Nosher Powell

Did you know?!

1. A change of course

   Powell was a heavyweight boxing champion who served as a sparring partner for Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali, and his last fight came against Menzies Johnson in 1960, which he won on points over eight rounds.

2. About the name

   Powell was nicknamed Nosher while serving in the army, from the Cockney slang word for food, because of his large physique, and he chose it as his screen name because he disliked Frederick or Freddie.

3. A change of course

   Powell became head of a group of people who dressed as medieval knights. He started this because stunt work had dried up in an industry wide recession. In August 1971 he took part in a re-enactment at Senlac Hill that drew ten thousand spectators.

4. A change of course

   With fellow stunt man Max Diamond, Powell helped start the British Jousting Society. Their British tournament tour began in 1972, staged at Lichfield, Norwich, Edinburgh and the Tower of London, where Powell took the character name "Frederick of Gaywood".

5. 

   Getting ready for a role

   In 1987, Powell appeared in Eat the Rich as a character sharing his own name. Director Peter Richardson, an acquaintance of some years, cast him because he needed a stunt man ready to hang from a helicopter. Powell later said he feared being recast if his acting was not good enough.

6. A change of course

   Powell also worked as a minder, meaning a bodyguard, for several celebrities. These included John Paul Getty Jr. and Sammy Davis Jr.