Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Tony Olivas\The Elephant Boy 1921
The Great John L 1925
Bert Prentice 1958
Happy Birthday:
Sylvan Grenier (49)
Mike Mondo (43)
RIP Memorial: We stop & remember those who have passed on this day and gave themselves to the business for us, the fans. We salute you and thank you.
Johnny “Red Shoes” Dugan 3-26-2001 at the age of 89
Benny McGuire 3-26-2001 at the age of 54
The Life & Career of Skull Murphy
John Joseph Murphy, better known as Skull Murphy, was one of professional wrestling’s most visually striking and feared heels of the 1950s and 1960s. Born on December 7, 1930, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Murphy suffered a childhood illness, often attributed to scarlet fever, that left him permanently hairless from head to toe. He turned this unique trait into a terrifying gimmick, rubbing baby oil on his bald scalp before matches to protect it from the canvas.
Trained by Jimmy Simms at the Hamilton Jewish YMCA, Murphy debuted in 1952 in Welland, Ontario. He started in Canadian territories like Larry Kasaboski’s Northland Wrestling Enterprises before heading south. In the United States, he wrestled for Jim Crockett Promotions and made a major impact in Georgia Championship Wrestling. In 1961 alone, he captured five titles there—including three reigns as NWA Southern Heavyweight Champion (Georgia version)—and formed successful tag teams with Gypsy Joe.
Murphy’s greatest fame came through his long-running partnership with fellow bald Canadian Brute Bernard, whom he met in Detroit. The duo became one of the most hated tag teams of the era, ripping fans’ autograph books and delivering stiff, aggressive matches. Both were Canadian heavyweights who met in Detroit and formed their legendary partnership in the early 1960s. Murphy (6’1”, 265 lbs, born December 7, 1930, in Hamilton, Ontario) and Bernard (6’2”, 270 lbs, born June 6, 1921, in Quebec) shared the same menacing bald look, vicious brawling style, and total disregard for crowd goodwill.
Together they won the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship in 1963, the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) twice in 1964, and multiple IWA World Tag Team titles in Australia (including reunions after Murphy briefly went solo). They thrived in the same territories—Jim Crockett Promotions, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling in Australia—and were famous for “Battle of the Bullies” heel-vs-heel wars against teams like the Blond Bombers.
Pictured: Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard
The age gap was significant: Bernard was nine years older, debuted later in 1957, and enjoyed a much longer career. Murphy, who lost all his hair as a child to illness and dramatically oiled his skull before matches, started younger in 1952 and trained by Jimmy Simms, enjoyed stronger singles success—including three reigns as NWA Southern Heavyweight Champion (Georgia version) and three IWA World Heavyweight titles in Australia. Bernard was the pure powerhouse “Brute,” while Murphy’s gimmick had a tragic, almost freak-show edge that made him uniquely unsettling.
In regards to Murphy’s hair loss, longtime wrestling associate Moose Cholak noted that this deeply bothered Murphy: he would shave his face every single morning, even though only one or two nearly invisible hairs ever grew. While not directly labeled a cause of clinical depression, this physical difference and the self-consciousness it caused are highlighted in profiles as a persistent personal burden that shaped his self-image from a young age. While this would not be directly labeled a cause of clinical depression, this physical difference and the self-consciousness it caused are highlighted in profiles as a persistent personal burden that shaped his self-image from a young age and perhaps was another of the complexities that created Murphy’s mental and emotional state.
In 1963, the Murphy and Bernard team defeated Buddy Austin and Great Scott to win the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship. They also claimed the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) twice and dominated in Australia, winning the IWA World Tag Team Championship multiple times across several reigns.
Even after Bernard returned to North America, Murphy thrived Down Under, winning the IWA World Heavyweight Championship three times and additional tag titles with partners like Killer Kowalski. He briefly ventured to Japan in 1968, teaming with Klondike Bill to capture the All Asia Tag Team Championship. His final title came in December 1969 when he reunited with Bernard for one last IWA tag reign.
Tragically, Murphy’s career ended far too soon. On March 23, 1970, just hours before he and Bernard were scheduled to wrestle in Charlotte, North Carolina, his wife found him dead in their apartment from an overdose of sleeping pills. Contemporary reports initially listed the cause as a heart attack, but it was later confirmed as an overdose of sleeping pills in an apparent suicide.
She called fellow wrestler George Scott, who lived nearby, and Scott came over and confirmed Murphy was dead. The match that Murphy and Bernard had been scheduled for in the main event that night at Charlotte’s Park Center was against The Kentuckian (Grizzly Smith) and Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods). Promoter Jim Crockett canceled the entire show upon learning of the death.
As noted previously, Murphy had struggles with severe depression and health anxiety for most of his life. To add further issues to his own emotional state, his brother-in-law had recently died an agonizing death from cancer, and Murphy was experiencing abdominal pain and his autopsy revealed only appendicitis. This family heath crisis seems to have been a related catalyst that caused Murphy himself to began experiencing abdominal pain shortly afterward. Convinced he had the same disease, he spiraled while alone in his Charlotte apartment.
He had been drinking Scotch and took the pills while sitting in his apartment. He had a long-standing habit of bringing sleeping pills back from tours in Japan (where he roomed with Moose Cholak) and Australia to help with jet lag.
The day before his death, Murphy had visited Jim Crockett Promotions’ President John Ringley at a boat show in Charlotte with his young son and expressed interest in buying a yellow Dixie Boat the next day, saying he would return to purchase it. This was the last time Ringley saw him alive. Ringley was later called the morning after with the news: “John’s dead.”
Early reports called it a heart attack, but it was later ruled a suicide. After Murphy’s shocking death, Bernard kept wrestling for another decade, winning additional tag titles with partners like Larry Hamilton and Jay York, plus singles gold such as the NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship. Bernard finally retired around 1980 and died on July 14, 1984, at 63, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Skull Murphy was only 39 and left behind a wife and two children.
Though his time in the spotlight lasted less than two decades, Skull Murphy remains a wrestling legend. His unforgettable look, vicious heel work, and chemistry with Brute Bernard helped shape the golden age of tag team wrestling before the sport exploded on national television.
One Thing I Learned Today About Ted Thye
He organized a charity wrestling benefit show in Portland specifically to raise money for Alcoholics Anonymous. He even lined up talent and promised payments to wrestlers. Rival promoter Don Owen, whose father Herb had taken the wrestling office from Thye, deliberately sabotaged the event by advertising a competing Lou Thesz NWA world heavyweight title match on the same night, and later paying off scheduled wrestlers to no-show a follow-up date. The AA benefit drew poorly, lost money, and had to be cancelled—highlighting the ruthless, cutthroat business rivalries of territory era.
Thank You for Reading
I’m Tony Richards, Pro Wrestling Historian, Author and Storyteller. I share pro wrestling historical items in each issue of the Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling History Newsletter. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my information on select events, matches and insights, please share it with folks you think might like to be a subscriber!
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