Larry A. Pitchford (April 29, 1936 – July 22, 2024), better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Beauregarde, was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and musician.

Professional wrestling career

Pitchford's wrestling career began in 1963, touring the Philippines as "Eric the Golden Boy". Given the name Beauregarde by fellow wrestler Ripper Collins, he next debuted as a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

in Hawaii before returning to Portland. By 1970, he had become one of the biggest names on the NWA's

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ...

circuit, and won the

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of O ...

in 1968 (teamed with

Lonnie Mayne Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne (September 12, 1944 – August 14, 1978) was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. He wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories, as ...

), 1969 (with Roger Kirby), 1970 (with The Claw) and 1971 (with

Dutch Savage Frank Stewart (June 9, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage. Career Savage made his pro d ...

). Beauregarde was renowned for his unique wrestling moves (and finishing move "The Thumb") and crazy characters he created for himself. On match days, he would find a historic figure whose date of birth fell on that day and pretend to be them during the match and in interviews.Records by Mail archive: "Beauregarde - Beautiful Beau"
/ref> In 1971, he released an album bearing his stage name, ''Beauregarde'', featuring Greg Sage of Wipers on guitar. Beauregarde enlisted Sage (then 17) after overhearing him playing guitar for a friend's band at Sound Productions studio in Portland in 1969. In 1973, he managed the tag team of Brute Bernard and Jay York in

Jim Crockett James Allen Crockett Sr. (June 2, 1908 – April 1, 1973) was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional sports franchise owner sometimes known as Jim Crockett Sr., or to people within the business simply as "Big Jim". Early lif ...

's Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling promotion.

Retirement and later life

After retiring from wrestling in 1979, he bought a sheet-rock company in Florida where he lived and spent most of his time fishing. On February 4, 2006, Beauregarde made his first wrestling-related appearance in many years at Hardkore Championship Wrestling's Incredible 8 Tournament in South Florida, where he was one of the first "HCW Honorable Contribution to Wrestling Award" recipients along with wrestlers Rusty Brooks, Stephen "Big Daddy" DiBlasio and "Outlaw" JR James. Beauregarde died at a nursing home in

Honesdale, Pennsylvania Honesdale is a Local government in Pennsylvania#Borough, borough in, and the county seat of, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 4,458 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Honesdale is lo ...

, on July 22, 2024, at the age of 88.

Championships and accomplishments

( 5 time) - with

(1 time),

(2 times), Roger Kirby (1 time), and The Claw (1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beauregarde 1936 births 2024 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Oregon Professional wrestlers from Portland, Oregon