Beauregarde (wrestler)

Larry Pitchford (born April 29, 1936), better known by his ring name Beauregarde, is an American former professional wrestler and musician.

Beauregarde
Birth nameLarry Pitchford
Born (1936-04-29) April 29, 1936
Portland, Oregon, United States[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Beauregarde[1]
Beautiful Beauregarde[1]
Eric the Golden Boy[1]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Billed weight260 lb (118 kg)[1]
Billed from"The Sensation of the Nation"
Trained byDean Ho[1]
Mr. Fuji[1]
Debut1963[1]
Retired1979

Professional wrestling career

Pitchford's wrestling career began in 1963, touring the Philippines as "Eric the Golden Boy".[2] Given the name Beauregarde by fellow wrestler Ripper Collins, he next debuted as a heel in Hawaii before returning to Portland.[2] By 1970, he had become one of the biggest names on the NWA's Pacific Northwest Wrestling circuit, and won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship in 1968 (teamed with Lonnie Mayne), 1969 (with Roger Kirby), 1970 (with The Claw) and 1971 (with Dutch Savage).[2]

Beauregarde was renowned for his unique wrestling moves (and finishing move "The Thumb") and crazy characters he created for himself. On match days, he would find a historic figure whose date of birth fell on that day and pretend to be them during the match and in interviews.[3]

In 1971, he released an album bearing his stage name, Beauregarde, featuring Greg Sage of Wipers on guitar. Beauregarde enlisted Sage (then 17) after overhearing him playing guitar for a friend's band at Sound Productions studio in Portland in 1969.[3]

In 1973, he managed the tag team of Brute Bernard and Jay York in Jim Crockett's Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling promotion.

After retiring from wrestling in 1979, he bought a sheet-rock company in Florida where he lived and spent most of his time fishing.[4]

On February 4, 2006, Beauregarde made his first wrestling-related appearance in many years at Hardkore Championship Wrestling's Incredible 8 Tournament in South Florida, where he was one of the first "HCW Honorable Contribution to Wrestling Award" recipients along with wrestlers Rusty Brooks, Stephen "Big Daddy" DiBlasio and "Outlaw" JR James.[2]

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Beauregarde". Cagematch.net. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  2. HCW bio
  3. Records by Mail archive: "Beauregarde - Beautiful Beau"
  4. "Beauregarde". Wrestling Revue magazine. September 1968. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  5. "N.W.A. Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
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