Photo Gallery: Hirsch on Film
Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch x’45 almost turned down the role of playing himself in a biographical film. “I received this letter from (producer) Hall Bartlett asking whether I’d be interested in doing this movie,” Hirsch said in a 1987 interview. “I threw it away, and a couple of months later I received another one.” His starring role in Crazylegs launched a second career for the former Badger football star and future NFL Hall of Famer, including roles in two more full-length films and a handful of TV appearances. It all ended with a comical cameo in a 1965 episode of The Munsters.
Crazylegs depicts Hirsch enlisting in the Marines after two seasons with the Badgers and being transferred to the University of Michigan for an officer training program. A Michigan newspaper reported Hirsch “shattered the record for the tough 344-yard obstacle course.” UW archives 2018S00390
The movie poster for Crazylegs plays up the love story of Hirsch and his high school sweetheart, Ruth Stahmer, whom he married in 1946. They were married for 58 years before his death in 2004. Actress Joan Vohs (right) plays Ruth in the 1953 film. UW Archives 2018s00391
Hirsch’s performance in Crazylegs was well-received. “Hirsch as an actor is both likable and believable. He does very well in his first film assignment,” Los Angeles Times reviewer John L. Scott wrote. The Madison-based Capital Times approvingly called the film “congenial.” UW Archives S16995
A crowd gathers outside the movie theater in Wausau, Wisconsin, for the premiere of Crazylegs in 1953. Hirsch was born in Wausau and was initially dropped from its high school football team for being too skinny. He made the team a year later after working out over the summer and gaining 40 pounds. UW Archives S16997
Hirsch’s second movie was Unchained, a 1955 prison drama filmed at a correctional facility in Chino, California. Hirsch, alongside costar Barbara Hale, played a prisoner who plans an escape to see his family, but changes his mind. The movie’s theme song, “Unchained Melody,” received an Oscar nomination, and a version later recorded by the Righteous Brothers was featured in the 1990 movie Ghost. AF archive/alamy stock photo
Hirsch (left of sign) on the red carpet for the premiere of Unchained: when he returned to the prison for publicity stills, the inmate who coached its football team asked Hirsch to review a play he had diagrammed. “He had five guys in the backfield, so I told him that was illegal,” Hirsch said in a 1987 interview with Wisconsin Week. “He laughed and told me, ‘That’s why we’re here. We cheat.’ ” UW Archives 2018s00394
In his last movie role, Hirsch (right) played Captain Bill Wilson in Zero Hour!, a 1957 movie flop that was spoofed by the 1980 comedy Airplane!, made by Jim Abrahams x’66 and the Zucker Brothers, David ’70 and Jerry ’72. Hirsch’s pilot becomes incapacitated by food poisoning (along with the copilot and many passengers) after eating tainted fish. PARAMOUNT PICTURES/Ronald Grant Archive/Alamy Stock Photo
In Airplane!, Peter Graves (right) stepped into the pilot role Hirsch played in Zero Hour! The movie comedy — which repeated some dialogue from Zero Hour! — also starred Robert Hays, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Leslie Nielson, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, and Leave It to Beaver’s Barbara Billingsley. Airplane! became the third-highest grossing comedy in box office history after it came out in 1980. United Archives GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo
After retiring as a player, Hirsch served as the Los Angeles Rams’ general manager from 1960 to 1969. He then returned to Madison, where he was the UW’s athletic director for nearly 20 years. During his tenure, the athletic department launched the annual Crazeylegs Classic 8K run to raise funds for its programs. UW Archives
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