Kalla Pasha (born as Joseph T. Rickard; March 5, 1879 – June 10, 1933) was an American professional wrestler, vaudeville comedian, and film actor active during the silent era.

Kalla Pasha
Pasha in Film Fun, 1922
Born	Joseph T. Rickard (1879-03-05)March 5, 1879 Detroit, Michigan, USA
Died	June 10, 1933(1933-06-10) (aged 54) Talmage, California, USA
Occupation	Wrestler, vaudevillian, screen actor
Years active	1919–1931

Biography

Kalla Pasha was the stage name of Joseph T. Rickard, a native of Detroit.[1] He was the professional wrestler Hamid Kalla Pasha, whom the press called "The Crazy Turk"[2] before performing on vaudeville and appearing in 74 films between 1919 and 1931. Rickard's success with Mack Sennett enabled him to be a free-spender, claiming later he would often go about town with a 150 thousand dollars strapped around his waist.[3]

The money did not last though, and not long afterward he was arrested for striking a man over the head with a milk bottle during a dust-up involving five cents. As a result, Rickard was sent to Mendocino State Hospital for psychiatric care, where he would die a little over a year later from heart disease.[4][3][5][6]

Selected filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kalla Pasha.

• Kalla Pasha at IMDb
• Kalla Pasha at AllMovie