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Wild Bill?s to host memorial for pro wrestler Douglas ?Ox? Baker

Posted: Oct 25th 2014 By: Wild Bill?s to host memorial for pro wrestler Doug

A fitting memorial for wrestler Douglas ?Ox? Baker will take place on Nov. 2 in the fun house at Wild Bill?s Nostalgia Center.

Baker, one the most feared villains on the professional wrestling circuit for almost two decades, died Oct. 20 at age 80 of complications from a recent heart attack.

Though Baker portrayed a menacing character in wrestling and films, his authentic personality was the exact opposite, according to friend, filmmaker David Gere.
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?In real life, Ox was a real gentle giant,? Gere said.

Billed as having killed two opponents in the ring with his fearsome ?heart punch,? Baker is famously remembered for his 1981 performance in the film ?Escape from New York.?

The 6-foot-5 bald giant got his start as a pro wrestler in the early 1960s.

?He was a terrific guy, a cult film and wrestling legend,? said Gere, a movie producer who struck up a friendship with the wrestling champ two years ago. ?He is just a legendary figure. There?s going to be quite a film legacy of Ox.?

Baker delivered his final performance, in the horror film ?Pinwheel,? just a week before his death, at Wild Bill?s Nostalgia Center, on Newfield St. The movie wrapped last Friday.

Unprepared for the fact that Baker?s walker wouldn?t fit through the narrow corridors to get to the set, the crew and his caretakers slowly braced Baker, who moved forward one step at a time.

?I?ve never seen such determination and will from a man,? said Gere. ?He was of course in a very bad physical state at that point, but he made it to set and he delivered his lines with a tremendous power and poignancy that brought a tear to my eye.?

Rebecca Howard, Baker?s caretaker and estate manager, is organizing a memorial for the larger-than-life man, according to Gere.

A service will be held at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery, in Danielson, where Baker lived for many years with his wife, Peggy Ann Kawa, a professional clown who passed away in 2010.

Though 3,000 invitations have been sent, several hundred people are expected to attend an ?energized? memorial service at Wild Bill?s, which will begin at 6 p.m., according to Ziegler.

?We?re expecting a coalition of Northeast wrestlers that were mentored by, or worked with Baker, folks involved in his films, and people that knew him from the community,? Gere said.

Music, poetry and art will all be included in the ?fun, upbeat? event that will reflect the man being honored. A folk rock band with friend Bob McCarthy will perform.

Baker once asked to be buried at Wild Bill?s, a place he loved and often visited with his two dachshunds, Brooklyn and Brindle, according to Gere. A week before his death, he filmed his last scene in the fun house.

?He liked coming down here, roaming around and talking to people,? Ziegler said. ?He was really a people person.?

Over the span of an impressive career, the big man traded blows with the likes of WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes and Harley Race, according to World Wrestling Entertainment.

?When they shot here on the 13th, he told me, ?I?m not going to live eight days?,? Zielger said.

He died seven days later.

?Ox always knew this day would come and he wanted his fans to know they had his thanks and love,? Gere said. Ox Baker was ... a one-of-a-kind persona, a larger-than-life man who is a true legend for all of time.?