THE BIG QUESTIONS
I have two Queries. One – who was Larry? And, two – why was he so happy? – R
The phrase “as happy as Larry” is probably Australian in origin, from the 19th Century.
There are two possible Larry contenders.
The first, Larry Foley, was a boxer who never lost a fight and won £1,000 in his last bout before he retired, quite happily.
The other was a larrakin, a hooligan of the times in Australia.
Wasn’t there an American footballer who was so heavy that he was known as “The Fridge” because he was said to be able to eat the entire contents? Remind me who he was and how much did he weigh? - J
William “The Fridge” Perry was a defensive linebacker for the Chicago Bears and helped them win the Super Bowl in 1986, even scoring a touchdown. He weighed in at 173 kilos (27 stone).
But he’s not the heaviest ever NFL player, that was right tackle Aaron Gibson, who played for the Detroit Lions, the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears, weighing 185 kilos (29 stone). Heavy, but he could run 40 metres in 5.03 seconds
Was Clarence the CrossEyed Lion, who was in Daktari, a brilliant TV show in my youth, really cross-eyed? – D
He was. And he was born in America and starred in a 1965 movie, Clarence, The Cross-eyed Lion, before the TV spinoff series, Daktari.
Clarence was very tame so another big cat stood in for him in scenes that involved snarling.
Trainers made him lionsized glasses which didn’t work, but his eyesight did improve over time.