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Pepper Martin is a Actor American born on 20 september 1936
This article is about the actor. For the baseball player, see Pepper Martin
Howard "Pepper" Martin (born September 20, 1936) is a retired Canadian-American actor and professional wrestler.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario on September 20, 1936, Howard Martin lied about his age and joined the Navy at only 16. "I was a big kid for my age", Martin explained in an interview. Playing football for the Navy, he tore his knee out in his second year and had to have cartilage removed. "Then they found out how old I really was and kicked me out", Pepper stated. Pepper had been dating his future wife already and they were married July 21, 1956, eventually producing two daughters and four grandchildren.
He took a job at Westinghouse in Hamilton, and a chance to play with the Hamilton Tigers football club came up. Needing to get in better shape, and rehab his knee, a friend directed Martin to a gym run by Al Spittles. The gym happened to be where local wrestlers trained and Pepper soon fell in with them, learning the sport and debuting some time in 1957. In his first match, he teamed with Bolus against Johnny Evans (later Reggie Love) and Bull Johnson (father of "Bullwhip" Danny Johnson). Martin would live out of Windsor as he traveled the Detroit territory. He would leave for the Tennessee are and quickly return to Detroit, before going to work for Jim Barnett's Indianapolis territory, which had just opened in 1959. Even though he was still a preliminary wrestler, Pepper began making real money at this point, sometimes over $1,000 a night in the big arenas.
Martin moved his family to the States to work for Leroy McGuirk's Tulsa, Oklahoma office in the 1960s and soon made good friends with his future tag partner and ring general, Al Lovelock. They worked out of New Orleans for a year; Pepper described the travel as "horrendous". They eventually made their way to Texas, where Pepper was stabbed by a fan. Returning home to Ontario to recoup, he later returned to Texas, but this time as a babyface (wrestling jargon for "good guy"). Over the next couple of years he would work in Minneapolis, Vancouver, and St. Louis before getting a phone call from Roy Shire, the promoter out of San Francisco. It was the call that would change his life by bringing him to the West Coast and his future on the silver screen.
One weekend while wrestling in between San Francisco and Los Angeles, wrestler-turned-actor Woody Strode to Pepper to Hollywood for a late night romp. They ended up waking director John Ford up at three in the morning, being ejected from his lawn and then drinking until eight o'clock with Hollywood tough guy Lee Marvin. Pepper would later befriend John Ford and even spend Sundays swimming at his house. It was also while working in Los Angeles that wrestling legend Freddie Blassie would give Martin the chance to commentate the matches with Dick Lane, something that he attributes to helping him in his future acting career. Then disaster struck Martin's life.
During a 1962 match in Long Beach, Martin broke his back. The doctor discovered a small vertical crack in his spine, but denying surgery, Martin had a palette made up that he would lie on for the next six weeks to keep his back straight and allow it to heal. Come June of 1962, he was better and intending to return to Canada when Dick Beyer, who had worked as The Destroyer, suggested he go to the Pacific Northwest territory where a babyface was needed. Talking on the phone to promoter Don Owen (who was the first to ever put professional wrestling on television), Pepper decided to get outrageous with his pay, saying he'd do it for 10% of the gate. "I'll stay six weeks. If I get over, I'll stay. If I don't get over, that's my notice, and I want ten percent". Owen agreed, and what followed was the most successful run of Pepper Martin's wrestling career.
In the NWA Pacific Northwest territory, Pepper would not only become a multiple time champion, but would also continue in his role as commentator, calling matches in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Eugene. Pepper would have an incredible year and a half long feud with Hall of Fame inductee Pat Patterson, exchanging the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title back and forth dozens of times. "Pat and I laughed about this the last time we were together - something like 28 times," Martin laughs, referencing many undocumented title switches. Officially, Martin was an NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion five times, exchanging the title with other wrestling legends Stan Stasiak, Mad Dog Vachon, Paul Jones, Tony Borne and the aforementioned Patterson. Martin also became an eight time NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion with Shag Thomas (4x), Luther Lindsay (2x), Paul Jones and Billy White Wolf.
Martin's first feature film was the 1968 film Angels from Hell. He also appeared in the 1974 film The Longest Yard and the 1981 slasher Scream. Martin is also known for his role as the truck driver, Rocky, in the 1981 sequel Superman II. Martin's TV appearances include Police Woman, The Mod Squad, I Dream of Jeannie, The Incredible Hulk and The Rockford Files.
The play The Time of Your Life was revived in March 17, 1972 at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles with Martin, Henry Fonda, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Thompson, Gloria Grahame, Lewis J. Stadlen, Strother Martin, Richard X. Slattery and Jane Alexander among the cast with Edwin Sherin directing.
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Howard "Pepper" Martin (born September 20, 1936) is a retired Canadian-American actor and professional wrestler.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario on September 20, 1936, Howard Martin lied about his age and joined the Navy at only 16. "I was a big kid for my age", Martin explained in an interview. Playing football for the Navy, he tore his knee out in his second year and had to have cartilage removed. "Then they found out how old I really was and kicked me out", Pepper stated. Pepper had been dating his future wife already and they were married July 21, 1956, eventually producing two daughters and four grandchildren.
He took a job at Westinghouse in Hamilton, and a chance to play with the Hamilton Tigers football club came up. Needing to get in better shape, and rehab his knee, a friend directed Martin to a gym run by Al Spittles. The gym happened to be where local wrestlers trained and Pepper soon fell in with them, learning the sport and debuting some time in 1957. In his first match, he teamed with Bolus against Johnny Evans (later Reggie Love) and Bull Johnson (father of "Bullwhip" Danny Johnson). Martin would live out of Windsor as he traveled the Detroit territory. He would leave for the Tennessee are and quickly return to Detroit, before going to work for Jim Barnett's Indianapolis territory, which had just opened in 1959. Even though he was still a preliminary wrestler, Pepper began making real money at this point, sometimes over $1,000 a night in the big arenas.
Martin moved his family to the States to work for Leroy McGuirk's Tulsa, Oklahoma office in the 1960s and soon made good friends with his future tag partner and ring general, Al Lovelock. They worked out of New Orleans for a year; Pepper described the travel as "horrendous". They eventually made their way to Texas, where Pepper was stabbed by a fan. Returning home to Ontario to recoup, he later returned to Texas, but this time as a babyface (wrestling jargon for "good guy"). Over the next couple of years he would work in Minneapolis, Vancouver, and St. Louis before getting a phone call from Roy Shire, the promoter out of San Francisco. It was the call that would change his life by bringing him to the West Coast and his future on the silver screen.
One weekend while wrestling in between San Francisco and Los Angeles, wrestler-turned-actor Woody Strode to Pepper to Hollywood for a late night romp. They ended up waking director John Ford up at three in the morning, being ejected from his lawn and then drinking until eight o'clock with Hollywood tough guy Lee Marvin. Pepper would later befriend John Ford and even spend Sundays swimming at his house. It was also while working in Los Angeles that wrestling legend Freddie Blassie would give Martin the chance to commentate the matches with Dick Lane, something that he attributes to helping him in his future acting career. Then disaster struck Martin's life.
During a 1962 match in Long Beach, Martin broke his back. The doctor discovered a small vertical crack in his spine, but denying surgery, Martin had a palette made up that he would lie on for the next six weeks to keep his back straight and allow it to heal. Come June of 1962, he was better and intending to return to Canada when Dick Beyer, who had worked as The Destroyer, suggested he go to the Pacific Northwest territory where a babyface was needed. Talking on the phone to promoter Don Owen (who was the first to ever put professional wrestling on television), Pepper decided to get outrageous with his pay, saying he'd do it for 10% of the gate. "I'll stay six weeks. If I get over, I'll stay. If I don't get over, that's my notice, and I want ten percent". Owen agreed, and what followed was the most successful run of Pepper Martin's wrestling career.
In the NWA Pacific Northwest territory, Pepper would not only become a multiple time champion, but would also continue in his role as commentator, calling matches in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Eugene. Pepper would have an incredible year and a half long feud with Hall of Fame inductee Pat Patterson, exchanging the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title back and forth dozens of times. "Pat and I laughed about this the last time we were together - something like 28 times," Martin laughs, referencing many undocumented title switches. Officially, Martin was an NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion five times, exchanging the title with other wrestling legends Stan Stasiak, Mad Dog Vachon, Paul Jones, Tony Borne and the aforementioned Patterson. Martin also became an eight time NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion with Shag Thomas (4x), Luther Lindsay (2x), Paul Jones and Billy White Wolf.
Martin's first feature film was the 1968 film Angels from Hell. He also appeared in the 1974 film The Longest Yard and the 1981 slasher Scream. Martin is also known for his role as the truck driver, Rocky, in the 1981 sequel Superman II. Martin's TV appearances include Police Woman, The Mod Squad, I Dream of Jeannie, The Incredible Hulk and The Rockford Files.
The play The Time of Your Life was revived in March 17, 1972 at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles with Martin, Henry Fonda, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Thompson, Gloria Grahame, Lewis J. Stadlen, Strother Martin, Richard X. Slattery and Jane Alexander among the cast with Edwin Sherin directing.
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Filmography of Pepper Martin (13 films)
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Return to Horror High (1987)
, 1h35Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Horror comedy, Horror, Slasher
Themes Films about education, Comedy horror films
Actors George Clooney, Vince Edwards, Philip McKeon, Alex Rocco, Michael Eric Kramer, Cliff Emmich
Roles Chief Deyner
Rating43%
In 1982, the southern California town of Crippen was rocked by a series of murders at Crippen High School. The killer was never caught.
Scream (1981)
, 1h22Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Slasher
Themes Serial killer films
Actors Pepper Martin, Hank Worden, Ethan Wayne, Alvy Moore, Bobby Diamond, Gregg Palmer
Roles Bob
Rating30%
A group of twelve friends on a river camping trip decide to spend the night in an old ghost town, and an unseen killer begins to dispatch them one by one. On the first night at the stroke of midnight, three of the group are killed in rapid succession. Allen is found hanged; his friends Rod and John both hacked by a cleaver. In the morning, the nine survivors try to leave, but find their three rubber rafts slashed apart by someone (or something) forcing them to spend another night at the ghost town. During the day, two youths on motor dirt bikes arrive and one of the guides, named Jerry, leaves with one of them to get help from a nearby ranch which is over 30 miles away.
Superman II (1980)
, 2h3Directed by Richard Donner, Richard Lester
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Fantastic, Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Themes Films about children, Space adventure films, Politique, Films about terrorism, Sur la Lune, Films set in the future, Superman films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Superhero films, Super-héros inspiré de comics, Sur la Lune, Films about extraterrestrial life, Alien invasions in films, Arme nucléaire, Disaster films, White House in fiction
Actors Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas
Roles Rocky
Rating67%
Prior to the destruction of Krypton, the criminals General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O'Halloran) are sentenced to banishment into the Phantom Zone for insurrection and murder, amongst other crimes.
Gone with the West (1975)
, 1h32Directed by Bernard Girard
Origin USA
Genres Western
Actors James Caan, Stefanie Powers, Aldo Ray, Barbara Werle, Robert Walker Jr., Sammy Davis Jr.
Roles Mimmo's Man
Rating31%
Jud McGraw gets out of prison and seeks revenge against Mimmo, a man who wronged him. He meets Little Moon, a woman who also has good reason to go looking for justice.
Murph the Surf (1975)
, 1h41Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Crime
Actors Robert Conrad, Don Stroud, Donna Mills, Luther Adler, Paul Stewart, Morgan Paull
Roles Sgt. Terwilliger
Rating60%
Deux play-boys de Miami devenus célèbres en réalisant l'un des plus grands vols de bijoux du 20ème siècle. 22 pierres précieuses au compteur, dont les fameuses étoile de l'Inde et le diamant de l'aigle. Des pierres à l'époque si connues qu'il était alors impossible de les revendre...
Murder on Flight 502 (1975)
, 1h37Directed by George McCowan
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action
Themes Transport films, Aviation films, Dans un avion, Disaster films, American disaster films, Films about aviation accidents or incidents
Actors Ralph Bellamy, Polly Bergen, Theodore Bikel, Sonny Bono, Dane Clark, Laraine Day
Roles Bomb Man
Rating53%
Flight 502 takes off from New York City to London. At the airport, a fake bomb threat leads to Head of Security Robert Davenport (George Maharis) finding a letter he would not have received until the next morning. The letter explains a series of murders will take place on Flight 502 before it lands. He and his team go over the backgrounds of all the passengers to find possible suspects. In the air, Captain Larkin (Robert Stack), off duty Police Officer Daniel Myerson (Hugh O'Brian), and flight attendant Karen White (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) look for suspicious passengers. Relationships develop on board between elderly singles Charlie Parkins (Walter Pidgeon) and Ida Goldman (Molly Picon), rock star Jack Marshall (Sonny Bono) and Dorothy Saunders (Rosemarie Stack), and mystery writer Mona Briarly (Polly Bergen) and suave passenger Paul Barons (Fernando Lamas). Briarly suspects Barons is actually a criminal who got away with stealing seven million dollars from a bank, but Barons denies it.
The Longest Yard (1974)
, 2h1Directed by Robert Aldrich, Hal Needham
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Action, Crime
Themes Prison films, Sports films, American football films, Musical films
Actors Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Anitra Ford, Michael Conrad, James Hampton
Roles Shop Steward
Rating70%
Paul "Wrecking" Crewe is a former star pro football quarterback, who walks out on his wealthy girlfriend Melissa in Palm Beach, Florida. He takes her Maserati-engined Citroën SM without permission and leads police on a car chase, choreographed by Hal Needham. Crewe is eventually caught and sentenced to 18 months in Citrus State Prison.
, 1h43Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Western
Actors John Wayne, George Kennedy, Neville Brand, Marie Windsor, Gary Grimes, Morgan Paull
Roles Hard Case
Rating63%
While J.D. Cahill (John Wayne), a widower and U.S. Marshal, is away from home, his two sons Danny (Gary Grimes) and Billy (Clay O'Brien) aid Abe Fraser (George Kennedy) and his gang to escape from jail and to rob a bank. The town's sheriff is shot and killed during the robbery. Billy hides the stolen money while his brother and the rest of the gang return to locked jail cells as an alibi. When Cahill returns, he and Danny look for the perpetrators with the help of half-Comanche tracker Lightfoot (Neville Brand). Cahill arrests four suspects and although they are innocent, they are found guilty and scheduled to be hanged. While on the tracks of the kids, Cahill and Lightfoot are ambushed by Brownie (Dan Vadis). Lightfoot hurts him but is eventually killed. Cahill's sons try to return the gang's share of the money to Fraser, resulting in a showdown between Cahill and his boys on one side and Fraser's gang on the other.
Walking Tall (1973)
, 1h47Directed by Phil Karlson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography, Action, Crime
Actors Joe Don Baker, Elizabeth Hartman, Lurene Tuttle, Noah Beery, Jr, Leif Garrett, John Brascia
Roles Zolan Dicks
Rating68%
Pusser, at his wife Pauline's behest, retires from the professional wrestling ring and moves back to Tennessee to start a logging business with his father, Carl Pusser. With a friend, he visits a gambling and prostitution establishment, the Lucky Spot, and is beaten up after catching them cheating at craps. Pusser is seriously injured with a knife and receives over 200 stitches. He complains to the sheriff but is ignored, and soon becomes aware of the rampant corruption in McNairy County. Later, working at his dad's lumber mill, Pusser makes a club out of a tree branch. Late one night, Pusser waits until after the Lucky Spot is closed, and beats up the same thugs that left him for dead. The next day, Pusser is arrested and represents himself at trial. At one point, he rips off his shirt and shows the jury his scars. He informs them that "If you let them do this to me and get away with it, then you're giving them the eternal right to do the same damn thing to any one of you!" The jury finds Pusser not guilty, and he decides to clean up the county and runs for sheriff. Buford Pusser wins, and becomes famous for being incorruptible, intolerant of crime, and for his array of four-foot hickory clubs which he uses to great effect in dispatching criminals and destroying their clandestine gambling dens and illegal distilleries.
The Feminist and the Fuzz (1971)
, 1h30Directed by Jerry Paris
Genres Comedy
Actors Barbara Eden, David Hartman, Jo Anne Worley, Herb Edelman, Julie Newmar, John McGiver
Roles Room Director
Rating58%
Dr. Jane Bowers (Barbara Eden) is a women's lib advocate who meets male chauvinist police officer Jerry Frazer (David Hartman) while engaging in a protest rally. Then, she is forced by a housing shortage to reach an unusual agreement with Jerry to share an apartment.
The Sixth Column (1970)
, 1h14Directed by George McCowan
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction
Actors Lloyd Bridges, Angie Dickinson, Harry Basch, Daniel J. Travanti, Byron Foulger, Pepper Martin
Rating63%
Two warring planets choose to settle their conflict over which of them will take over the planet Earth, each sending a trio of soldiers to Earth to fight to the death. The combatants, disguised as human beings, can only identify each other by using special visors.
The Wrecking Crew (1968)
, 1h45Directed by Phil Karlson
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Action, Spy
Themes Spy films
Actors Dean Martin, Elke Sommer, Sharon Tate, Nigel Green, Nancy Kwan, Chuck Norris
Roles Frankie
Rating54%
Matt Helm is assigned by his secret agency, ICE, to bring down an evil count named Contini who is trying to collapse the world economy by stealing a billion dollars in gold.
Angels from Hell (1968)
, 1h26Directed by Bruce Kessler
Origin USA
Genres Action
Themes Transport films, Road movies
Actors Arlene Martel, Ted Markland, Jack Starrett, Tom Stern, Pepper Martin, Sharmagne Leland-St. John
Rating49%
A former motorcycle gang leader, Mike (Tom Stern), returns home from Vietnam to resume his life and form a new motorcycle gang. Using all his gathered experience as a hero from the war he tries to unite all the existing motorcycle gangs in the neighborhood and put together a brand new, super outlaw gang. They beat a road police officer who wants to give them a parking ticket. Although the sheriff tries to calm everybody down, things are not going down well. Very soon Mike faces big trouble when Speed, one of his gang members, is stopped on fake possession charges and murdered on retaliation. The trouble intensifies when an all-out cop against biker war breaks out.