They thought of each other has good friends but Gene Lebell said he taught Bruce Lee but Bruce said they shared techniques but not as a teacher/student relationsh. LeBell was selected from over 200 other applicants to referee the bout. Martial arts legend 'Judo' Gene LeBell dies at 89 - MMA Fighting Grand Master Gi Grappling by Gokor Chivichyan. Love and Respect John C Meier, Gene, I first met you at the Olympic Auditorium many years ago, i cant believe how fast time has past, As a Great stuntman, Actor, Olympian and Teacher being Prolific to this Business you have planted many many seeds in Future Stunt men and stunt women, because of your thoughtful and kind hart this business will be Blessed with talent worthy of calling you Teacher and Friend, Your Long Lost, Brother From Another Mother, and Friend, Love You, Henry Kingi, Uncle GeneI can remember taking your class when I was a young stunt grunt. Craig Hosking, Congratulations Gene you are a legend! Gene LeBell was born on October 09, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States, is Stunts, Actor, Miscellaneous Crew. Ivan "Judo" Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 - August 9, 2022) was an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and professional wrestler. Without locking the hold, Seagal side stepped and swung his forearm backwards into his crotch. The pink gi was inspired by a trip LeBell took to Japan where a pair of his red socks or shorts made their way into the laundry, turning his white uniform to pink. Although LeBell would remain undefeated in the sport for eight years, even traveling to Japan in 1955 to further his judo skillsand, following a laundry mishap, adopt the pink gi that became a signature piece of his in-ring lookhis interests were too varied to allow him to focus exclusively on one sport. He began training catch wrestling at age 7 with Ed "The Strangler" Lewis. A lot of fighters are broke. August 18 | 2022. blackbeltmag.com. You are a true living legend. LeBell died in his sleep early Tuesday morning at his home in Sherman Oaks, his trustee and business manager, Kellie Cunningham, told The Hollywood Reporter. His very first match was against John Osako, one of the highest ranked judokas at the national level. In the martial arts, he captured the National A.A.U. LeBell also worked on over 1,000 movies and TV shows [1] and authored 12 books. His notable students include Rousey, WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper, and Chuck Norris, among others. Erik Stabenau, Congratulations Gene. However, he had one last sports achievement on the horizon: an actual mixed martial arts boutsaid by some to be the first of its kind, though there were boxer-versus-wrestler antecedents in prior decadesin 1963 against middleweight boxing gatekeeper Milo Savage, whose lengthy career was winding down. (James C. Udel, Variety, 2018), A fight scene on the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet earned LeBell his SAG card. Judo Gene!!! Love you brother congratulations! LeBell accompanied Ronda Rousey to the cage for some of her MMA matches in recent years, and served as a MMA judge through 2018. You are a true living legend! LeBell has also worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and has authored 12 books. [9], Encouraged by Ed Parker,[8] LeBell accepted the challenge and travelled to Salt Lake City to meet Beck. Ill never forget that moment, congratulations brother. Your culture and entertainment cheat-sheet. He worked on over 1,000 movies and wrote a dozen books. To start academies, and then have a lineage of students that he brought up, not just martial arts but also film., Barnett said of his accomplishments, Its really just incredible to see someone be able to tip the scales of the world with just his own hands like that. Many modern-day MMA fans recognize LeBell as the one who is present in many of Rousey's early games, coaching her on. I have grown up idolizing many of the SU members over the yearsGenes massive career and list of credits is insane. I was driving a weenie mobile and Gene was driving a truck and they wanted a near miss, so we did the take and they said we werent close enough we showed em the paint scraped off the sides of the cars and they said, Okay, I guess youre right. I get his patches every year, got em all right here. Congrats to the amazing living legend John Stoneham, Jr. Congratulations Gene, you know I love you, and Im so very very proud of you. Those were great times !! You can follow him on Twitter (@MoustacheClubUS) and read more of his work at www.oliverbateman.com. An additional stipulation prevented LeBell from attempting tackles or takedowns under the waist. He is there to help you any time any where. LeBells top student, Gokor Chivichyan, hosted the event at his martial arts academy to celebrate the life of his mentor and close friend. Most of his notoriety came after the release of his biggest film, Enter the Dragon, that same year. [7] According to fellow BJJ artist Royce Gracie, LeBell was invited to compete in Ultimate Fighting Championship in early 1995, after Gracie stopped participating in its tournaments. You always tried to get me to go dirt biking with you but I never gave in. A brief google of you name brings up pages and pages of awesome stories about what youve really accomplished in so many fields. (James C. Udel, Variety, 2018), The remarkable Judo Gene LeBell was still teaching grappling and doing stunts well into his 80s. Rick Seaman, Well Geno, they said it couldnt be done but youve done it again. Who's The Real "Father Of MMA"? 10 Fighters More Deserving Of The He eventually adopted the role as "policeman" for the promotion, maintaining law and order, especially during matches involving his brother Mike LeBell. Freddie Blassie. Gene LeBell won his weight class and the overall championship in 1955 as well. After an illustrious judo career, Gene tried his hand at professional wrestling, and actually won the heavyweight title in Amarillo, Texas. As wellback in the day..i drove out to ride motos with Gene & some friends at his area in Frazier Park. Nicknamed "The Godfather of Grappling", he popularized grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. To prevent a full-blown riot, hometown hero and rated professional boxer Jay Fullmer (brother of boxers Gene and Don Fullmer) entered the ring to congratulate LeBell. The godfather of modern grappling and a legitimate tough guy in his own right, LeBell. If I could get my arms around you I would hug you. What are you doing? LeBell remembers the helmer lamenting. [7] In 1954 and 1955, while only 22 years of age, he captured both the heavyweight and overall Amateur Athletic Union National Judo Championships. The Bahamas Wrestling Association: Black Wrestling and the Birth of a Nation. Ya big goofball!!! This 1982 homevideo production, introduced by Chuck Norris and narrated by John Saxon, featured LeBell as a car thief and mugger who (in the prologue) accosts Mitsuru Yamashita and Budojujitsu creator Al Thomasmuch to LeBell's regret. He was a man that no endeavor was too tall for him to accomplish, Josh Barnett said of LeBell. As a stuntman, LeBell reportedly endured a punch from John Wayne for the 1952 film Big Jim McLain and a kick in the face from Elvis Presley for Blue Hawaii in 1961. August 10, 2022 1:24pm. [17] Ultimately, nothing came from it. God bless. Never ever have I known a man so talented, having so much wisdom and experience, so giving of his knowledge and skills and yet being so humble. You are an inspiration!! Within seconds, Savage fell unconscious and LeBell was declared the winner. The award couldnt be given to a better or greater person, that trained many motion pictures stuntmen in and out of the motion picture Industry. LeBell, preferring to let others do the talking for him, told MMA journalist Ariel Helwani in 2012 that if thirty people are watching, let them talk about it.. Oliver Lee Bateman is a journalist and sports historian who lives in Pittsburgh. It always put a smile on my face when you would call the SAMP office. In addition to Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, LeBell also tutored the likes of Roddy Piper (who claimed in his autobiography to have received a black belt in judo from LeBell, though this is likely as spurious as the impossible-to-verify Golden Gloves championship he was sometimes reported as having won), Olympic bronze medalist judoka and future UFC and WWE star Ronda Rousey (who always cited him as an important mentor), American judo champion and instructor Gokor Chivichyan, and Chivichyans Armenian American judo student Karo Parisyan, one of the first notable judo practitioners in the UFC. This match could be argued to be the first televised MMA match in history. In his book Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling, long-time MMA journalist Jonathan Snowden described LeBell as a horrible professional wrestler from a technical perspective, a tough guy who looked soft in the ring and remained stuck on the undercard of his brother Mike LeBells wrestling events, wrestling under his own name or beneath a mask as the Hangman. He did claim to have won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1960 from Pat OConnor in a match in Dory Funks Amarillo, Texas, territory, repeating this assertion to both Black Belt and Sports Illustrated, but the victory was almost certainly part of a wrestling story line, with LeBell accidentally striking the Texas wrestling commissioner with the belt and forcing its immediate return to OConnor. LeBell was also hired for stunt work with Lee on The Green Hornet.. You too? Seagal himself denies the entire situation, calling LeBell a sick, pathological scumbag liar, though even Seagals former bodyguard Steven Lambert tells a version of the story that has Seagal attempting to resist LeBells application of the hold before winding up on the ground, though remaining conscious throughout. Congratulations Gene Eric Norris, Gene LeBell is my hero and always has been. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG), Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett, talks about Judo Gene LeBell during a celebration of LeBells life on what would have been his 90th birthday at Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood Sunday, October 9, 2022. Ill be there to shake your hand tomorrow. Chuck Norris. Few people know the amount of time, energy, dedication, innovation , and pure love you have graced us with in your illustrious career! Gene LeBell, Hollywood Stuntman and Martial Artist, Dies at 89 - Variety It was agreed that the match would last five 3 three minute rounds. (Gene LeBell Biography). The late 'Judo' Gene LeBell's 90th birthday is celebrated by 200 Melanson specializes in catch wrestling, while drawing elements from judo, and focuses his coaching specifically on grappling in mixed martial arts.He is especially known for his guard work, leg locks and triangle chokes. . LeBells years of stunt work and fight choreography also introduced grappling to the world of action movies, where it is now commonplace to see fighters turned actors such as Randy Couture and Gina Carano using submission holds in their action sequences. A video shown at the memorial featured many of his accomplishments from the stunt and martial arts world, evoking smiles, laughter and tears that had many in the crowd wiping their eyes. While working with rising martial arts star Bruce Lee on the set of The Green Hornet, LeBell was instructed by the stunt coordinator to subdue the actorwho was said to be terrorizing the stuntman for a particular sceneand did so by quickly grabbing Lee in a firemans carry and running around the set with him. Its great having such a role model to look up to. With respect, Missy OMalley-Reynolds, Uncle Gene, Thanks for never burning our house down. He went on to win the both the Heavyweight and overall champion title 1955 as well. Blessed if you know him, crazy fun guy. 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Some of his vast television credits includeThe Jack Benny Program (1962), The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1965) The Green Hornet (1965), Mission: Impossible (1966), I Spy (1965), The Wild Wild West (1965), Bonanza (1968), Kung Fu (1972), Beretta (1975), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Fantasy Island (1979), The Greatest American Hero (1981), Married with Children (1987), Baywatch (1989), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), Walker Texas Ranger (1993), That 70s Show (1998), The X-Files (2000), The Shield (2002), Reno 911 (2003), 24 (2010) and Jimmy Kimmel Live.