 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Norman Lowndes[1][3] (1941-07-25)25 July 1941 |
| Died | 22 August 2019(2019-08-22) (aged 78) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Norman Frederick Charles III Maurice LaRue Murphy the Surfie Murphy the Magnificent Norman Fredick Charles Wild Red Berry[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Sydney, Australia |
| Trained by | Al Morgan[2] |
| Debut | 1960[2] |
| Retired | 1983 |
Norman Frederick Charles III (25 July 1941 – 22 August 2019[4]) was an Englishprofessional wrestler who was known worldwide under the nameMurphy the Surfie. Initially Charles competed both in North American and international promotions as part ofThe Royal Kangaroos with his cousinJonathan Boyd.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
Charles made his professional wrestling debut in 1960, wrestling initially in Australia before he and his cousin travelled to North America to compete as The Royal Kangaroos, a name inspired by the legendary tag team theFabulous Kangaroos.[15] Boyle and Charles worked mainly forPacific Northwest Wrestling in Oregon, capturing their firstNWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship from Kurt and Karl Von Steiger on 11 July 1971,[16] their first reign lasted only 6 weeks but the cousins would win the tag team title a further four times between June 1971 and December 1975.[16]
After working for Pacific Northwest, the Royal Kangaroos headed further north to joinStu Hart'sStampede Wrestling promotion. In June 1977 the duo defeatedLeo Burke andKeith Hart for theStampede International Tag Team Championship but dropped it to Leo Burke and his new tag team partner Bobby Burke only a short time later.[16] After their run in Stampede together the Royal Kangaroos broke up after a disagreement in Calgary Canada over differences in how to promote themselves. They reunited for a short time in 1978 in Vancouver. Charles remained with Stampede for some time while Jonathan Boyd returned to the Pacific Northwest.