Maximilian Adelbert "Madcap Maxie" Baer ( February 11 , 1909 – November 21 , 1959 ) was an American boxer of the 1930s, one-time Heavyweight Champion of the World, actor, entertainer, professional wrestler and referee.
One of the most colorful figures of his day, Baer enjoyed life in the limelight, often at the expense of his training. He was the brother of two-time World Champion boxing contender Buddy Baer and father of actor Max Baer, Jr., known to two generations as Jethro Bodine of the Beverly Hillbillies .
He is rated #22 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Early life
Maximilian Adelbert Baer was born on February 11, 1909 in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Jacob Baer (1875–1938) who was Jewish of French ancestry and Dora Bales (1877–1938) who was of German and Scots-Irish ancestry. His eldest sister was Frances May Baer (1905–1991), his younger sister was Bernice Jeanette Baer (1911–1987), his younger brother was boxer-turned-actor Jacob Henry Baer, better known as Buddy Baer (1915–1986) and his adopted brother was August "Augie" Baer.
Move to California
In May 1922, tired of the Durango Colorado winters, which aggravated Frances' rheumatic fever and Jacob's high blood pressure, the Baers piled into a just-purchased automobile and began the long drive to the milder climes of the West Coast, where Dora's sister lived in Alameda, California, across the Bay from San Francisco. They drove more than 1,000 miles along unpaved roads. Jacob's expertise in the butcher business led to numerous job offers around the San Francisco Bay Area. While living in Hayward, Max took his first job as a delivery boy for John Lee Wilbur. Wilbur ran a grocery store on B Street and bought meat from Jacob.
The Baers lived in the Northern California towns of Hayward, San Leandro and Galt before moving to Livermore in 1926. Livermore was true cowboy country, surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of rolling hills and rangeland which supported large cattle herds that provided fresh meat to the rapidly burgeoning towns nearby. In 1928, Jacob bought the Twin Oaks Ranch in Murray Township where he raised over 2,000 hogs, and which he worked with daughter Frances' husband, Louis Santucci. Baer often credited working as a butcher boy, carrying heavy carcasses of meat, sledge-hammering cattle with one blow, and working at a gravel pit, for developing his powerful shoulders.
Professional boxing career
Baer turned professional in 1929, progressing steadily through the Pacific Coast ranks. A ring tragedy little more than a year later almost caused Baer to drop out of boxing for good.
Frankie Campbell
Baer fought Frankie Campbell (real name Francisco Camilli, whose brother was Brooklyn Dodgers star Dolph Camilli) on August 25 , 1930 , in San Francisco in a ring built over home plate at San Francisco's Recreation Park to fight for the unofficial title of Pacific Coast champion. In the 2nd round of the fight, Campbell clipped Baer and Baer slipped to the canvas. Campbell went toward his corner and waved to the crowd. He thought Baer was getting the count. Baer got up and flew at Campbell, landing a cheap-shot right at Campbell's turned head which sent him to the canvas.
After the round, Campbell said to his trainer "something feels like it snapped in my head." But Campbell went on to handily win rounds 3 and 4. As Baer rose for the 5th round, Tillie "Kid" Herman, Baer's former friend and trainer, who had literally switched camps overnight and was now in Campbell's corner, savagely taunted and jeered Baer. In a rage and determined to end the bout with a knockout, Baer soon had Campbell against the ropes. As he hammered him with punch after punch, the ropes were the only thing to hold Campbell up. Tillie Herman, as Campbell's chief second, had the privilege of throwing in the towel, but did not. Referee Toby Irwin seemed oblivious to what was occurring. When Irwin finally stopped the fight, Campbell collapsed to the canvas.
It is reported that Baer's own seconds administered to Campbell, and that Baer was by his side until an ambulance arrived 30 minutes later. Baer "visited the stricken fighter's bedside," where he offered Frankie's wife Ellie the hand that hit her husband. She took that hand and the two stood speechless for a moment. "It was unfortunate, I'm awfully sorry.", said Baer. "It even might have been you, mightn't it?", Ellie replied.
At noon the next day, with a lit candle laced between his crossed fingers, and his wife and mother beside him, Frankie Campbell was pronounced dead. Upon the surgeon's announcement of Campbell's death, Baer broke down and sobbed inconsolably. Brain specialist Dr. Tilton E. Tillman "declared death had been caused by a succession of blows on the jaw and not by any struck on the rear of the head," and that Campbell's brain had been "knocked completely loose from his skull" by Baer's devastating blows.
Ernie Schaaf
The Campbell incident earned Max the reputation as a "killer" in the ring. This publicity was further sensationalized by Baer's return bout with Ernie Schaaf, who had bested Baer in a decision during Max's Eastern debut bout at Madison Square Garden on September 19, 1930.
An Associated Press article in the September 9, 1932 Sports section of the New York Times describes the end of the return bout as follows:
Two seconds before the fight ended Schaaf was knocked flat on his face, completely knocked out. He was dragged to his corner and his seconds worked over for him for three minutes before restoring him to his senses...Baer smashed a heavy right to the jaw that shook Schaaf to his heels, to start the last round, then walked into the Boston fighter, throwing both hands to the head and body. Baer drove three hard rights to the jaw that staggered Schaaf. Baer beat Schaaf around the ring and into the ropes with a savage attack to the head and body. Just before the round ended Baer dropped Schaaf to the canvas, but the bell sounded as Schaaf hit the floor.
Schaaf was never quite the same after that bout. He complained frequently of headaches, and his ring performance was mercurial in succeeding bouts. Five months after the Baer fight, on February 11, 1933, Schaaf died in the ring after taking a left jab from the Italian behemoth Primo Carnera. Carnera was vilified as a "man killer", and two sports writers (Grantland Rice and Jimmy Cannon) claimed that Schaaf had died as a result of damage previously inflicted by Baer.
The majority of sports editors noted, however, that an autopsy later revealed Schaaf had meningitis, a swelling of the brain, and was still recovering from a severe case of influenza when he touched gloves with Carnera. Schaaf's obituary stated that "just before his bout with Carnera, Schaaf went into reclusion in a religious retreat near Boston to recuperate from an attack of influenza" which produced the meningitis.
The death of Campbell and accusations over Schaaf's demise profoundly affected Baer, even though he was ostensibly indestructible and remained a devastating force in the ring. According to his son, actor/director Max Baer Jr. (who was born seven years after the incident):
My father cried about what happened to Frankie Campbell. He had nightmares. In reality, my father was one of the kindest, gentlest men you would ever hope to meet. He treated boxing the way today's professional wrestlers do wrestling: part sport, mostly showmanship. He never deliberately hurt anyone.
In the case of Frankie Campbell, Baer was charged with manslaughter. Baer was eventually acquitted of all charges, but the California State Boxing Commission still banned him from any in-ring activity within the state for the next year. Baer gave purses from succeeding bouts to Campbell's family, but lost four of his next six fights. He fared better when Jack Dempsey took him under his wing.
Max Schmeling
In June 1933, Baer fought and defeated (by a technical knock out) the German heavyweight Max Schmeling at Yankee Stadium. Baer's trunks displayed an embroidered Star of David, which Max swore to wear in every bout thereafter. He dominated the rugged fighter from Germany into the tenth round when the referee stopped the match. Because Baer defeated Schmeling, German dictator Adolf Hitler's favorite, and because Baer had a half-Jewish father, he became popular among Jews, those who identified with Jews, and those who despised the Nazis.
World Champion
On June 14 , 1934 , Baer knocked out the massive, 125-kg (275-pound) Primo Carnera, Heavyweight Champion of the World, to win the world title, which he would hold for 364 days.
Jimmy Braddock, the Cinderella Man
On June 13 , 1935 , one of the greatest upsets in boxing history transpired in Long Island City, New York, as Baer fought down-and-out boxer James J. Braddock in the so-called Cinderella Man bout. Baer hardly trained for the bout. Braddock, on the other hand, was training hard. "I'm training for a fight. Not a boxing contest or a clownin' contest or a dance." he said. "Whether it goes one round or three rounds or 10 rounds, it will be a fight and a fight all the way. Wh
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