Requiem for a Heavyweight was originally a 1956 teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show Playhouse 90 in 1957. 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Live television refers to television broadcasts of events or performances on a delay of between zero and fifteen seconds, rather than from video recordings or film. ... Playhouse 90 is the name of a ninety-minute long dramatic television series that ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961. ...

The teleplay won a Peabody Award, the first given to an individual script, and helped establish Serling's reputation. The broadcast was directed by Ralph Nelson. The George Foster Peabody Awards, more commonly known as simply the Peabody Awards, are annual international awards given for excellence in radio and television broadcasting and cable television. ... Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 - December 21, 1987) was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor. ...

Plot synopsis

Jack Palance portrays Harlan 'Mountain' McClintock, a washed-up boxer who faces the end of his career after he is savagely defeated by a younger boxer. Keenan Wynn portrays McClintock's manager Maish; Keenan's father Ed plays McClintock's cut man, Army. Jack Palance, (born Volodymyr Palanyuk (Ukr: Володимир Паланюк))on February 18, 1919, in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, USA), is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Professional boxing bout featuring Ricardo Domínguez (left) versus Rafael Ortíz Boxing, also called Western Boxing, prizefighting (when referring to professional boxing) or the sweet science (a common nickname among fans), is a sport and martial art in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their... Wynn in Warning Shot (1967) Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. ... Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 - June 19, 1966) was a popular United States entertainer, born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... Cutman Dave Tenny working on Cathy Wildcat Collins during a boxing bout. ...

McClintock is suffering from Dementia pugilistica or "punch drunk syndrome" -- brain damage caused by his career. A fight doctor refuses to certify McClintock for further boxing, saying that another rough match could blind or even kill him. Boxing is all McClintock has ever known, and he's both terrified of trying something new, and intensely loyal to Maish, who has nurtured him from his youth. Dementia pugilistica, also called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, pugilistic Parkinsons syndrome, boxers syndrome, and punch-drunk syndrome, is a neurological disorder which affects career boxers and others who receive multiple dazing blows to the head. ... In boxing, the fight doctor is an official that monitors the health of the fighters and evaluates their ability to continue fighting. ...

Kim Hunter plays Grace Carney, an employment agency worker who tries to help the boxer make a transition to a new career. Maish has troubles of his own, however: he owes money to the Mafia, and tried to raise funds by betting against McClintock. He persuades the boxer to turn to professional wrestling, though McClintock is proud that he never had a fixed fight, and is uncomfortable with the staged, predetermined wrestling match. Kim Hunter (b. ... A Bad Agency you can find on [1]. An employment agency is a company that matches workers to open jobs. ... The Mafia is a secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. ... Professional wrestling is generally any form of performance art in which pro-wrestlers receive payment for participating. ...

Army disaproves of Maish's plans, and refuses to be a part of them. Just before he's scheduled to go into the ring in a humiliating mountain man costume, McClintock learns of Maish's betrayal, and parts ways with him. Though he feels that boxing can ruin men's lives, Maish finds another promising young boxer to train. McClintock takes a chance on working with children at summer camp. Liver-Eating Johnson The Mountain Men is also the name of a 1980 movie starring Charlton Heston. ...

Serling and Palance were both experienced boxers, which might help explain why Requiem was so authentic and effective, although there was very little boxing depicted in the broadcast.

Other versions

Ralph Nelson also directed a movie version in 1962 with Anthony Quinn in the role originated by Jack Palance and Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney in the parts portrayed on television by Keenan Wynn and his father Ed Wynn. Muhammed Ali, then still using his birth name, Cassius Clay, appears as Quinn's opponent in a boxing match at the beginning of the movie, a memorable sequence filmed with the camera providing Quinn's point of view as the unstoppable Clay punches directly at the movie audience. Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 - December 21, 1987) was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Anthony Quinn Anthony Quinn (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001) was a two-time Academy Award-winning Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. ... Jack Palance, (born Volodymyr Palanyuk (Ukr: Володимир Паланюк))on February 18, 1919, in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, USA), is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Herbert John Jackie Gleason (b. ... Actor Mickey Rooney speaks at the Pentagon in 2000 during a ceremony honoring the USO. Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule, Jr. ... Wynn in Warning Shot (1967) Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. ... Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 - June 19, 1966) was a popular United States entertainer, born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... Other people with this name: Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Mehemet Ali (Turkey) Muhammad Ali-Haj (born January 17, 1942 as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ...

Related works

In 1960, Ralph Nelson wrote and directed The Man in the Funny Suit, a dramatic account of Keenan Wynn's travails in helping his father, legendary comedian Ed Wynn, play such a serious role in Requiem for a Heavyweight. The Man in the Funny Suit was telecast as an installment of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 - December 21, 1987) was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor. ... The Man in the Funny Suit (1960) is a television drama detailing the agony endured by actor Keenan Wynn while helping his father, legendary comedian Ed Wynn, play a serious role in the original television production of Rod Serlings Requiem for a Heavyweight. ... Wynn in Warning Shot (1967) Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. ... Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 - June 19, 1966) was a popular United States entertainer, born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

External links

• Film Page
• Requiem for a Heavyweight at the Internet Movie Database (1962 film)