Clean Sweep Auctions Item: 776400 -- Lot #28 Amazing Rocky Graziano Real Name (Thomas Barbella) Archive With Six Signature - Only Know...

Lot #28 Amazing Rocky Graziano Real Name (Thomas Barbella) Archive With Six Signature - Only Know...

Item ID: 776400 INV ID: Watch Listing

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Bid Information

Initial Bids: Your first bid on a lot must be placed by 8 PM Eastern time on the day of the auction end, unless you have bid on 10 or more different lots.

 

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Listing Details

Rocky Graziano, a HOFer who was depicted by none other than Paul Newman in the classic 1950s film Someone Up There Likes Me, was a feared Middleweight Champion. Ring Magazine ranked him the 23rd best boxer in history. Graziano died in 1990 and is a commercially available autograph. The offered lot is a truly remarkable, historic and important archive of this interesting fighter. Graziano's real name was Thomas Barbella. He had a rough childhood and was arrested various times.

Offered is a box of documents related to his arrest in 1938. These contain his fingerprints, mugshot(!) and all sorts of legal documents and arcana involving Graziano. Most notably, there are no less than SIX SIGNED PIECES, EACH OF WHICH IS SIGNED WITH HIS REAL NAME, THOMAS BARBELLA. We believe these to be the ONLY SUCH EXAMPLES IN EXISTENCE. Normally we would run these in multiple lots in differing auctions, but our consignor thought it would be fun to keep it one lot. By doing it this way, the winning bidder can CONTROL THE ENTIRE MARKET for a supremely rare, desirable and simply awesome boxing HOF autograph.

The lot will come with full JSA LOAs for each of the six signatures. Who wants to own something truly great that no one else has? JSA LOA full.

Born Thomas Rocco Barbella, the late, great boxer is better known to the world as Rocky Graziano. The boxer is best remembered for his 10 years as a professional, where he held the title of World Middleweight Champion for less than a year. Graziano appeared in 83 fights, compiling an impressive 67-10-6 record, including 52 wins by knockout. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, was named to Ring Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time, and was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. 

The pieces offered in this collection mainly come from a troubled time in his life. Having had a rough childhood, Graziano got in trouble with the law and he served time in prison. After being released from prison, he enlisted in the Army, but went AWOL, escaping from Fort Dix in New Jersey and starting his boxing career as "Rocky Graziano." After turning himself in, Graziano was court-martialed and dishonorably discharged, serving more time in prison in what is now called USP Leavenworth. Graziano was eventually pardoned and given the opportunity to box.

Up until his passing in 1990, Graziano was one of the most famous boxers in the sport. So much so, the 1955 film adaptation of his autobiography, Somebody Up There Likes Me, along with various appearances on shows like The Henry and Rocky Show, The Martha Raye Show, Miami Undercover, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, Car 54, Where Are You?, I've Got A Secret, and Naked City,  television advertisements, and his role as a spokesman for the Republican Party kept him in the public view, even after his successful boxing career.

In Graziano's autobiography published in 1981, he concluded by stating, "Do me two favors. First, if your kid needs a friend, buy the kid a dog. And second, in the years to come, if you see me making my way down First or Second Avenue in New York City, please don't kick the cane out from under me. I never really hoit nobody."

 

Full Lot Inventory:

· New York State Department of Corrections criminal history report dated June 23, 1938. Includes a mug shot

· Rocco Barbella complete fingerprint page, collected on June 25, 1938

· 1938 Rocco Barbella Investigation for Court (6 pages) for 3rd Degree Burglary, 2nd Degree Grand Larceny, includes fingerprints and a Rocky Barbella signature – JSA

· City of New York General Sessions 6-page document with mental evaluation, signed by Rocco Barbella – JSA

· New York State Vocational Institution Censor Authorization and Property Record dated June 23, 1938 (5 pages) with handwritten notes and signed by Rocco Barbella ­– JSA

· 1938 Rocco Barbella Records Removed Folder with date stamps

· Oct. 31, 1934 Dr. George Mills letter regarding Barbella family

· June 23, 1938 New York State Vocational Institution (West Coxsackie, NY) returned to Court (handwritten "7/31/38) document

· July 6, 1938 Rocco Barbella State of New York Department of Mental Hygiene Brooklyn State Hopital document

· Rocco Barbella New York State Vocational Institution Medical History on Admission document (2 pages) with handwritten notes

· June 27, 1938 Social Service Exchange (2 pages) for Nicholas Barbella (Rocco's father)

· Rocco Barbella FBI T-2 Form for arrest history

· Nov. 9, 1938 Rocco Barbella FBI record (Form T-4)

· July 6, 1938 Rocco Barbella Brooklyn Borough of Charities typed letter

· July 6, 1938 Rocco Barbella New York State Vocational Institution warrant for retaking paroled prisoner (with handwritten note page, will call for prisoner sheet, and parole officer business card)

· July 13, 1938 Rocco Barbella City of New York Department of Welfare typed letter

· July 29, 1938 Rocco Barbella Judge of the Court of General Sessions typed letter (2 copies) regarding Barbella (no signature)

· July 11, 1938 Rocco Barbella Vocational Service For Juniors typed letter regarding Barbella

· Handwritten draft status note

· Jan. 16, 1941 Rocco Barbella FBI arrest record (2 pages)

· May 11, 1938 Rocco Barbella State of New York Department of Corrections arrest record

· July 28, 1938 Rocco Barbella State of New York Department of Corrections Letter from Acting Superintendent (3 copies with 2 pages per copy, unsigned)

· Rocco Barbella Birth Certificate (copy)

· July 28, 1938 Rocco Barbella New York Department of Corrections Rocco Barbella proof of age typed letter

· May 27, 1944 Rocco Barbella Department of Corrections for New York State typed letter (Copy) to Judith Caslow on Barbella's mental examination

· October 20, 1938 Rocco Barbella letters to Jay Beck (Social Investigation Unit, Dept. of Corrections) from Acting Superintendent

· Oct. 14, 1938 Rocco Barbella letter sent by Jay Beck to Frederick C. Helbing (Superintendent New York State Vocational Institute)

· June 23, 1938 Rocco Barbella State of New York Vocational Institution List of Relatives Document

· July 21, 1938 Rocco Barbella Parole Department of Coxsackie New York Office Office Memo with handwritten notes (2 pages)

· July 21, 1938 Rocco Barbella New York State Vocational Institution letter to Registrar of Records, requesting copy of Barbella's birth certificate (3 pages)

· July 2, 1938 Rocco Barbella New York State Vocational Institution Psychologist's Examination Report (2 pages)

· May 13, 1934 Rocco Barbella Medical Survey Selective Service System Document

· June 23, 1938 Rocco Barbella New York State Vocational Institution Record of Visitors Document (2 pages)

· Nov. 4, Nov. 9 and Nov. 14, 1955 Rocco Barbella letters (copies) between New York State Vocational Institution Commissioner Thomas J. McHugh and Haven Falconer of Metro Goldwyn Mayer regarding use of photographs taken of Barbella at the West Coxsackie facility (3 pages)

· July 8, 1938 Rocco Barbella Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children typed letter (3 pages)

· Jan. 11, 1941 New York State Vocational Institution letter (copy)

· New York State Vocational Institution Parole Department Chronological History of Rocco Barbella

· Nov. 24, 1939 Rocco Barbella FBI Arrest Record

· July 8, 1938 Rocco Barbella New York City Register of Records typed letter with handwritten notes on second page

· June 20, 1038 Rocco Barbella Multi-Signed Court of General Sessions documents (7 pages)

· July 2, 1938 Rocco Barbella New York State Vocational Institution Psychologist's Examination Report (2 pages)

· Rocky Graziano "Trouble is My Middle Name" newspaper clippings

 

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