Mike Mazurki

Maron "Michael" Mazurki
born Michal Mazurkiewicz 


Born:
December 25, 1907
Kopychyntsi, Austria-Hungary (Now Ternopil, Ukraine)

Died:
December 9, 1990
Burbank, CA


Career
1927-28 Manhattan College (College)
1928-29 Manhattan College (College)
1929-30 Manhattan College (College)
1930-31 Brooklyn Visitations (ABL)

Born in Austria-Hungary, Maron's family came to the United States in 1914 as both a Austrian and Polish citizen. His family settling in Cohoes, NY, Maron took to athletics, and played basketball at Manhattan College and briefly with the Visitations. He would go into boxing and professional wrestling, and his size and unique looks caught him the interest of Hollywood. He appeared in over 150 films in his career, with the 1990 movie Dick Tracy being his last appearance. He died not long after the movie's release.

There is a story about Mazurki working on a film with John Wayne. He and Wayne were filming a fight scene, and Wayne accidentally made contact with Mazurki, punching him in the face. After the scene, Wayne apologized to Mazurki, with Mazurki replying that he "hardly felt it."

IMDB Actor Page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0563417/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Source:
Petalumas Argus-Courier, May 25, 1988

Stats:
http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/mike-mazurki/