Mark Lewin

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American professional wrestler

title: "Mark Lewin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1937-births", "american-male-professional-wrestlers", "jewish-american-sportspeople", "jewish-professional-wrestlers", "living-people", "professional-wrestlers-from-buffalo,-new-york", "professional-wrestling-hall-of-fame-and-museum", "professional-wrestling-promoters", "stampede-wrestling-alumni", "21st-century-american-jews", "20th-century-male-professional-wrestlers", "20th-century-american-professional-wrestlers", "nwa-southern-heavyweight-champions-(florida-version)", "nwa-world-tag-team-champions-(florida-version)", "nwa-international-tag-team-champions-(toronto-version)", "nwa-austra-asian-tag-team-champions", "iwa-world-heavyweight-champions-(australia)", "iwa-world-tag-team-champions-(australia)", "wwwf-united-states-tag-team-champions", "wcwa-world-six-man-tag-team-champions", "wcwa-world-tag-team-champions", "nwa-texas-heavyweight-champions"] description: "American professional wrestler" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lewin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American professional wrestler ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox professional wrestler"]

FieldValue
nameMark Lewin
namesMark Lewin
The Purple Haze
Skippy Jackson
imageMark Lewin Wrestling News 1960.jpg
captionLewin in 1960
height6 ft 1 in
weight265 lb
birth_date
birth_placeBuffalo, New York, U.S.
familyDonn Lewin (brother)
Ted Lewin (brother)
Danny McShain (brother-in-law)
trainerJohn Horton
Danny McShain
debut1953
retired1988
::

| name = Mark Lewin | names = Mark Lewin The Purple Haze Skippy Jackson | image =Mark Lewin Wrestling News 1960.jpg | image_size = | caption =Lewin in 1960 | height = 6 ft 1 in | weight = 265 lb | birth_date = | birth_place = Buffalo, New York, U.S. | resides = | billed = | family = Donn Lewin (brother) Ted Lewin (brother) Danny McShain (brother-in-law) | trainer = John Horton Danny McShain | debut = 1953 | retired = 1988 Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. He worked for various promotions throughout his 35-year career, including Big Time Wrestling (Detroit), Championship Wrestling from Florida, Houston Wrestling, and the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

Early life

Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette High School.

Professional wrestling career

Lewin was trained to wrestle by his brother-in-law, Danny McShain. He debuted in 1953 at the age of 16.

Lewin had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans. The team split up in the early '60s and Mark embarked on a singles career.

In 1963, Mark first tried out the "Maniac"/"Mad" Mark Lewin persona, which he would alternate consistently with his 'normal' babyface persona for the rest of his career. He wrestled in Australia and New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s with great success, especially in New Zealand where he drew huge crowds during the tours. He frequently formed a tag team in Australia and New Zealand with King Curtis Iaukea. He also spent time in Detroit working against The Sheik and fellow wildman, Terry Funk. Lewin also wrestled in Vancouver with NWA All Star Wrestling, where he feuded with the likes of Gene Kiniski and "Bulldog" Bob Brown and twice won the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Purple_Haze_(wrestler),_circa_October_1983.jpg" caption="Lewin as Purple Haze in 1983"] ::

He found a lot of success in World Class Championship Wrestling in the late 1970s and early 1980s before going to Florida Championship Wrestling, where he joined Kevin Sullivan's "cult" as The Purple Haze, another variation of the 'Maniac' gimmick. Lewin competed at Starrcade '83: A Flare for the Gold in November 1983; he and Kevin Sullivan won their match.

Lewin worked as a booker for Jim Barnett in Australia.

He was one of Sabu's frequent opponents in the 1980s.

Lewin retired in 1988, but came back mid 2003 to work for Eddie Jr. and Thomas Farhat to start up All World Wrestling League/Big Time Wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

References

References

  1. "Wrestlingdata The World's Largest Wrestling Database".
  2. Johnson, Steven. (1 October 2012). "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Heroes and Icons". ECW Press.
  3. (2 September 2003). "Chokehold: Pro Wrestling's Real Mayhem Outside the Ring". Xlibris Corporation.
  4. "International Tag Team Title (Georgia)". Wrestling Titles.
  5. Hoops, Brian. (January 17, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/17): Vader wins IWGP heavyweight title". [[Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  6. Royal Duncan & Gary Will. (2006). "Wrestling Title Histories".
  7. "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  8. Royal Duncan & Gary Will. (2006). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  9. "Texas Brass Knucks Title [East Texas]". Wrestling-Titles.
  10. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present". Archeus Communications.
  11. "NWA Texas Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.
  12. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present". Archeus Communications.
  13. "NWA Texas Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". wrestling-titles.com.
  14. Meltzer, Dave. (2017-11-29). "December 4, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: AJ Styles, Minoru Suzuki and more enter the Hall of Fame". [[Wrestling Observer Newsletter]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1937-birthsamerican-male-professional-wrestlersjewish-american-sportspeoplejewish-professional-wrestlersliving-peopleprofessional-wrestlers-from-buffalo,-new-yorkprofessional-wrestling-hall-of-fame-and-museumprofessional-wrestling-promotersstampede-wrestling-alumni21st-century-american-jews20th-century-male-professional-wrestlers20th-century-american-professional-wrestlersnwa-southern-heavyweight-champions-(florida-version)nwa-world-tag-team-champions-(florida-version)nwa-international-tag-team-champions-(toronto-version)nwa-austra-asian-tag-team-championsiwa-world-heavyweight-champions-(australia)iwa-world-tag-team-champions-(australia)wwwf-united-states-tag-team-championswcwa-world-six-man-tag-team-championswcwa-world-tag-team-championsnwa-texas-heavyweight-champions