Robert E. Leedy (9 February 1921 – 31 May 1974) was a Canadian

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 ...

, boxer and actor, 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 ...

, Ski Hi Lee (also spelled Sky Hi Lee, Sky High Lee, and Sky Hy Lee). Known for his great height and strength, he was described as the tallest professional wrestler of his era and as "among the roughest in the business".

Early life

Leedy was born on 9 February 1921 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada.

Professional wrestling career

Leedy began wrestling in 1944. During the late 1940s, he wrestled for various promotions in Canada and the United States.

Midget wrestler Midget wrestling is professional wrestling involving people of exceptionally short stature. Its heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, when wrestlers such as Little Beaver, Lord Littlebrook, toured North America, and Sky Low Low was the first hold ...

Sky Low Low, who debuted in the late 1940s, adopted his ring name in reference to Lee. By 1950, Lee was appearing with the

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

-based Big Time Wrestling promotion. On 26 February 1951, Lee defeated

Al Mills Adolph Henry Mittlestadt (November 5, 1910 to October 7, 1961), best known by his ring name, "Mr. Murder" Al Mills, was a Canadian professional wrestler. He often teamed with his brother Tiny Mills as the tag team Murder Incorporated (Murder Inc.) ...

for the promotion's

NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship The ECCW Canadian Championship was the top singles title in Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1978 until 1984, when it was abandoned after the Toronto promotion partnered with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Its national scope was in name only, sim ...

. Mills regained the championship from Lee the following month. Lee won the championship from Mills a second time on 29 January 1952, once again losing the championship to Mills in a rematch the following month. On 2 April 1955, Lee and Earl McCready defeated

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was ...

and Lou Sjoberg for the

Alberta Tag Team Championship In professional wrestling, the Alberta Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship promoted by the Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling in the mid-1950s. History The Alberta Tag Team Champions ...

. They lost the championship back to Von Erich and Sjoberg later that month. On 20 May 1955, Lee defeated Von Erich and Sjoberg for the championship a second time, this time with Don Lee as his partner. Lee continued to wrestle for Big Time Wrestling until at least 1956. In 1957, Lee wrestled 30 matches in Australia - including two bouts against

NWA World Heavyweight Champion The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...

- followed by a single bout in New Zealand. In late-1957, Lee began wrestling for the

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

-based promotion

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Haw ...

. He continued to wrestle for the promotion until early 1959. During his stint in Hawaii, Lee lived in Waikiki in Honolulu. In late-1958, Lee toured Japan with the

Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance The , also known as the Japan Pro Wrestling Association and the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA), was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963 ...

, participating in the "International Competitions of the Fall" series as one-half of a tag team with

Don Leo Jonathan Don Heaton (April 29, 1931 – October 13, 2018), also known as Don Leo Jonathan, was an American-Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Jonathan, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant" was a second generation star (his father was ...

. While in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

, Lee visited

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

during the

Second Taiwan Strait Crisis The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also known as the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). The PRC shelled the islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Matsu Is ...

, reportedly being introduced to Chiang Kai-shek. In the early-1960s, Lee toured South Africa. In 1961,

Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is fr ...

recorded a satirical song entitled " Ag Pleez Deddy" ("Oh Please Daddy") in which reference is made to a scheduled bout between Lee and the South African wrestler Willie Liebenberg. After finishing his tour, Lee flew to the United Kingdom in 1962 to exchange his pay, which he had been given in sterling. He ultimately settled in the UK, working for

Joint Promotions The history of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over one hundred years. After a brief spell of popularity for Greco Roman wrestling, Greco Roman professional wrestling during the Edwardian era, the first catch-as-catch-can base ...

and other companies. During his time in the UK, he faced Tiger Joe Robinson in a bout that promoter

Atholl Oakeley Sir Edward Atholl Oakeley, 7th Baronet, of Shrewsbury (31 May 1900 – January 1987), known under the ring name Atholl Oakeley, was a British professional wrestler and wrestling promoter who was one of the pioneers of professional wrestling ...

described as "one of the finest fights ever seen in London". Leedy's last recorded bouts were in mid-1968, when he toured Japan with

International Wrestling Enterprise was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association in the United States and also had tie-ins with promotions in Canada and Europe. In 1972, it ...

as part of its "Big Summer Series".

Professional wrestling persona

Early in his career Lee wrestled as a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

and was billed from his hometown of Toronto. He used various ring names before settling on "Ski Hi Lee". Later in his career, Lee wrestled 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 ...

and was billed as being a cowboy from

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

(or, less commonly,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

) in the United States, with his character described as a "

country bumpkin Yokel is one of several derogatory terms referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people. The term is of uncertain etymology and is only attested from the early 19th century on. Yokels are depicted as straightforward, simple, na� ...

version of Jaws" and a "

roughneck A roughneck is a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig. The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been adopted by ...

" and supposedly being the son of the Texas Ranger "Hi Lee". Lee was described by Pat Barrett as "one of the most hated men in wrestling, on a par with

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the Wo ...

"; on at least one occasion he was attacked by multiple audience members while leaving the ring. Lee had a distinctive appearance, with Bob Leonard describing him as "this great big, raw-boned guy who had the look of a corpse that had been left hanging around for a couple of days ho hadlong, shaggy hair nd wasalways unshaven". His hair was described as a "lion-like mane". One writer described his "large head, long curly locks, sideburns, walrus moustache and 'mutton-chop' whiskers". Lee was referred to by one audience member as "the first person I ever saw who was a lean 292 pounds". He was known to wear a

stetson Stetson is an American brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, particularly in Scouting. John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous ...

. Lee wrestled in a brawling style that emphasised his height and strength, with frequent choking and gouging. His finishers included a

backbreaker Backbreaker refers to a kind of professional wrestling move which sees a wrestler dropping an opponent so that the opponent's back impacts or is bent backwards against a part of the wrestler's body, usually the knee. The standard version of the ...

, a

knee drop Strikes can be offensive moves in professional wrestling, that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a Professional wrestling holds, hold or for a Professional wrestling throws, throw. There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, ...

, and a right-handed punch.

Boxing career

Leedy boxed from 1945 to 1946 as a heavyweight under the

Robin "Tiny" Lee (sometimes referred to as simply "Tiny Lee"). Fighting out of San Francisco, California, he was billed as with an reach. He is recorded by

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

as having fought 17 bouts between July 11, 1945, and June 25, 1946, of which he won 11, lost five, and drew one. In September 1945, he reportedly defeated Billy Gilbert by knockout in 14 seconds.

Acting career

Leedy acted in three films: the French comedies ''L'Empire de la Nuit'' and ''

Les Bricoleurs ''Les bricoleurs'' (''The Handymen'') is a 1963 French thriller film directed by Jean Girault and starring Francis Blanche, Darry Cowl, Elke Sommer and Jacqueline Maillan. It was released in the United States as ''Who Stole the Body?'' Premise ...

'' in 1962 and 1963 respectively, and the Indian mystery ''Nasihat'' in 1967.

Personal life

Leedy suffered from

acromegaly Acromegaly is a disorder that results in excess growth of certain parts of the human body. It is caused by excess growth hormone (GH) after the growth plates have closed. The initial symptom is typically enlargement of the hands and feet. There ...

. He had a high

pain tolerance Pain tolerance is the maximum level of pain that a person is able to tolerate. Pain tolerance is distinct from pain threshold (the point at which pain begins to be felt).geek show Geek shows were an act in traveling carnivals and circuses of early United States, America and were often part of a larger sideshow. The billed performer's act consisted of a single wikt:geek, geek, who stood in the center ring to chase live chi ...

feats including chewing glass and allowing people to throw darts into his bare back. Lee owned a 200-acre

dude ranch A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agrotourism. History Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...

Bolton, Ontario Bolton ( 2021 population 26,795) is an unincorporated town and is the most populous community in the town of Caledon, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is located beside the Humber River, approximately 50 kilometres nor ...

(the "Rocking H"), as well as a restaurant in Toronto and 1,200 acres in

. Lee was a heavy drinker, reportedly drinking a forty of whisky for breakfast. Fellow wrestler

Orig Williams Orig Williams (20 March 1931 – 12 November 2009) was a Welsh professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Williams spent his wrestling career in the persona of a villainous heel under the ring name "El Bandito", and after retiring as a figh ...

described him as a "world-class drinker" who would drink three bottles of whisky daily. Fellow wrestler

Al Oeming Albert Frederick Hans Oeming (April 9, 1925 – March 17, 2014) was a Canadian wildlife conservationist, zoologist, professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Oeming co-founded the professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling and owned t ...

quoted Lee's aunt as bemoaning him having on one occasion drunk "a 26er of King's Straight for breakfast, a 26er at noon, and a 26er at night".

Death

Leedy died on 31 May 1974 in his adopted home of London. His death has variously been ascribed to complications from acromegaly,

alcohol intoxication Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of Alcohol (drug), alcohol. The technical ter ...

, and health complications caused by a cook lacing a meal he had eaten with

rat poison Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, groundhog, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Some rod ...

Championships and accomplishments

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

(2 times) - with Don Lee (1 time) and Earl McCready (1 time) **

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) **

Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

(Class of 1995)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ski Hi 1921 births 1974 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian male boxers Canadian male film actors Canadian male professional wrestlers Canadian ranchers Heavyweight boxers Male actors from Toronto NWA Canadian Heavyweight Champions (Calgary version) Professional wrestlers from Toronto Stampede Wrestling alumni Wrestlers with acromegaly 20th-century Canadian sportsmen