User:Hotwachs/Jack Beers - "Holes In My Shoes"

Star of the award-winning feature film documentary, '"Holes In My Shoes"', Jack Beers (1910-2009) was known as "New York City's Strongest Boy". He grew up in extreme poverty in the Lower East Side of New York City, born in his parents cold water apartment on East 6th Street. His parents were immigrants, Austrian Jews. He sold newspapers on the corner of Avenue B and 10th Street and played in Thompkins Square Park. All the jobs they did as kids were to support the starving family. They had potatoes and potato soup every day. The gathered fallen coal from the coal truck to keep the house warm. He had 3 brothers - Manny, Julius and Hy, and one sister, Lilian.

Jack's journey was incredible. He was blessed with unique strength and trained from a young boy in Thompkins Square Park on his body. He soon got a job working for a weight training company and met one of it's board members, Jack Dempsey. He went to Coney Island as a teenager and studied under Warren Lincoln Travis. At 17, he was performing shows to clubs and theaters, most famously at The Lambs Club near Times Square, performing to film stars of the time. He was on the cover of New York City newspapers and was labelled as New York City's Strongest Boy.

After an physical fight in the pool hall over an antisemitic remark, Jack's hand was broken and his decided to go into the ironwork trade at Fasslers Ironworks in the Lower East Side, near his house. Jack's boss was the Buildings Commissioner of New York City at that time, Sam Fassler. Jack ended up working on NYC's most famous buildings, notably the erection of Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, where he personally erected the famous marquee and stairs inside. He was at the opening night, viewing it from the lighting booth. The show was over 5 hours long. He kept the program his whole life.

He became one of those fearless men who could walk the beams at great heights. Then, Jack went on to become a self-taught structural engineer. He became so accomplished that he was asked to be one of the general foreman on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He worked for Stone & Webster.

After the war, in 1950, Jack was responsible for erecting the famous spire on top of The Empire State Building, for General Sarnoff and RCA. It was to be their radio tower.

In the 1950s, because he couldn't have children with his wife, he put all his energy into training bulldogs and showed them at the Westminster Dog shows throughout the 50s.

In the 1960s, Jack continued his structural engineering work and worked on the erection of Lincoln Center.

Over his career he worked on NYU, City Hall, The Museum of Modern Art, every Con Edison building, Macy's, Gimbles, George Washington Bridge, The World's Fair, and many many more.

In the 1960s, Jack decided to audition for a role in George Segal's film "Loving". He got the role, acted on the film for 12 days, and proceeded to have minor roles in over 200 films (including 7 Woody Allen films and 5 Arthur Hiller films). His biggest role was in a NYU film school short called "Rosey & Jonesy", directed by David Wachs (director of "Holes In My Shoes"). That ended up on PBS American Playhouse (1984).

As Jack entered his 80s and 90s, he became a little less active, but continued to drive, clean and cook for himself, ride a stationary bike up to 3 miles per day, do his own taxes, wash and iron his clothes, mow his 5 acres of lawn with a tractor, cut down trees, you name it. He made the film "Holes In My Shoes" when he was 94. He made a music video of "When You're Smiling" when he was 97.

Sadly, Jack passed away just before his 99th birthday.

Mayor Bloomberg has recognised him and he has had a day named after him in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

His inspiring story lives on in the feature documentary "Holes In My Shoes", which has aired on PBS WNET 13 (New York) - 100,000 viewers tuned in December 2010, and the station will be showing it regularly for coming years. It rolls out to PBS national distribution in later 2010.

To find out more, one can contact - info@holesinmyshoes.com or go to the official website -

The Documentary - "Holes In My Shoes"
"Holes In My Shoes" chronicles the extraordinary life of Jack Beers, covering 94 years of his life from 1910 to 204. Winner of 3 Best Documentary Feature Film awards. Airing on PBS WNET 13 (New York). Distributed on DVD by Kino/Lorber/Alive Mind. Starring Jack Beers, Mayor Bloomberg, Katherine Oliver (NYC Film Commissioner), Arthur HIller (former Pres of Directors Guild of America), with film clips of Woody Allen and Meryl Streep. Shot in New York City, Greenwich, Connecticut and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Directed by David Wachs, winner of 17 international film and TV awards