Boxer turned actor and pro wrestler Joe Bugner has died. He was 75.
The British Boxing Board of Control confirmed his death but did not provide details, beyond the actor passing away at his care home yesterday in Brisbane, Australia.
The Hungary-born, British-Australian boxer was a former British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, and world championship contender who took on Joe Frazier once and Muhammad Ali twice.
Bugner retired from boxing in 1976 but made sporadic comebacks over the next two decades and began a secondary career as an actor with films like “Buddy Goes West,” “The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid,” and “I’m for the Hippopotamus”
He moved to Australia in 1986 where he became known as ‘Aussie’ Joe Bugner and did more film and TV work including the 2003 David Wenham comedy “Gettin’ Square,” the little seen Aussie horror thriller “Sher Mountain Killings Mystery,” and playing a Bison-employed torturer in the 1994 “Street Fighter” movie. Other films included “Bad Behaviour” and “The Baby Juice Express”.
On TV he was in mini-series based on “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “The Lost World” along with guest starring roles on “Time Trax,” “Hey Dad,” “Pizza” and the Heath Ledger-led “Roar”. He also appeared in the UK version of “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” and in “The Contender Australia”.
