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Though they were born in the same year,
Jake LaMotta outlived my Mother
by forty-six years.
Though they were born in
the same borough of New York,
my Mother's only son will outlive
Jake Lamotta for at least
one more day.
The "Bronx Bull" is pictured below
with his wife Vicki:
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| But Jake Lamotta did not become famous as a family man. He was a professional boxer with a career record of 86 wins, 19 losses, and 4 draws.  does not a legend make. Jake Lamotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson six times, losing five times. Lamotta's last professional fight was in 1954. In 1980, Jake became a household name as a result of a movie about his life.  according to better minds than my own, is the greatest boxing film of all-time. Directed by Martin Scorcese, it starred Robert Deniro as Jake Lamotta.  Raging Bull introduced Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty to the silver screen. They portrayed Jake's brother and the wife with whom Jake had a tormented relationship. The real Jake Lamotta had seven wives but only Vicki (his second wife) is featured throughout the film. As a result of the movie, the real Vicki Lamotta posed in Playboy at the age of fifty. Raging Bull gave birth to the acronym TGIWFIBAWANC Thank God It Was Filmed In Black And White And Not Color In Hollywood, Raging Bull cemented the names Scorcese and DeNiro together and has slathered them with 1001 superlatives. The greatest little treasure of Raging Bull, however, involves another Italian/American: Most famous as "Coach" —the lovable/gullible bartender— in the TV Series CHEERS, Nicholas Colasanto goes 180 degrees in Raging Bull. Colasanto played the part of a menacing, influential mobster responsible for the darkest moment in the boxing career of Jake Lamotta  *** The real Jake Lamotta died yesterday at the age of ninety-five  with a quote from the cinematic Jake Lamotta: Rest in peace, Champ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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