Don
"Don Leo Jonathan, The Mormon Giant"
Heaton
Born in Hurricane, Washington County, Utah, USA
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died
at age 87
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Profile last modified
| Created 16 Sep 2021
This page has been accessed 103 times.
Don Heaton is Notable.
Biography
Known professionaly as "Don Leo Jonathan", he was an American-Canadian professional wrestler, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant", who generally played a villain role.
Don Heaton was born on 29 April 1931 in Hurricane, Utah, USA and was raised as a Mormon. His father was professional wrestler "Brother Jonathan DeLaun Heaton", known for bringing a pet rattlesnake, named Cold Chills, into the ring and reciting Bible verses as he wrestled, earning the nickname “The Salt Lake Rattlesnake”.
Don played high school football and learned martial arts.
He was a sailor in the United States Navy.
He followed his father into the world of professional wrestling. Over the course of his career, he competed around the world, making stops in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan. However he wrestled more often in the United States and Canada.
He was also an actor, known for ...
- 1959 "Wrestling at the Chase"
- 1978 "Paradise Alley" with Sylvester Stallone
- 2001 "Wrestling with the Past".
Don Heaton married a Rosalie or "Rose" (of unknown maiden surname).
About 1963 he settled in Langley, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In what was billed as the "match of the century", on 31 May 1972, he defeated Le Géant Jean Ferré (André the Giant) by disqualification.
In a rematch that was billed as the "Battle of the Giants" against André on 07 September 1972, he lost by disqualification.
In 1973 he wrestled in the WWWF and fought Pedro Morales for the championship as a heel.
On 10 March 1980 he wrestled his final match, teaming with André the Giant and Roddy Piper to defeat The Sheepherders and Buddy Rose in Vancouver, Canada, before retiring from the ring that year.
He survived bladder cancer. [1]
On 05 November 2005, he appeared at an event in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, presented by Top Ranked Wrestling (prior to its purchase by NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling) to be honored in a special ceremony for his contributions to the sport.
On 20 May 2006, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, New York, USA.
After retiring from professional wrestling, he pursued a career in underwater inventions and exploration.
In July 2016 he was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. In September 2018 the lawsuit was dismissed.
At the end of August 2018 he entered a hospital and died there on 13 October 2018 in Ladner, British Columbia, Canada.
Sources
- ↑ "Don Leo Jonathon reflects back" by Greg Oliver in "SLAM! Wrestling" on 12 Sep 2006
- Wikidata: Item Q5292996, en:Wikipedia
for Don Leo Jonathan
- IMdb for Don Leo Jonathan
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