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The Joe Palooka Story aired in first run syndication in 1954 .

Based upon the comic strip character created by Hammond E. "Ham"
Fisher in 1921, the very moral, honest , kind-hearted somewhat naive
boxing champion Joe Palooka briefly came to television in this very
low budget syndicated comedy-drama series during the 1954-1955 season.

Appropriately Joe Palooka was portrayed by an actor named Joe
Kirkwood, Jr.who also co-produced this series. Kirkwood was already
very familiar with the character -he had portrayed Palooka in a series
of films beginning in 1946. Joe Palooka was one of the most popular
comic book off the day and this led to a series of Palooka products
such as watches, board games, and lunchboxes. Joe had a patient,
understanding society girl-the lovely Ann Howe (Cathy Downes) and a
manager named "Knobby' Walsh ( Sid Tomack in the first 13 episodes and
Luis Van Rooten in the rest). Joe's trainer Clyde was played by boxing
great 'Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom. A young Charles Bronson ( still
using his real name Charlie Buchinski) appeared in a few episodes as
Eddie Crane.

Episodes include "A Career for Ann" in which Joe hired a maid named
Hilda ( Florence Auer) leaving Ann very bored so she took a job as a
sales clerk. In "A Turkey for Terry" a practical joke played by
Knobby ( he was given a gag gift of a very realistic looking rubber
turkey ) backfired when Joe Palooka who was not in on the joke gave
away the turkey to a poor neighborhood boy for his Thanksgiving
dinner. In "And Still the Champ" Joe's birthday led to a lot of worry
over the champ's age -especially as he was about to fight a much
younger challenger.

The program was initially produced by Richard Baer but after 13 weeks
he was replaced by William Berke.The show was produced by Guide Films
, which also gave us the popular Life with Elizabeth and Liberace.

In the fall of 1954 Joe Kirkwood received a special award from the
Honor League of New York's Police Department for his portrayal of Joe
Palooka on television, for which a special unaired segment of the show
was filmed. Variety called the program "a good sponsorship bet " and
Billboard Magazine said it had" broad appeal for viewers of all ages.
One episode of The Joe Palooka Story is available for sale from Marathon Music and Video.

For more on Joe Palooka go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Palooka

For an episode guide go to http://ctva.biz/US/Drama/JoePalookaStory.htm

For more on Joe Palooka go to https://books.google.com/books?id=mR2hBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=joe+palooka+story&source=bl&ots=JGwg-fkf2h&sig=4mH4A2Zx3GeNqmOUIvuWuUtFpcg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjd2prT1eHTAhWY2YMKHftSDGA4ChDoAQhMMAk#v=onepage&q=joe%20palooka%20story&f=false

To watch an episode go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV9EZmZdZpE