Tiger Joe Marsh

Big, bald, and burly 6'1" professional wrestler and actor Tiger Joe Marsh was born Joseph Samuel Marusich to parents of Yugoslavian descent on August 25, 1911 in Chicago, Illinois. Marsh was born in a South Chicago neighborhood and eventually moved to the area around 24th Street and Wentworth Avenue. He attended St. Jerome's Grammar School and worked as an errand boy at a shoe store. Joe first became involved in wrestling in the late 1920's through a gym located on 31st Street between Princeton and Wentworth Avenues. A regular villain in early televised wrestling matches (he would enter the ring wearing a tiger suit), Marsh participated in fights in such venues as White City and the Rainbow Garden. After quitting wrestling in 1954 and in the wake of military service that was partly done at Florida's Gainesville Naval Station, Joe went on to act in a handful of movies and TV shows in which he was frequently cast as menacing thugs. Moreover, Marsh also acted in stage productions of various plays that include "Guys and Dolls" and "The Teahouse of the August Moon," in which he acted alongside Burgess Meredith. Joe spent his latter years living in the Bridgeport area on the South Side of Chicago. Marsh died at age 77 of heart failure at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois on May 9, 1989. He was survived by his brother Anthony.