Ambrose "Amblin' Amby" Schindler (April 21, 1917 – December 30, 2018) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player, coach, and on-field official. He played football at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC). Schindler served as the head football coach at

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a public community college in Los Angeles County, California. Most of it is in Alondra Park,Alondra Park, California Alondra Park (), also known as El Camino Village, is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the unincorporated area north of Alondra Community ...

from 1947 to 1951.

Sports career

Schindler prepped at

San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, San Diego, California, Balboa Park in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School Dist ...

. A star

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

, during the 1937 season he led the team in rushing, scoring and total offense and was named to all-conference honors.1997 Inductees for USC Athletic Hall of Fame
USCTrojans.com, November 30, 1996, accessed July 12, 2011. His senior year, he led the Trojans to a share of the 1939

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

: At the

1940 Rose Bowl The 1940 Rose Bowl was the 26th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 1. In a matchup of undefeated teams, the third-ranked USC Trojans of the Pacific Coast Conference (PC ...

, capping the 1939 season, Schindler ran for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

and passed for another in a 14-0 victory over a Tennessee Volunteers team that had previously gone undefeated for 23 games and unscored upon for the previous 16 games (including the entire 1939 regular season); he was named the game's most valuable player. He went on to be the MVP in the 1940

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the ...

, held at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

.Jerry Crowe
Ambrose Schindler followed his own road to success at USC and beyond
''Los Angeles Times'', July 10, 2011, accessed July 12, 2011.
''Time'', September 9, 1940, accessed July 12, 2011.

Film and stunt work

During the end of his college career, he appeared in ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' (1939) as a Winkie guard and as

Jack Haley John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1898 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer, drummer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 193 ...

's Tin Man stunt double. At the time of his death, Schindler was one of the last surviving living people working on the film classic, having outlived all major cast members, original Tin Man

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr.; April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillb ...

, and adult Munchkins (

Jerry Maren Jerry Maren (born Gerard Marenghi; January 24, 1920 – May 24, 2018) was an American actor who played a Munchkin member of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film ''The Wizard of Oz.'' He became the last surviving adult Munchkin ...

died several months before him). He also appeared in ''

Sailor's Lady ''Sailor's Lady'', also known as ''Sweetheart of Turret One'', is a 1940 film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Nancy Kelly and Jon Hall. The supporting cast includes Joan Davis, Dana Andrews, and Buster Crabbe. Football player Amby Schind ...

'' (1940).

Later sport career and honours

Although selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the 1940 NFL draft, Schindler did not play in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. At the time, coaching at high school and college offered more financial security than the low pay NFL of the early 1940s; he would later admit that he had lifelong doubts about his decision. His first offer out of college was to coach at Glendale High School, so chose it over a professional career. He served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and returned to move into a long career as coach and instructor at

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a public community college in Los Angeles County, California. Most of it is in Alondra Park,Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

. In addition, Schindler also was a longtime football game official, working for years in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

and later officiating high school and college games. He was inducted into the

San Diego Hall of Champions The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California, until its closure in June 2017. It housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame, San Diego's sports hall of fame, which is now located at Petco Park. Breitbard Hal ...

Breitbard Hall of Fame in 1973., San Diego Hall of Champions, June 25, 2008, accessed July 12, 2011. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997, and the

Rose Bowl Hall of Fame The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. ...

in 2002.USC'S Ambrose Schindler Named to Rose Bowl Hall Of Fame
USCTrojans.com, November 1, 2002, accessed July 12, 2011.

Personal life

Schindler was one of three children born to Charles Anthony Schindler (1880–1961) and Nellie Ethel Parks (1880–1957). Schindler married his wife, Lucille Frances West (1917–1984), on August 29, 1943, and they together had two children. He did occasionally think about what his life would have been like if he played professional football, but part of his decision to select a more, at the time, stable career was because of his wife. His descendants noted that Schindler had suffered several concussions during his college career and that his short-term memory during his 90s had deteriorated rapidly compared to his sister's at a similar age; thus not going professional as a football player may have spared him from worse

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets wor ...

. Schindler loved

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

and

bicycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

and was an active surfer until age 75. He drove a

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

with a vanity license plate reading "X USC QB." He

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in April 2017 and died in December 2018 of undisclosed causes at the age of 101.

Head coaching record

Junior college

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schindler, Ambrose 1917 births 2018 deaths American men centenarians American Football League officials American football quarterbacks College football officials El Camino Warriors football coaches USC Trojans football players El Camino College faculty United States Navy personnel of World War II San Diego High School alumni High school football coaches in California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from San Diego Male actors from San Diego Military personnel from San Diego