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Alan Minter, Barry
McGuigan, Michael Taub, Sir Henry Cooper, OBE and
Chris Finnegan, MBE |
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The
stars were out in force for the UK launch of
Michael Taub’s highly-acclaimed book,
Jack Doyle: The Gorgeous Gael, at the On Anon Club
in London’s Piccadilly. |
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Sir Henry Cooper,
Barry McGuigan, Alan Minter and Chris Finnegan were among
the former world, British
and European champions gracing the launch party, along with
stars of yesteryear including ex-British featherweight champion
Sammy McCarthy. In the background with striped tie is MC Chas
Taylor. |
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All
were there to honour the book and the memory of the great Jack
Doyle, the heavyweight boxer, singer and playboy who captivated
Britain, Ireland and America in the period immediately before, during and after the Second World War. |
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Dublin
publishers Lilliput Press were represented by managing director
Antony Farrell and director Vivienne Guinness (above), a member
of the notable brewery family. |
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HAPPY AS BARRY . . . . . |
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Barry McGuigan, the former world
featherweight champion, now an ITV
boxing commentator and winner of the
latest series of Hell’s Kitchen,
says of the book:
‘As boxing biographies go,
this
is a masterpiece.’ |
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Sir Henry, the former British and European heavyweight champion and world
title contender, famed for flooring Cassius Clay (later to become Muhammad
Ali) at Wembley in 1963, says:
‘I have great memories of Jack and this book
brings them flooding back. It’s a joy to read.’ |
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Jack Doyle (1913 -
1978) was a
6ft 5in Irishman with a giant appetite for life. In 1933 he drew 90,000 to
London’s White City to see him fight and was making £600 a week on stage as
a singer. He was 19. By the age of 30 he had earned and squandered a
£250,000 fortune (worth millions today). His motto was, ‘A generous man
never went to hell,’ and he lived his life like a hell-raiser.
In his heyday as
a heavyweight boxer, singer and playboy, his celebrity rivalled that of the
Prince of Wales, and he and his wife – the beautiful Mexican film star and
singer Movita, who later married Marlon Brando – were as popular in the
thirties and forties as were Olivier and Leigh and Burton and Taylor a
decade or two later. |
| This remarkable biography rescues a glittering period of social and boxing
history from obscurity and restores Jack and Movita to their rightful place
in the showbiz and sporting pantheon. Jack’s ring presence and personality
reached back to the days of the Regency Buck and his friendships with the
Royal Family, his fist-fight with Clark Gable, his life as a film star and
gigolo, his throwing of a fight by knocking himself out, and his
extraordinary post-war career as an all-in wrestler, are the stuff of legend
but confirmed here by seven years of exhaustive research, during which
Michael Taub tracked down and interviewed the leading players in Jack’s
life. |
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The book
(£12) is being released in conjunction with the screening of
the RTÉ documentary Jack Doyle: A Legend Lost, for which Michael Taub
acted as consultant and in which he appears throughout. The programme is
scheduled to be screened on RTE1 on New Year’s Day (10.00p.m.).
MICHAEL TAUB
began his career at 17 as a trainee reporter on Boxing News. He became press
officer at Wembley Stadium, deputy sports editor of the Sunday Express and
night sports editor of the Daily Mirror.
He is married with three grown-up
children and lives in Langley, Berkshire. He is author of Danoli: The
People’s Champion. |
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Michael Taub with
Bernard Hart,Chairman
of the Lonsdale International Sporting
Club |
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Or contact:
Antony Farrell, The Lilliput Press, 62-63 Sitric Road, Arbour Hill, Dublin
7, Ireland. |
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More
pictures from
the launch
Left : Daily Express reporter John Lloyd and cabaret
artiste
Stella Starr sing the praises of the book.
Right : Jack Doyle's nephew Chris standing beneath a scene
from Jack Doyle: A Legend Lost,
in which he appears. |
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On the left Sir Henry signs for film producer
Sonya West and (right) is photographed
with Michael Taub and his grandson Charlie.
Below centre: Alan Minter prepares to
plant a left hook on
Charlie's chin. |
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Golden Oldies
Former British
featherweight champ Sammy McCarthy with 1948 Wembley
Olympics boxer Ron Cooper
In demand - Sammy signs |
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Holy Family's
Webmaster,
Bernard Stanley,
takes on the
Champs!! |
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