Jack O'Halloran

O'Halloran was born in Philadelphia, and was raised by his mother, Mary, and stepfather, Peter Paul Patrick O'Halloran; in his book Family Legacy, he claimed to be the illegitimate son of mafia hitman and crime boss Albert Anastasia. He lived in Runnemede, New Jersey where he attended Triton Regional High School (New Jersey). Fighting as "Irish" Jack O'Halloran from Boston, he was a heavyweight boxing contender active from 1966 to 1974. The 6'6" O'Halloran was undefeated in his first 16 professional fights, with a career record of 34 wins, 21 losses and 2 draws. See below for a list of O'Halloran's boxing matches.

During his boxing career, O'Halloran defeated former title contenders Cleveland Williams and Manuel Ramos. He also defeated Danny McAlinden, who won a bronze medal in boxing at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica and later became the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion. O'Halloran's losses included defeats to Joe Roman (twice), Joe Bugner, Ron Lyle, and future heavyweight champions George Foreman and Ken Norton.

In 1973, O'Halloran was close to attaining a match against Muhammad Ali when he was knocked out by Jimmy Summerville. This ended his chances to fight Ali. Although O'Halloran went on to defeat Summerville by K.O. in a rematch, with only three more wins and five losses he was never again a serious heavyweight contender.

The California Boxing Hall of Fame has listed O'Halloran as one of its inductees of the 2009 HOF class.Retiring from boxing in 1974 with a record of 34-21-2 (17 knockout victories), O'Halloran turned to a career as an actor. He first won the role of ex-convict Moose Malloy in the 1975 film Farewell, My Lovely, featuring Robert Mitchum as private eye Philip Marlowe.

After Farewell, My Lovely O'Halloran was offered other roles, some of which he turned down, including the role of Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me which went to Richard Kiel.