In Remembrance: Coley Wallace

     Coley Wallace, the boxer who went on to make infrequent appearances in film, has passed away on Sunday, January 30, 2005 in Manhattan. He was 77.

    Born in 1927, Wallace’s greatest fame came in 1948, when he defeated Rocky Marciano in the New York Golden Gloves tournament. The defeat is believed to be the only one Marciano ever suffered. Wallace would go onto a six-year career as a professional boxer, with an impressive 20-7-0 record.

     Following his retirement from the ring, Wallace appeared in a small handful of films. Capitalizing on a startling resemblance to Joe Louis, he portrayed the boxer twice- in the 1953 biopic The Joe Louis Story and again in Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980). Ironically, Wallace's defeat of Marciano was something the real Louis wasn't able to replicate, as the future heavyweight champion Marciano defeated Louis in 1951 in what would become Louis' last professional bout.

     Wallace starred in the rarely seen 1957 film Carib Gold and had a small role in 1989’s Rooftops.

     In the early 50s, Wallace served as a bouncer at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom. Wallace was a member of Ring 8, a veterans boxing association and also worked as a fight trainer.