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Created page with "{{Infobox person | name=Allen "Black Cat" LaCombe. (Colorful New Orleans sports promotor and politician) | nationality=American | party=Democratic..."
{{Infobox person
| name=Allen "Black Cat" LaCombe.
(Colorful New Orleans sports promotor and politician)
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| birth_date=January 15, 1919
| birth_place=Echo, Rapides Parish, [[Louisiana]]
| death_date=July 18, 1989 (aged 70)<br>
| death_place=[[New Orleans]], Louisiana
Resting place:<br>
St. Patrick's Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans<br>
'''Parents'':<br>
Camille and Clementine Charrier LaCombe}}
'''Allen George LaCombe''', known as ''''Black Cat LaCombe''' (January 15, 1919 – July 18, 1989), was an eccentric sports promoter, racetrack figure, and [[politician]] from [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]].<ref<{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18117416/allen-george-lacombe|title=Allen George "Black Cat" Lacombe|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>
==Background==
Lacombe was born to Camille LaCombe (1888-1954) and the former Clementine Charrier (1890-1968) in the [[rural]]
unincoporated community of Echo in Rapides Parish, LaCombe moved in his infancy with his family to the Irish Channel section of New Orleans, where he attended St. Michael's School and St. Aloysius High School. He joked that he had received "college training" at the Press Lounge, a bar on Poydras Street popularly known as Raymond's Beach. He promoted fights, first at the age of thirteen when responding to a dare from a girl. He had already been betting on [[horse]]s for three years despite not being old enough to place the bets legally. He said that he was addicted on [[gambling]] after he won $1.40 on his first bet. His first full-scale sports promotion was the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Bowl, in which rival sandlot [[football]] teams in Irish Channel competed. The event soon moved to City Park Stadium and drew 15,000 or more spectators.<ref name=lahist>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-l/|title=Lacombe, Allen "Black Cat"|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'': Louisiana Historical Association|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>
In 1942, LaCombe was drafted into the [[United States Army]] and staged military boxing matches in [[Iran]]. The Shah reportedly sparred with LaCombe’s boxers, LaCombe also hunted gazelles with [[King Farouk]] of [[Egypt]] and staged a [[camel]] race among the ancient [[pyramid]]s.<ref name=lahist/>
==Political activities==
In 1959, LaCombe campaigned for [[governor of Louisiana]] by hitchhiking across the state. In a crowded field including former Governor [[James A. Noe]] and former Lieutenant Governor [[Bill Dodd]], and state Senator [[William Rainach]]. In his campaign, LaCombe predicted that he would win in the community of Echo, in which most of the inhabitants were his relatives and estimated that he would poll about three thousand votes by mistake because his name appeared on the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]] ballot between [[Jimmie Davis]], who ultimately won his second nonconsecutive term as governor, and New Orleans [[Mayor]] deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr. (1912-1964),<ref name=lahist/> who had also run in 1956 and would do so again in 1963-64. Lacombe finished with 4,917 votes.<ref>Glen Jeansonne, ''Race Religion and Politics: the Gubernatorial Elections of 1959-1960'' (1977).</ref>
In 1962, while drawing [[unemployment compensation]], he ran unsuccessfully for mayor when Morrison stepped down and was succeeded by Victor Schiro, the last [[conservative]] mayor of New Orleans. In 1969, LaCombe managed the mayoral campaign of Rodney Fertel (1921-2003), a [[Jewish]] [[real estate]] owner who had inherited his fortune from a maternal grandmother. The eccentric Fertel, a devotee of animals and zoos, ran as “the gorilla man," announced his candidacy in a gorilla suit,<ref<{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143815231/rodney-fertel|title=Rodney Fertel|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>and used the comical slogan, “Don’t settle for a monkey. Elect Fertel and get a gorilla.” Fertel polled only 310 votes but later obtained two gorillas from Singapore for the Audubon Zoo.<ref name=lahist/> Victory went to [[Maurice Edwin Landrieu|Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu]], who went on to defeat later Lieutenant Governor [[Jimmy Fitzmorris]] and then in the 1970 [[general election]] the [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Ben C. Toledano]], the last member of his party to wage a serious bid for mayor since [[Reconstruction]]. Fertel was the former husband of Ruth Ann Udstad Fertel (1927-2002), who established the high-end restaurant chain, Ruth's Chris Steak House.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6361471/ruth-fertel|title=Ruth Udstad Fertel|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>
LaCombe promoted several special events during the 1960s, including a benefit concert at the Municipal Auditorium in 1965 to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Betsy. The concert starred Eddie Fisher, Mel Torme, Bobby Vinton, and Loretta Young. In the 1960s, LaCombe was named public information spokesman for the New Orleans Fair Grounds race track , a position that he held into the late 1980s, He claimed that he was “so busy and so happy” that he never thought about retirement. LaCombe taught a course on handicapping at [[Tulane University]] and was known for his many lost bets and incorrect predictions. He hence acquired the nickname, "Black Cat." <ref name=lahist/>
On his death in New Orleans at the age of seventy, a hearse drove Lacombe's body around the Fair Grounds’ track one last time before interment at St. Patrick’s Cemetery, No. 1.<ref>''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' July 20, 22, 1989.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:LaCombe, Allen}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:World War II]]
| name=Allen "Black Cat" LaCombe.
(Colorful New Orleans sports promotor and politician)
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| birth_date=January 15, 1919
| birth_place=Echo, Rapides Parish, [[Louisiana]]
| death_date=July 18, 1989 (aged 70)<br>
| death_place=[[New Orleans]], Louisiana
Resting place:<br>
St. Patrick's Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans<br>
'''Parents'':<br>
Camille and Clementine Charrier LaCombe}}
'''Allen George LaCombe''', known as ''''Black Cat LaCombe''' (January 15, 1919 – July 18, 1989), was an eccentric sports promoter, racetrack figure, and [[politician]] from [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]].<ref<{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18117416/allen-george-lacombe|title=Allen George "Black Cat" Lacombe|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>
==Background==
Lacombe was born to Camille LaCombe (1888-1954) and the former Clementine Charrier (1890-1968) in the [[rural]]
unincoporated community of Echo in Rapides Parish, LaCombe moved in his infancy with his family to the Irish Channel section of New Orleans, where he attended St. Michael's School and St. Aloysius High School. He joked that he had received "college training" at the Press Lounge, a bar on Poydras Street popularly known as Raymond's Beach. He promoted fights, first at the age of thirteen when responding to a dare from a girl. He had already been betting on [[horse]]s for three years despite not being old enough to place the bets legally. He said that he was addicted on [[gambling]] after he won $1.40 on his first bet. His first full-scale sports promotion was the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Bowl, in which rival sandlot [[football]] teams in Irish Channel competed. The event soon moved to City Park Stadium and drew 15,000 or more spectators.<ref name=lahist>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-l/|title=Lacombe, Allen "Black Cat"|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'': Louisiana Historical Association|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>
In 1942, LaCombe was drafted into the [[United States Army]] and staged military boxing matches in [[Iran]]. The Shah reportedly sparred with LaCombe’s boxers, LaCombe also hunted gazelles with [[King Farouk]] of [[Egypt]] and staged a [[camel]] race among the ancient [[pyramid]]s.<ref name=lahist/>
==Political activities==
In 1959, LaCombe campaigned for [[governor of Louisiana]] by hitchhiking across the state. In a crowded field including former Governor [[James A. Noe]] and former Lieutenant Governor [[Bill Dodd]], and state Senator [[William Rainach]]. In his campaign, LaCombe predicted that he would win in the community of Echo, in which most of the inhabitants were his relatives and estimated that he would poll about three thousand votes by mistake because his name appeared on the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]] ballot between [[Jimmie Davis]], who ultimately won his second nonconsecutive term as governor, and New Orleans [[Mayor]] deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr. (1912-1964),<ref name=lahist/> who had also run in 1956 and would do so again in 1963-64. Lacombe finished with 4,917 votes.<ref>Glen Jeansonne, ''Race Religion and Politics: the Gubernatorial Elections of 1959-1960'' (1977).</ref>
In 1962, while drawing [[unemployment compensation]], he ran unsuccessfully for mayor when Morrison stepped down and was succeeded by Victor Schiro, the last [[conservative]] mayor of New Orleans. In 1969, LaCombe managed the mayoral campaign of Rodney Fertel (1921-2003), a [[Jewish]] [[real estate]] owner who had inherited his fortune from a maternal grandmother. The eccentric Fertel, a devotee of animals and zoos, ran as “the gorilla man," announced his candidacy in a gorilla suit,<ref<{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143815231/rodney-fertel|title=Rodney Fertel|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>and used the comical slogan, “Don’t settle for a monkey. Elect Fertel and get a gorilla.” Fertel polled only 310 votes but later obtained two gorillas from Singapore for the Audubon Zoo.<ref name=lahist/> Victory went to [[Maurice Edwin Landrieu|Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu]], who went on to defeat later Lieutenant Governor [[Jimmy Fitzmorris]] and then in the 1970 [[general election]] the [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Ben C. Toledano]], the last member of his party to wage a serious bid for mayor since [[Reconstruction]]. Fertel was the former husband of Ruth Ann Udstad Fertel (1927-2002), who established the high-end restaurant chain, Ruth's Chris Steak House.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6361471/ruth-fertel|title=Ruth Udstad Fertel|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=May 1, 2020}}</ref>
LaCombe promoted several special events during the 1960s, including a benefit concert at the Municipal Auditorium in 1965 to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Betsy. The concert starred Eddie Fisher, Mel Torme, Bobby Vinton, and Loretta Young. In the 1960s, LaCombe was named public information spokesman for the New Orleans Fair Grounds race track , a position that he held into the late 1980s, He claimed that he was “so busy and so happy” that he never thought about retirement. LaCombe taught a course on handicapping at [[Tulane University]] and was known for his many lost bets and incorrect predictions. He hence acquired the nickname, "Black Cat." <ref name=lahist/>
On his death in New Orleans at the age of seventy, a hearse drove Lacombe's body around the Fair Grounds’ track one last time before interment at St. Patrick’s Cemetery, No. 1.<ref>''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' July 20, 22, 1989.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:LaCombe, Allen}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:World War II]]