Haystacks Calhoun
American professional wrestler (1934-1989)
William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun.
Early life
Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm in McKinney, Texas, a rural suburb located in Collin County about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Dallas. By age 14, he already weighed 300 pounds (140 kilograms), as he routinely ate a dozen eggs for breakfast. By the time he was in his early 20s, Calhoun weighed over 600 pounds (270 kg). Legend has it that Calhoun was discovered by a traveling wrestling promoter who saw him pick up and move cows across a field. Calhoun first broke into wrestling in 1955 and he began competing for local promoter Orville Brown.
Professional wrestling career
Initially performing under the name "Country Boy Calhoun", he performed in various regional territories, including Houston, Kansas City, and Canada. However, he first appeared nationally on Art Linkletter's House Party, a televised variety show where Calhoun tossed full bales of hay into a high loft. As a result of this feat, he adopted the name "Haystacks Calhoun." Recognizing the show business potential of such a gimmick, Calhoun decided to exaggerate his hillbilly persona by adopting the fictional birthplace of Morgan's Corner, Arkansas, while sporting a bushy beard, white t-shirt, blue overalls, and a genuine horseshoe around his neck on a chain. Moreover, while promoters typically did not book him for championships, he seldom lost a match.
The public source identifies “Haystacks Calhoun” as american professional wrestler (1934-1989). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Haystacks, Calhoun and American.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4019955. VIAF identifies the subject as 41190459. The Library of Congress control number is n2001095801. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934, 1989 and 1955.
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This entry incorporates text from “Haystacks Calhoun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.