Don Stansauk Don Stansauk ( April 2 , 1925 - January 27 , 2004 ) was a professional wrestler and actor , known by his ring name , Hard Boiled Haggerty . He was previously a professional American football player , and became a successful character actor after his wrestling career . Career . After attending Pasadena City College and the University of Denver , Stansauk was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the eighteenth round of the National Football League entry draft in 1950 . He played defensive tackle and , after a season with the Lions , was traded to the Green Bay Packers . Over the next two seasons , Stansauk played in 15 games and recovered two fumbles . As a wrestler , Haggerty made his wrestling debut under his real name in Green Bay , Wisconsin . From there , he moved to Chicago , where he was given the ring name Don Sparrow by promoter Karl Pojello , who thought that Stansauk " moved like a bird " . He was later given the name " Hard Boiled Haggerty " by promoter Wally Karbo while wrestling in Minneapolis . Haggerty wrestled as a heel and was hated by the crowds because he portrayed an arrogant character . Haggerty won his first championship on April 4 , 1950 , teaming with Ray Eckert to win the San Francisco version of the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship . After dropping the title the following month , he teamed with Dutch Howlett to win the Midwest Wrestling Association American Tag Team Championship in June while wrestling in Ohio . After losing the belts , Haggerty continued wrestling in California . He won the NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship twice , in 1951 and 1954 , while teaming with Tom Rice . In 1955 , Haggerty wrestled for World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas , winning the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship while teaming with Stu Gibson . In 1956 , Haggerty wrestled in Canada , winning the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship while competing for Maple Leaf Wrestling . Later that year , he won his first singles title while wrestling for the International Wrestling Association in Montreal . He won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship on October 3 , 1956 , defeating Killer Kowalski for the belt . He held the title for less than a month , losing it back to Kowalski in a rematch . Back in the United States , Haggerty formed a tag team with Kinji Shibuya in NWA Minneapolis . They won the Minneapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship on April 22 , 1958 . They held the title for only a day , however , before it was returned to the previous champions because of concerns regarding the referee for the title match . Haggerty ' s next stop was Hawaii , where he won the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship while teaming with Bill Savage . They lost the belts to Lord James Blears and Herb Freeman , but Haggerty teamed with Butcher Vachon to regain the championship . During the 1960s , Haggerty wrestled in the American Wrestling Association ( AWA ) and won several titles . From 1960 to 1961 , he held the AWA World Tag Team Championship with three different partners . During his first reign , his partner , Len Montana broke his leg . As a result , Haggerty chose Gene Kiniski as his new partner . Shortly after he began teaming with Kiniski , Haggerty challenged his partner for the AWA United States Heavyweight Championship and took the belt from Kiniski . Haggerty and Kiniski continued to wrestle as a team , and they held the belts together twice . The team split up , however , on August 8 , 1961 after Haggerty ' s interference accidentally cost Kiniski a match against Verne Gagne . The team vacated the championship , and a singles match between the two was scheduled to determine the fate of the title . Haggerty and Kiniski wrestled a singles match . Haggerty won the match and the belts , and he chose Bob Geigel as his new partner . The following year saw Haggerty wrestling for the NWA once more . Haggerty teamed up with Kiniski again to win the Vancouver version of the NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship . They won the belts twice and , during their second reign , held the title until it was retired by the promotion . Haggerty returned to Hawaii to wrestle with the NWA , and he succeeded in taking the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship from Neff Maivia on February 6 , 1964 . He held the belt for over two months but lost it back to Maivia in a rematch . While wrestling with the Los Angeles - based World Wrestling Association ( Los Angeles ) ( WWA ) later that year , he won his first of four WWA World Tag Team Championships . He teamed with The Destroyer to win the title twice in 1964 . In Hawaii again the following year , Haggerty won his final singles title , taking the NWA Hawaii United States Championship from Enrique Torres on February 24 , 1965 . He held the belt until September 15 that year , when he lost the title to King Curtis Iaukea . He later returned to Los Angeles , where he teamed with El Shareef to win the WWA World Tag Team Championship twice more . After retiring from wrestling , Haggerty went into acting and appeared in several movies . He also had a role in several television shows , including Adam - 12 , Kung Fu , Get Smart , Starsky and Hutch , Happy Days , The Love Boat and The Incredible Hulk . He was a highly respected member of the Cauliflower Alley Club , and earned one of their highest honors in 1993 , the Iron Mike Mazurki Award . While living at Pacific Palisades , Don Haggerty ( as he was then known ) was an ardent member of Eysium Institute in Topanga , he had a great sense of humor , and was admired by all . On June 20 , 2003 , Haggerty was in a car accident in Los Angeles , and suffered a broken neck and other injuries . On January 27 , 2004 , Haggerty died at his home in Malibu , California .