Gus Mercurio
Augustino Eugenio "Gus" Mercurio (10 August 1928 – 7 December 2010) was an American-born Australian character actor who appeared on both film and television.
Early life
Mercurio, the eldest child of Vincent A. Mercurio and Cecilia W. "Mickey" Miller, was born in West Bend, Wisconsin near Milwaukee. He had two sisters, Gerie and Connie, and a brother, Tony. His parents were divorced when he was seven.
He visited Australia during 1956 Melbourne Olympics and decided to stay.
Boxer
His father had boxed professionally under the name of Vince McGurk, and one of his uncles had boxed professionally under the name of Ray Miller. Mercurio himself was a professional boxer, had served in the United States Marine Corps and was a qualified chiropractor.
Mercurio was also an international boxing judge (refereeing a world title fight) and was also a well-known boxing promoter. He later became the inaugural president of the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame - into which he was inducted in 2008.