape of his life for a British title fight, but not our Jack. He found boxing so easy, and found the ladies even easier, that he spent much of his training camp in his local pub, displaying that intrinsically Irish desire for drink led self-destruction. The fight itself was a disaster for the Irishman. He repeatedly fouled Petersen, hitting him low, after the bell, shoulder charging him and pushing the referee away when he called break. Doyle was eventually disqualified in round 2, throwing away his chance at boxing glory. In the aftermath, Doyle came up with one of the greatest excuses for his performance that I have ever heard. Whilst most of the people in the know put it down to a lack of proper preparation and a realisation that he heading for a beating, Doyle claimed he had be driven to distraction by a dose of syphilis given to him by a gangsters moll, sent by Petersen's men to ensure their guys victory! Outstanding stuff from the Irish rogue, and must be one of the most amazing excuses ever conceived.

This wasn't the end of Jacks 'Vida Loca' though. Aside from fighting and charming the ladies, he had another great skill, singing. His pure tenor voice was so impressive that he won a record deal with the famous Decca record label who helped him tour a show, belting out his favourite tracks. He became a hit in America and Hollywood soon came calling, seeing Jack star in many films as an action hero. At one point, Jack had an entourage that included a chauffer and a butler, not bad for a working class lad from the rough end of town! His list of women is almost as impressive as his capacity to consume alcohol. He married actress Judith Allen before she left him after realising he was a cad. He also had a relationship with Delphine Dodge of the Dodge cars family who was one of the richest women in America at the time. She payed off his gambling debts and gave Jack cash on many occasions before realising he was not going to change his ways and sending him packing, allegedly via a family member putting a gun to Jacks head and asking him politely to leave. Move over Teddy Atlas, it's already been done! Jacks next conquest was Mexican/American film star Movita Castaneda who left Howard Hughes after she became smitten with Jack. The marriage didn't last long though with Jack unable or unwilling to end his philandering ways. Movita consoled herself by falling into the arms of, and marrying, Marlon Brando! There is a pretty sinister side to all this though, with allegations that Doyle was a bit liberal with his fists, not only in the ring, but in his marriages as well.

Jack did carry on boxing, meeting famous names like King Levinsky whom he beat on points over 12 rounds and a 20 year old Buddy Baer who flattened Jack in a single round. Jack had allegedly consumed almost a whole bottle of brandy before this fight at the MSG, New York.

And so where did it all end for Jack? Well, unfortunately it ended how so many of these stories end, with Jack coming back to London in search of faded memories of great exploits. He died broke, bitter, and largely alone, an old man haunted by memories of what could have been for a fighter, poet, tenor and actor. An amazing character and an astonishing story. Despite his drinking, violence and womanising, he was, by most accounts far too generous with his time and money, ending up back where he started life, pretty much at the bottom. I will leave you with a couple of quotes from Jack shortly before his death in 1978. When asked about his demise, he is said to have blamed it on "slow horses and fast women", but when pushed about his regrets, he said he had "none at all, twas never a generous man went to hell".

You never quite know how much of this stuff is embellished over the years, but if even half of it is true, he led some life!

Sounds like quite a life he had there! Reminds me somewhat of my own life story, the only real difference being the details.

Union Cane wrote:Sounds like quite a life he had there! Reminds me somewhat of my own life story, the only real difference being the details.

You can edit the title to 'The Union Cane story' if you think it is close enough. I won't be offended.

Here's the trailer for his film 'McGlusky The Sea Rover'

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As usual, excellent work, Union.

Merely the icing to your cake, old chum.

Only you and I appear interested anyway. Not sure whether that says more about us or them others.

Here he is wrestling with Tony Galento :

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Wouldn't want to pick up the bar bill for that one...

He doesn't look all that handsome there, to be honest.

Britain had never seen anyone quite like Irish Jack Doyle. In 1933 he drew 90,000 fans to White City to see him box and he was also making 600 pounds sterling per week on stage as a singer. He was 19, a 6ft 5in giant, dubbed the handsomest man alive and had the world at his feet. He had a giant appetite for life and by the time he was 30 he earned and squandered a 3/4 million pound fortune. He dated Hollywood starlets and married actress Movita. His motto: "a generous man never went to hell". When he died in London in 1978, he was shoeless and destitute. His life story is destined for a Hollywood movie. On offer is an original, vintage 8 x 10 signed and inscribed by the Irishman himself, Jack Doyle. It's for sale at $195.

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Handsomest man alive?

It's not his best angle, but I wouldn't call him ugly.

Good stuff Tina, will be honest had not heard of Doyle before, it's quite a life he led though, a cracking read mate.

Insomnia has got the better of me tonight and its the 1st time I've heard of Jack Doyle in a long time. When reading Niall Quinn's autobiography a few years ago (best sportsmans self-penned book I've read) he made mention of Jack Doyle and his life philosophy a few times and I meant to get round to looking him up but never got round to it. So cheers for doing the leg work for me, Tino.

From what Quinn and yourself have said he lived life to the full, not thinking about the next day and like many a man he was led into trouble by a body part other than his head. Obviously in Quinn's book he doesn't go into as much detail as yourself and I think it was even more of a romanticised story that Niall's father had passed down to him rather than hard facts so i was under the impression that he didn't care too much about ending his life the same way he was brought up but cheers for shedding a bit more light on it for me. Great article!

https://youtu.be/qm4RuzSaQlw
There's a bit of Doyle training and singing here.

when you watch him fight and hear him sing, its easy to see why he was the gorgeous gael and not sugar jack doyle or jack the voice.