Ski Hi Lee
 |
|
| Born |
February 9, 1921 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
|---|---|
| Died | 1973-1974 United Kingdom
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| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ski-Hi Lee Sky Hi Lee Sky-Hi Lee Sky High Lee |
| Billed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Billed weight | 300 lb (140 kg) |
| Billed from | Texas |
Robert E. Leedy (born February 9, 1921) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known as Ski Hi Lee. He was active for some twenty years. His name is sometimes written as Ski-Hi Lee, Sky Hi Lee, Sky-Hi Lee or Sky High Lee. The pronunciation is 'Sky High' rather than 'Skee High'. Lee was usually billed from Texas and wrestled as a cowboy. He had a 54 inch chest, 87 inch arm reach and was said to be 6'8" tall.
Leedy began wrestling in the mid-1940s, always working as a bad guy, or Heel, because his towering presence made him easy to fear. He has been described as a "country bumpkin version of Jaws from James Bond". The name Ski Hi Lee is a play on the name of wrestler Sky Low Low, a midget wrestler from Quebec. Lee was almost always promoted as a "special attraction" in the territories he worked.
Lee was not a very technical wrestler, resorting more to brawling and cheating than to finesse. Nevertheless he was clearly not without talent, for in 1951 he defeated Al Mills for the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship, a feat he'd repeat in 1952. Some of Lee's most memorable matches were against other big men such as Killer Kowalski, whom he wrestled in many promotions all over the United States and Canada. In the 1960s Lee went to the UK because of income tax issues, where he wrestled part-time, the physical strain on his body having become too much to allow this huge man to maintain a full career in the sport. His health eventually forced him to retire and to become hospitalized. His death soon followed.
In the early 1950's, Leedy lived on Delta Street, in Etobicoke, Ontario. While still working as a wrestler, Leedy also owned and operated a Dude Ranch (Rocking H in Acton, Ontario) and a restaurant just outside his native Toronto. After retiring from the ring, Leedy had a role in theatre in Paris, apparently as a caveman. He was married to a country singer named Billie Allen Skuce and sometimes appeared on stage with her as a comic foil. They had three children: Robert, Richard and Sandra (who later changed her name to Sandy). Robert Jr. joined the Marines and Richard the Army.
Robert Sr. divorced Billie, who later married John M. Carroll, who adopted all three Leedy children. (Carroll had three boys from his own previous marriage).
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