Alexander Turk

Alexander Turk
MLA
In office 1953–1958 Serving with Morris Gray, John Hawryluk, Bill Kardash
Preceded by	Frank Chester
Succeeded by	riding dissolved
Constituency	Winnipeg North (multiple member constituency)
Personal details
Born	March 5, 1906 Larne, Northern Ireland
Died	January 1, 1988
Political party	Liberal-Progressive
Residence	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Profession	sports owner

Alexander Turk (March 5, 1906 – January 1, 1988) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Liberal-Progressive from 1953 to 1958.

Born in Larne, Northern Ireland, the son of Nathaniel Turk and Mary O'Lynn, Turk came to Canada with his family in 1910, and was educated at Lord Selkirk School. In 1931, he married Annie Owens. He was a wrestling promoter and president of the Giants Baseball Club, and was known in politics as a charismatic showman. Some credit him with introducing modern professional wrestling to Manitoba in 1946 with his company, the NWA-affiliated Alex Turk Promotions. In later years, he would promote Verne Gagne, Pat O'Connor, Bruno Sammartino, Haystacks Calhoun, Lou Thesz and others in the region. He was eventually pushed out of business by competition from the American Wrestling Association.

Turk's election to the Manitoba legislature was somewhat unexpected. In the 1953 election, he ran as a candidate of the Liberal-Progressive Party in Winnipeg North, a constituency dominated by the socialist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and the communist Labour Progressive Party. He finished seventh out of eleven candidates on the multi-member constituency's first count, behind two other Liberal-Progressive candidates. He did well on transfers, however, and defeated fellow Liberal-Progressive J.M. Kozoriz for the final position. In the legislature, he served as a backbench supporter of Douglas Campbell's government.

...
Wikipedia