Men of Kent

‘Judo Al’ Hayes has died in Dallas, aged 76. My hearing the sad news coincided with a tumble of forgotten yesterdays as I watched last week, as part of ITV’s 50th birthday party, some evocatively grainy snatches of the all-in wrestling which used to clock up more than 10 million viewers on a midweek winter evening and every Saturday teatime. Each of the channel’s regional companies took turns to record the fun. Four decades ago I was a callow, clueless ITV outside broadcasts producer for Rediffusion’s London channel sometimes charged with covering these grunt-and-groan passion plays from a series of suburban small halls. Suddenly on TV last week, in a nostalgic blink of reverie, there we all were on the canvas again — Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, man o’ mystery Kendo Nagasaki, Jackie Pallo and genial panto-villain Mick McManus. My favourites were Charlie Drake-lookalike Les Kellett, who invested his bouts with the tragicomic timing of a Keaton, and ‘Judo Al’, the most skilfully athletic as well as most dashing (he looked like the footballer Bobby Moore).