Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr. (October 1, 1874 – May 27, 1948) was a millionaire whose fortune allowed him to pursue theatricals, self-published writing, athletics, and Christianity on a full-time basis. He trained men in hand-to-hand combat in both World Wars, was a fellow of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

and founded a movement called "Athletic Christianity" that eventually attracted 300,000 members around the world. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' called him "boxing's greatest amateur" in 1955, as well as a "major factor in the re-establishment of boxing as a legal and, at that time, estimable sport." A fictionalized Biddle appears in the 1967 Disney musical film ''

The Happiest Millionaire ''The Happiest Millionaire'' is a 1967 American musical film starring Fred MacMurray, based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr., Anthony Drexel Biddle. The film, featuring music by the Sherman Brothe ...

''.

Early life

He was born on October 1, 1874, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to Edward Biddle II and Emily Drexel. He was a grandson of banker

Anthony Joseph Drexel Anthony Joseph Drexel Sr. (September 13, 1826 – June 30, 1893) was an American banker who played a major role in the rise of modern global finance after the American Civil War. As the dominant partner of Drexel Burnham Lambert, Drexel & Co. of ...

, and a great-grandson of banker Nicholas Biddle. Biddle was a graduate of Germany's

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

.''Philadelphia Inquirer'', Friday Morning, 28 May 1948

Career

An officer in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, Biddle was an expert in close-quarters fighting and the author of ''Do or Die: A Supplementary Manual on Individual Combat'', a book on combat methods, including knives and empty-hand skills, training both the

in two world wars and special agents of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. He can be seen training Marines in the

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

short documentary '' Soldiers of the Sea''. He was considered not just an expert in fighting, but also a pioneer of United States Marine Corps training in the bayonet and hand-to-hand combat. He based his style on fencing, though this approach was sometimes criticized as being unrealistic for military combat. Having joined the Marines in 1917 at the age of 41, he also convinced his superiors to include boxing in Marine Corps recruit training. In 1919, he was promoted to the rank of major, and became a lieutenant colonel in 1934. In

Lansdowne, Pennsylvania Lansdowne is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southwest of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. It was named for the Marquess of Lansdowne. As of the 2010 United States ...

, right outside of Philadelphia, Biddle opened a military training facility, where he trained 4,000 men. His training included long hours of

calisthenics Calisthenics (American English) or callisthenics (British English) () is a form of strength training that utilizes an individual's body weight as resistance to perform multi-joint, compound movements with little or no equipment. Calisthenics sol ...

and gymnastics, and taught skills such as machete, saber, dagger, and bayonet combat, as well as hand grenade use, boxing, wrestling,

savate Savate (), also known as French Boxing (French language, French: ''Boxe Française'') or French Foot Fighting, is a French hybrid martial art and full-contact combat sport that combines principles of boxing, western boxing with a wide variety ...

and

jiujitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

. He also served two years in the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

. A keen boxer, Biddle sparred with Jack Johnson and taught boxing to

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

. He even hosted "boxing teas" in his home, where other boxers would spar a couple of rounds with him and then join the family for dinner. A February 1909 match with

Philadelphia Jack O'Brien Joseph Francis Hagan (better known as Philadelphia Jack O'Brien) (January 17, 1878 – November 12, 1942) was an American list of world light-heavyweight boxing champions, world light heavyweight boxing champion in 1905 when he defeated Bob Fitzs ...

was attended by society leaders including women in elegant

evening gown An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from Ballerina skirt, ballerina (mid-calf to just above the ankles), Tea length, tea (above the ankles), to Skirt length, full-length. S ...

s. He served as a judge in the fight between

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. One of the most iconic athl ...

and

Jess Willard Jess Myron Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was an American world heavyweight boxing champion billed as the Pottawatomie Giant. He won the world heavyweight title in 1915 by knocking out Jack Johnson (boxer), Jack Johnson. Wil ...

on 4 July 1919. On February 5, 1920, Biddle, as chairman of the Army Navy and Civilian Board of Boxing Control of New York, became a member the International Boxing Union. During World War II, Biddle returned to active duty with the Marine Corps with the rank of colonel and taught hand-to-hand combat to recruits.

Writings

Biddle also worked in and on periodicals. He spent time as a sports reporter for the ''Public Ledger'', and jokingly referred to himself as "the poorest and richest reporter in Philadelphia". He also revived the ''Philadelphia Sunday Graphic'' for a short interval, before it was forced to fold, and founded a short-lived "society weekly"–type publication, ''The People''. After organizing the also short-lived Drexel Biddle Publishing House, he acted as its head for two years. Books written by Biddle include: * ''A dual rôle: and other stories''. The Warwick Book Publishing Company. 1894. * ''The Madeira Islands''. Philadelphia: Drexel, Biddle & Bradley Publishing Company. 1896. * ''Shantytown Sketches''. Philadelphia: Drexel, Biddle & Bradley Publishing Company. 1897. * ''The Froggy Fairy Book'' (1896) and ''The Second Froggy Fairy Book'' (1900) Drexel, Biddle & Bradley publishing company * ''The Flowers of Life''. Philadelphia: Drexel, Biddle & Bradley Publishing Company. 1897. * ''Word for Word and Letter for Letter; a biographical romance''. Gay & Bird. 1898. * ''The Land of the Wine''. London: The Author's Syndicate. 1901. * ''Do or Die: A Supplementary Manual on Individual Combat''. U.S. Marine Corps. 1937. (reprinted 1944 with new material, reprinted 1975)

Personal life

In 1895, he married Cordelia Rundell Bradley. Together, they had: * Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. (1897–1961), who married Mary Duke (1887–1960). They were the parents of Mary Duke Biddle (1920–2012) and Nicholas Benjamin Duke Biddle. * Cordelia Drexel Biddle (1898–1984), who married firstly Angier Buchanan Duke (1884–1923), the son of Benjamin Newton Duke. They were the parents of Angier Biddle Duke (1915–1995) and Anthony Drexel Duke (1918–2014). Her second marriage was to then architect Thomas Markoe Robertson in 1924. * Livingston Ludlow Biddle (1899–1981), who married Kate Raboteau Page (b. 1903), daughter of Robert N. Page. They were the parents of Livingston Ludlow Biddle III. Kate obtained a divorce in Reno in 1937, citing cruelty. Biddle married Suzanne Hutchinson Burke (1909-2000) whose mother was Mary Forbes Fay, the daughter of Alford Forbes Fay (1843-1881). Suzanne donated two paintings by Jane Stuart of her mother and great uncle Sigourney Webster Fay (1836-1908) to the Boston Athenaeum in 1983. Monsignor Cyril Sigourney Webster Fay (1875-1919) was her uncle; he was an early mentor to author F. Scott Fitzgerald. He died May 27, 1948, from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

and

uremic poisoning Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden decrease in kidney function that develops within seven days, as shown by an increase in serum creatinine or a decrease in urine output, or both. Causes of AKI a ...

and is interred at the

Woodlands Cemetery The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark District on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It includes a Federal-style mansion, a matching carriage house and stable, and a garden landscape that in 1840 was transformed int ...

in Philadelphia.

Legacy

His daughter Cordelia Drexel Biddle collaborated with Kyle Crichton (father of Robert Crichton) to write the 1955 novel ''My Philadelphia Father'', based on her family. The book was adapted as a stage play starring

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. A major leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood, known for his "portrayals of men who prove both sturdy and wise," Pidgeon earned two Academy ...

in 1956. The story of the eccentric millionaire patriarch was adapted as a

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

in 1967, with

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

portraying Biddle in ''

'', the last film to have personal involvement from

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

. The book ''Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr.: Pioneer of Combatives in the U.S.A.'' was published in 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biddle, Anthony Joseph Drexel Sr. 1874 births 1948 deaths American philanthropists Anthony Joseph Drexel Sr. Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery Drexel family Members of the Philadelphia Club Military personnel from Philadelphia United States Marine Corps officers Heidelberg University alumni United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I People associated with physical culture American expatriates in Germany American boxing trainers American boxing referees