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Christos Theofilou (; January 2, 1894 – August 19, 1975), better known as " The Golden Greek" Jim Londos (Greek language: Τζιμ Λόντος), was a Greek Americans professional wrestler. Londos was one of the most popular stars on the professional wrestling circuit from the 1920s through the 1940s and the first immigrant to be an athletic superstar in the United States.
At age 15, he emigrated to the United States with a cousin in search of adventure and to escape what he called his father's "stern" ways.Johnson, Steven, "Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling." McFarland Books, 2005, p. 25. He sailed for three weeks in steerage class aboard a steamship before landing at Ellis Island on October 10, 1909. He worked his way across the country by riding the rails. In Chicago, he shared an apartment with two friends from Greece and picked up his love of wrestling by watching amateur wrestling at a gymnasium in a resettlement complex. He also worked on a railroad in Utah before relocating to San Francisco, where his cousin lived.
At first, Londos wrestled under his Theophelos name, as well as Young Santell and Syrian Jim Wilson. With input from an Oregon sports editor, he changed his name to Jim Londas and then Jim Londos, saying it was easier to pronounce. The disguise also hid his wrestling from his family.Johnson, Steven, "Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling." McFarland Books, 2005, p. 47.
Londos labored for years to break through to the top of his profession, but at 5-8, he was considered too small and too Greek to be the most important figure in wrestling. He failed in nearly a dozen tries to wrest the world title from Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Dick Shikat and Joe Stecher. During a 1928 trip to Greece, the first time he had been there in 18 years, he saw how much faith his country men and women had in him, and vowed to win the world title for them and for his father.Johnson, Steven, "Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling." McFarland Books, 2005, pp. 92-93.
After a series of inter-promotional fights, Londos squared off again with Shikat for a version of the world championship on July 3, 1930 in Philadelphia under the promotion of Ray Fabiani. Londos won the match and altered the standard of a wrestling champion, defending his title 120-130 times a year before the largest crowds the sport had ever seen. Promoters ran just three shows in Madison Square Garden in the 20 months prior to Londos' championship win, averaging less than 3,200 fans. Londos immediately started selling out the Garden, drawing 20,000 against a variety of opponents.Scott Teal and J Michael Kenyon, "Wrestling in the Garden." Crowbar Press, 2017, pp. 56-59. He became the greatest drawing card wrestling had ever seen.
Londos was an active and popular champion who introduced the sleeper hold into wrestling and popularized the airplane spin as a finishing move. His first reign as world champion was marked by a running Cold War feud with Lewis, though they did not wrestle between 1924 and 1934, in part because they were in opposing camps. Londos also was the victim of a double-cross in a 1933 match with Joe Savoldi that cost him his championship claim in some jurisdictions when a referee counted him down even though his shoulder was off the mat.
Londos went to Greece later that year to see his ailing father and wrestled Kola Kwariani at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens before one of the largest crowds in sports history to that point, an estimated 70,000 inside the stadium and 20,000 on the hillside.Johnson, Steven, "Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling." McFarland Books, 2005, pp. 137-138. The in-stadium attendance, buffeted by scalpers, split tickets and gate crashers, would hold until 1987 at WrestleMania III.
Londos regained near-universal recognition as world champion in 1934 when he defeated Jim Browning at the Madison Square Garden Bowl on June 25. He fought seven one-time world champions that year in a total of 25 matches, including a conclusive match against Lewis at Wrigley Field in Chicago on September 20. Londos finally pinned Lewis after years of chasing him before 35,625 fans paying more than $96,000, both North American records at the time.
After losing the title to Danno O'Mahoney in 1935, Londos took some time off for the first time in his career. For most of 1936 and 1937, he toured abroad, wrestling in Greece, Turkey, France, Eqypt and South Africa, to name a few. In his absence, wrestling faltered in North America with only four gates of 10,000 or more fans.Johnson, Steven, "Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling." McFarland Books, 2005, pp. 169-170. Mainstream coverage of wrestling suffered because of the sport's shift to more gimmicky styles and a double-cross Shikat pulled on O'Mahoney in 1936, which exposed unseemly inner workings of the business to the public.
Londos regained a version of the world championship from Bronko Nagurski at Convention Hall in Philadelphia on November 11, 1938 and never lost another match; though he continued to be known as world champion, various state athletic commissions and associations simply started to recognize other champions. From 1944 to 1954, he and partner John Contos owned the Phoenix-based wrestling office. Londos wrestled there occasionally, most notably against Gorgeous George in 1949, and trained wrestlers such as Dr. Jerry Graham. He traveled to Greece a final time in September 1956 and concluded his career with a charity tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1959 where his opponents included Stan Kowalski.Johnson, Steven, "Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling." McFarland Books, 2005, pp. 188-190.
Londos wrestled numerous charity matches and supported a number. His favorite charity was Greek war orphans of World War II. He was honored by both United States President Richard Nixon and King Paul of Greece for his philanthropic efforts.
Londos is considered one of the most influential wrestlers in history because of the way he injected mild showmanship into the sport and attracted record numbers of ethnic and female fans.David Condon, “Londos Was Greek Gift to Wrestling,” Chicago Tribune, May 26, 1974, p. 3:3. He was an idol among Greek fans, considered the first "Golden Greek."“Jim Londos,” Hellenic Chronicle, Aug, 28, 1975, p. 4.
Londos died of a heart attack August 19, 1975, and is buried at Oak Hill Memorial Park in Escondido, California.
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