GARY RICHARD WILLIAMS 1942-2008

Pro wrestler, manager called Playboy Gary Hart

By JACK DOUGLAS JR.

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

GARY RICHARD WILLIAMS

He was intimidating in the wrestling ring, standing 6 foot 3 and weighing more than 230 pounds. Away from the ring, he was a loving pushover, at least to his family.

Gary Richard Williams, aka Playboy Gary Hart in the professional wrestling world, died Sunday after a sudden illness. He was 66.

Mr. Williams, who was born Jan. 24, 1942, in Evansville, Ind., began wrestling as a teenager. But it was later, when he started managing other wrestlers, that he hit the big time.

"He was probably one of the five greatest managers of all time," said Dave Meltzer, publisher of Wrestling Observer, a print and online trade publication.

On its Web site, World Wrestling Entertainment calls Mr. Williams "legendary" for helping to establish the rivalry between the famed Texas wrestling family the Von Erichs and the Fabulous Freebirds. The matchup, according to the WWE, helped propel professional wrestling to "national and worldwide prominence in the 1980s."

In his heyday, Mr. Williams managed big-name wrestlers including Bruiser Brody, Abdullah the Butcher and Gentleman Chris Adams.

A masked wrestler known as The Spoiler was Mr. Williams' best man at his wedding in 1968 to a Fort Worth girl. They met after the matches at what was then the Northside Coliseum in the Stockyards.

"He saw me sitting in my car with my stepsister. He came over to the car and started talking. It was love at first sight," Gloria Elaine Williams of Crowley said Tuesday.

"He was a wonderful human being. He was a great dad. He was very loving, caring -- all of the above."

Although the couple were estranged, they remained close, she said.

Gloria Williams said her husband began wrestling at age 17, first performing in Chicago and Detroit and later across the country. He wrestled, and later managed wrestlers, at North Texas venues including the Sportatorium in Dallas and Will Rogers Coliseum and Northside Coliseum in Fort Worth.

After moving to Euless in 1990, Mr. Williams spent much of his time promoting wrestling and was a "much sought-after historian" in the sport, according to the WWE Web site.

Mr. Williams had just returned from an autograph-signing appearance in Pennsylvania when he fell ill at his home.

Other survivors include two sons, Jason Williams and Chad Williams, both of Euless; his mother, Sadie Williams of Evansville, Ind.; a brother, Guy Williams of Indiana; and two sisters, Norma Moorehead and Fern Egan, both of Indiana.