Happy Humphrey

This article is about the wrestler. For other persons named William Cobb, see William Cobb (disambiguation)

William J. Cobb (July 16, 1926 - March 14, 1989), best known by his ring and screen names of Happy Humphrey and "Squasher" Humphrey, was one of the heaviest professional wrestlers of all time. His most active period was in the 1950s and 1960s when he billed himself as "the world's largest wrestler."^[1] Humphrey averaged 750 pounds during his career. Several times he weighed in at over 800 pounds.

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Wrestling career

Humphrey, who at the time was working on a farm where he was known for his uncommon strength, began his wrestling career in 1953 by wrestling a bear for 28 minutes.^[2] For about eight years, Humphrey wrestled a number of matches, some of them televised, often against Haystacks Calhoun who regularly weighed over 600 pounds himself. Humphrey's promoters had a customized car built to carry the wrestler around: seats were removed and extra shocks were installed to support Humphrey's enormous weight (and also as a gimmick).^[2]

Outside wrestling

Humphrey had difficulty fitting in with regular society due to his great size. People stared at him on the street and he was often refused service at restaurants. In one incident in Alabama, he became stuck in a telephone booth and eight police officers were required to extract him.^[2] In another incident (this time in New Orleans), Humphrey attended a movie and became stuck in the theater seat. Welders had to cut the seats around him in order to get him out.^[2] Towards the end of his regular career, he recognized his problem and had an operation to remove 100 pounds of fat from his body, however he gained the weight back soon afterwards.

Doctor-regulated lifestyle

In 1962 Humphrey was forced into early retirement due to a heart condition.^[1] After retiring, his weight ballooned to over 900 pounds. At this weight he would tire after about 10 steps, and have to sit down (in two chairs). Humphrey attempted to control his eating habits (which sometimes included eating up to 15 whole chickens in one sitting^[1]), but after consulting with doctors, he decided to volunteer for obesity research and checked himself into the Medical College of Georgia's Clinical Investigation Unit in Augusta. Upon entering the clinic, he weighed 802 pounds.

For two years, Humphrey followed a strict doctor-controlled diet regimen. He was not allowed to exercise (in order to avoid fluid loss via sweat) and was confined to the air conditioned clinic itself. The regimen included strictly-measured amounts of food and water, with about 1,000 calories total per day and a rotation in 56-day cycles. The first cycle consisted of high-protein foods, including eggs, skim milk, ground beef, margarine with toast, tomato soup, catsup, green peas, and applesauce. The next cycle was high-carbohydrate, including toast, corn, lima beans, shortbread, peaches, applesauce, pineapple, puffed rice, skim milk, grape juice, orange juice, and small amounts of sugar. The third cycle was a high-fat diet: salt-free mayonnaise and butter, tomatoes, eggs, whipped cream, and cream cheese.^[1]

Massive weight loss/obesity study

In the spring of 1965, Humphrey left the clinic where he had lived the previous two years. He weighed a comparatively healthy 232 pounds, a total loss of 570 pounds since he was admitted. Humphrey won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as "champion slimmer" for this weight loss.

According to the 2-year study headed up by Unit Director Dr. Wayne Greenberg, Humphrey's weight loss on each of the three diets was approximately the same, however the nature of the actual body matter lost during each differed significantly. The vast majority of the weight lost on the high-protein diet was body fat and Humphrey's hunger was satisfied for longer periods between meals as well. On the high-fat regimen, about two-thirds of the weight lost was body fat with the rest being water, with an undesirable side effect of high blood cholesterol. On the carbohydrate-based diet, half of the weight lost consisted of body fat and the other half was water and muscle tissue. Greenberg noted at the end of the study that dieters who only use a scale as a means of determining weight loss can't tell how much of what they are losing is actually body fat as opposed to water and muscle tissue.^[1]

Life after the study

After leaving the clinic, Humphrey got a job at an Augusta, Georgia shoe repair shop and never returned to the ring. He stated that he missed the sport and mixing it up with other wrestlers but was looking forward to a new life as a normal-sized individual.^[2]

In 1975, Humphrey appeared in the film Moonrunners as "Tiny the Syndicate Man". The massively popular TV show The Dukes of Hazzard was based on this film.^[3]

In later years, Humphrey regained much of his excess weight and died of a heart attack on March 14, 1989 at a weight of over 600 lb.

References