Remembering 'The Fabulous Moolah'

Fresh Air

Published November 7, 2007 at 11:36 AM EST

Mary Lillian Ellison, better known as The Fabulous Moolah, died Friday at age 84. She was a wrestler, promoter and trainer on the so-called "lady wrestling" circuit for more than 50 years.

Her career culminated with a championship win at the age of 76. She spoke with Dave Davies in April 2005 about the documentary Lipstick and Dynamite.

Ellison's 2002 autobiography, written with Larry Platt, is entitled The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle.

She got that flashy nickname from a promoter who decided that her own name wasn't memorable enough. When he pressed her on why she wanted to work the circuit, as she recounted in that memoir, she snapped at him: "For the money. I want to wrestle for the moolah."

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

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