# What performer was the best athlete? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139 "2021-11-10T18:19:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/102 "2021-11-16T16:42:27Z")
I’m sure it’s not **the** answer but the question does bring to mind a fond recollection. Back in the mid 70’s ABC was looking to fill some broadcast hours and came up with “Battle of the Network Stars.” TV stars from each of the 3 networks back then would compete against each other in sports like swimming, running, tug of war, etc… One year it ended in a tie between ABC and NBC. The ABC Captain was Goofy looking stand up comedian Gabe Kaplan then starring on “Welcome Back, Kotter.” The NBC Captain was Robert Conrad then on “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” Well to break the tie they decided to have a run off. I think it was something like a 200 yard dash. The ABC Stars keep trying to argue against it not wanting to put Kaplan against Conrad, but he convinces them to let him do it. The former stunt man Conrad gets into a sprinters stance at the beginning, and Kaplan with his mustache and white afro just stands next to him. The gun fires to start the race and to everyone’s surprise Kaplan absolutely smokes Conrad beating him by about 25 yards. Turns out Kaplan was quite the athlete for a comedian. Oops, I see this was already posted. Didn’t come up in my search because “Kaplan” was embedded in the link. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/103 "2021-11-16T16:46:27Z")
I never realized Cathy Rigby had been an Olympic gymnast prior to being cast in _Peter Pan_. Nor did I ever realize [Estella Warren](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005535/) was quite the synchronized swimmer- 3 time Canadian national title holder and Olympian. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/104 "2021-11-16T16:47:48Z")
How about this… If Pool counts as a sport then Jackie Gleason was known to be an excellent player and did all his own trick shots for “The Hustler.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/105 "2021-11-16T18:39:15Z")
I read somewhere that Gleason and Newman did all their own shots in _The Hustler_ except for one, done by Willie Mosconi. I think it’s in the clip, at about 1:35: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bpc3TKhS6MU/maxresdefault.jpg "The Hustler (2/5) Movie CLIP - I Gotta Hunch, Fat Man (1961) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpc3TKhS6MU) ---
**Author:** ![RobotDevilDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@RobotDevilDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobotDevilDog)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/106 "2021-11-16T19:13:15Z")
Bert Convy, best known as a jovial host of numerous game shows, played 2 years of minor league baseball with the Phillies. He then had a short-lived singing career, where his group The Cheers had a top 10 hit in 1955 with the song “Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots”. From the mid-50s to the early 70s he was primarily an actor, before becoming a well-respected game show host, on such shows as “Tattletales”, “Super Password” and “Win, Lose or Draw”. He won a Daytime Emmy award for his work on “Tattletales”. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/107 "2021-11-16T22:24:39Z")
Charley Pride was a pitcher in Negro League baseball and for Minor League Baseball teams in the Yankees and Reds organizations before turning his attention to singing and eventually being inducted into both the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/108 "2021-11-16T22:48:04Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I never realized Cathy Rigby had been an Olympic gymnast prior to being cast in _Peter Pan_ . Rigby was, in fact, pretty well-known as a gymnast in the U.S. in the late '60s and early '70s. I was a kid during the 1972 Summer Games, and there was a lot of excitement over her participation there; unfortunately, she was dealing with an injury, didn’t medal, and was overshadowed in the gymnastics competition by the USSR’s Olga Korbut (and then, those games as a whole were overshadowed by the terrorist attack). That said, her career as playing Peter Pan on stage lasted decades longer than her gymnastics career, and I’m not too surprised if that’s what she became known for among many people, in the same way that Caitlyn Jenner became much better-known for being a reality-TV parent. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/109 "2021-11-17T03:53:02Z")
I was born in 1972, so all I ever knew her as was Peter Pan. > [@Sternvogel](#): > > Charley Pride was a pitcher in Negro League baseball and for Minor League Baseball teams in the Yankees and Reds organizations before turning his attention to singing and eventually being inducted into both the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame. I read that in the paper when he passed away last year. I had no idea until then. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/110 "2021-11-17T04:45:48Z")
Just an aside: I used to love _Battle of the Network Stars,_ and part of it was moments like that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/111 "2021-11-17T05:49:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > He trains with Rorian Gracie and has the only black belt awarded by Rorian to anyone who doesn’t have the last name Gracie. > > I’m not sure if that doesn’t say more about the Gracie family’s propensity for promoting the name Gracie. Possibly but he certainly put in the time. It took over 20 years for him to get his black belt and he’s been training with the Gracie’s for over 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![DoubleG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DoubleG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoubleG)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/112 "2021-11-17T06:42:57Z")
I think Mike Reid is a perfect example of a great performer who is also a great athlete. Born and raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Reid attended college at and graduated from the Pennsylvania State University, where he played defensive lineman for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. He then spent five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League, earning trips to the Pro Bowl after the 1972 and 1973 seasons, before retiring after the 1974 season. He subsequently focused on his musical career, co-writing several hit singles for country music artists, including Ronnie Milsap’s “Stranger in My House”, which won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1984. Reid later began a solo recording career, releasing two studio albums for Columbia Records. He charted seven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart as a singer, including the Number One hit “Walk on Faith”. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/113 "2021-11-17T16:06:05Z")
> [@epbrown](#): > > Just an aside: I used to love _Battle of the Network Stars,_ and part of it was moments like that. I did, as well, until I was put off by Jack Klugman having to forfiet his snooker game to Suzanne Somers for sinking the black too early. With the crushing disillusion over such lameness, I’ve never been the same, since. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/114 "2021-11-17T16:18:17Z")
> [@DoubleG](#): > > I think Mike Reid is a perfect example of a great performer who is also a great athlete. I had forgotten about Reid; he’s a good example, though he was also pretty famous as a football player, and the OP originally was asking about people who were primarily famous for non-athletic stuff. As a college player, Reid won the Maxwell Award and Outland Trophy, and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting (a rarity for a defensive lineman), and then, as you note, he was a two-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro with the Bengals. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/115 "2021-11-17T20:44:26Z")
I was thinking that they should bring the show back, but with cable/streaming/etc. it would end up like the rumble in Anchorman. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rFeVfwDvTyM/maxresdefault.jpg "Anchorman - That Escalated Quickly scene (1080p)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFeVfwDvTyM) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/116 "2021-11-17T20:58:05Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > I did, as well, until I was put off by Jack Klugman having to forfiet his snooker game to Suzanne Somers for sinking the black too early. As I remember it, he sunk the 8-ball correctly, but had forgotten to call the pocket. Perhaps it will ease your troubled mind to watch a great episode of the original _Twilight Zone_; Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters in “A Game of Pool”. After surviving that, losing a forfeit to Suzanne Somers doesn’t really seem so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/117 "2021-11-17T22:13:59Z")
I will defer to your most likely superior memory. So, he loses for an even lamer reason. Never seen the TZ episode; if Jonathan Winters appears in one of these shows, I can totally picture him being a sort of smiley Mephistophelian type - sort of like how Sebastien Cabot was, as “Pip”, in another TZ episode. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/118 "2021-11-17T22:42:42Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Never seen the TZ episode; if Jonathan Winters appears in one of these shows, I can totally picture him being a sort of smiley Mephistophelian type - sort of like how Sebastien Cabot was, as “Pip”, in another TZ episode. Are you sure you haven’t seen it? You describe it quite well. It’s worth seeing; probably my favorite _TZ_ episode ever. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/119 "2021-11-18T02:58:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn’t do a lot of acting, but was memorable in _Airplane!_ (where former teammate Warren was an extra). Apropos of nothing, but that part was originally written for Pete Rose. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/120 "2021-11-18T03:19:22Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Apropos of nothing, but that part was originally written for Pete Rose. And, in the original, non-comedy film that it was based on, “Zero Hour!”, it was NFL wide receiver Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch in that role. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139/121 "2021-11-18T03:31:30Z")
He was a player for Bonnyrigg and was offered a contract with East Fife. He was also a bodybuilder, having won the Mister Scotland competition and third in Mister Universe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performer-was-the-best-athlete/954139.md?page=7)