Nathan Boya (July 28, 1924 – August 8, 2022; real name William Fitzgerald) was the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to go over Niagara Falls. Later in life, he authored two novels.

Biography

Very little is known about Fitzgerald. He claimed to be self-employed, but others have claimed he worked for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. On July 15, 1961, Fitzgerald went over the

Horseshoe Falls Horseshoe Falls is the largest of the three waterfalls that collectively form Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border. Approximately 90% of the Niagara River, after diversions for hydropower generation, flows ...

in a metal ball he helped design called the "Plunge-O-Sphere". Performing stunts on the Falls could only be performed with permission, following the death of William Hill Jr. in 1951. Fitzgerald did not obtain a permit for his stunt and was arrested and fined after completing it. Fitzgerald appeared (as Boya) as a contestant on '' I've Got a Secret'' on August 30, 1961. His secret was "I went over Niagara Falls in a 6-foot ball."

Bill Cullen William Lawrence Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. Known for appearing on game shows and later as a prolific game show host, he hosted 23 shows, ear ...

and

Betsy Palmer Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress known for her many film and Broadway roles, television guest-starring appearances, as a panelist on the game show '' I've Got a Secret'', and la ...

questioned him. The other panelists,

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

and

Bess Myerson Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model, and television actress who in 1945 became the first Jewish Miss America. Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an affirmation of th ...

, recognized him. He was later a contestant on ''

To Tell The Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' on an episode that aired January 15, 1962. Three of the four members of the celebrity panel (

Tom Poston Thomas Gordon Poston (October 17, 1921 – April 30, 2007) was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more sitcoms than any other actor. In the 1980s, he played ...

Dina Merrill Dina Merrill (born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton; December 29, 1923 – May 22, 2017) was an American actress. She had more than a hundred film and television credits from the late 1950s until 2000s. She married three times. Early life Merrill was ...

and

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

) guessed him correctly;

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

did not. Following the flurry of appearances after his plunge, Fitzgerald did not make public appearances again until 1985, when he attended

Karel Soucek Karel Soucek (April 19, 1947 – January 20, 1985) was a Czech professional daredevil living in Canada who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1984. He died the following year due to injuries sustained during a stunt attempt at the Astro ...

's funeral, and in 1988, while protesting discriminatory actions against a scientist he called "Dr. X".

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

(21 July 1961).

Bill Mauldin William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by the ...

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

, Nathan Boya : Niagara. Interviewed in 2012 for a ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' television special about Niagara Falls daredevils, Fitzgerald revealed his reason for his stunt after decades of silence: he had broken off his engagement to a woman whom he felt he had wronged, and he performed the dangerous stunt as a form of penance. Niagara Falls had been their planned honeymoon destination. Later in life, Fitzgerald moved to

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, and authored two novels. Fitzgerald was a 1943 graduate of Kingston High School in

Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...

. In 2018, aged 93, he endowed a yearly scholarship there in the names of his parents: Augustus and Sarah FitzGerald. Fitzgerald died on August 8, 2022, at the age of 98.

Published works

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Biography

Published works

See also

References

Further reading