Hal Baylor

2.1. Childhood and Education

He spent his formative years growing up in Oakland, California, following his mother's remarriage to Walter H. Fieberling in January 1925, which led to his birth name changing to Hal Harvey Fieberling. After graduating from Oakland High School, he continued his education at Chico State College, where he was an active member of the football team. In the fall of 1938, he transferred to Washington State College and pledged with the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

2.2. Early Activities

Before fully embarking on his boxing career, by December 1939, Fieberling was working as an apprentice butcher in a meat market located on 14th Street in Oakland.

3.1. Amateur Boxing

Fieberling commenced his amateur boxing career in June 1938 in San Francisco, while still a college student. Representing the Athens Athletic Club of Oakland, he quickly distinguished himself by winning the State Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) novice heavyweight title in a single bout, decided on points. Early newspaper reports noted his left-handed fighting style. He repeated his success in August 1939, securing the State AAU heavyweight title by knocking out Jack Hillman of the San Francisco Olympic Club, who stood at 6 in and weighed 225 lb ^{(225 lb)}. However, he faced his first amateur defeat the following month in a rematch with Hillman, losing on points. His amateur record concluded with 52 wins and 5 losses.

3.2. Professional Boxing

After only five amateur fights, Fieberling signed a professional contract with manager Ray Carlen in May 1940. He made a strong professional debut, securing his first win by knocking out Phil Latonia in the third round. Three weeks later, he achieved another knockout victory against Bob Schaunbelt. Sportswriters of the era often nicknamed him "the butcher boy," frequently publishing photographs of him at his daytime job to highlight his unique background. Due to his handsome appearance, columnists also referred to him as "Handsome Hal" and "Prince Hal."

Throughout his boxing career, reports of his height varied, ranging from 6 in to 6 in. All of his matches were contested as a heavyweight. His weight fluctuated from a pre-boxing peak of 227 lb ^{(227 lb)} to a low of 189 lb ^{(189 lb)} after his return from the Pacific War. Following his military service, he resumed professional boxing, but his career was cut short in 1947 when he sustained a hand injury during a fight against Dutch Culbertson. His professional record stands at 16 wins, 8 losses, and 3 draws. Despite his promising start, sports columnist Eddie Muller later commented that Fieberling "didn't amount to much because he never took the game too seriously."

5.1. Early Film Appearances and Recognition

Hal Fieberling began his acting journey in 1948 with the boxing film Joe Palooka in Winner Take All. His entry into the industry was somewhat serendipitous; the film's star, Joe Kirkwood Jr., discovered him at a boxing arena. During the filming of a boxing scene, an accidental miscue led to Fieberling unintentionally knocking out Kirkwood. A year later, Fieberling served as an official witness during Kirkwood's final examination for U.S. naturalization.

His third film, The Set-Up (1949), marked his first credited role and brought him significant national attention. The screenplay was by Art Cohn, a former Oakland sportswriter, who had covered Fieberling's early boxing career. The film featured a realistic four-round boxing match between the star, Robert Ryan, who portrayed a struggling boxer, and Fieberling, playing a mob-controlled fighter. Reviewers lauded the film's realism and its avoidance of typical clichés. Ryan later recounted that filming the bout with Fieberling took 10 days to produce 11 minutes of footage. He stated that Fieberling hit hard, once knocking him cold for several seconds and causing a black eye and a bruised nose, making him glad he didn't pursue boxing professionally. In turn, Fieberling humorously remarked of Ryan, "There's one actor who can go more than two rounds in the Mocambo," a reference to the Mocambo nightclub's reputation for celebrity brawls. The Set-Up brought Fieberling more national publicity than his entire boxing career, which had been confined to California. He had three more films released in 1949, including Sands of Iwo Jima, which is considered one of his most remembered film roles. His earliest known television appearance was in March 1950, when he and his wife guested on The Frank Webb Show on KFI-TV in Los Angeles. Later that year, he appeared in two episodes of The Lone Ranger, though he humorously noted that television roles sometimes diminished his "tough guy" image among neighborhood children.

5.2. Adoption of Stage Name

By 1952, he decided to adopt the stage name "Hal Baylor," believing it was "easier to spell and pronounce than Fieberling." This choice also served to honor his great-great-grandfather, Robert E. B. Baylor, the founder of Baylor University.

5.3. Film and Television Appearances

Oakland sportswriter Alan Ward observed in 1957 that Baylor was consistently employed in movies and television, often cast as a "baby-faced villain" in westerns, despite having the physique of a college football hero. Thirteen years later, Ward reiterated this assessment, noting that Baylor was "usually the villain, rarely a hero." Baylor himself concurred, stating that a recent sympathetic role where he got to kiss a girl was "quite a departure from the norm" as he was typically cast as "the complete heel."

From 1959, he appeared in television commercials for Kellogg's OK breakfast cereal, portraying "Big Otis the Scotsman," until he was replaced by the character Yogi Bear. His final film performances occurred in 1975, with roles in A Boy and His Dog, Cornbread, Earl and Me, and Hustle. In A Boy and His Dog, Baylor played a killer android in the post-apocalyptic cult favorite. His last television work was an episode of CHiPs broadcast in 1978.

An interview in the Anaheim Bulletin noted that, like actors Jack Elam and Lee Van Cleef, Hal Baylor was a very pleasant and gentle person off-screen, bearing no visible marks from his prize-fighting career or countless on-camera brawls. He would resignedly state that he had been "beaten up" by virtually every actor, listing names like John Wayne, John Payne, Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum, and even Tab Hunter, who he deadpanned, "gave me a sound thrashing."

7.1. Charitable Activities and Community Involvement

He was the founder and long-standing president of a charitable organization initially called The Spotlighters, which later became known as The Starlighters and by other names. This group comprised show business personalities who actively raised funds for the San Fernando Valley Youth Center. Baylor also regularly participated in celebrity golf tournaments held to benefit various charities. He was a partner in an exclusive outdoor sports development near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and expressed a desire to retire there to hunt, fish, and watch classic films.

7.2. Death

Hal Baylor passed away in Los Angeles on January 15, 1998.

8.1. As Hal Fieberling

8.2. As Hal Baylor