How did Jim Thorpe become famous?

Answer 1

Jim Thorpe wowed the sporting world by winning gold medals in the pentathlon and the decathlon in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. Later that year, against opponents like the fabled Army football team, he scored 25 touchdowns for the Carlisle Indian School. Then Thorpe played six years of professional Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Braves. In 1916 his football team, the Canton Bulldogs, won their first of three unofficial national championships, and Thorpe served as the first president of what is now the National Football League. Of mixed European and Native American background, Thorpe was a popular hero; his life story was dramatized in the 1951 film Jim Thorpe, All-American, starring Burt Lancaster. Although he never got rich because of it, Thorpe is considered one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.

Answer 2

Jim Thorpe won the pentathalon and decathalon gold medals during the 1912 Olympics. He was later declared ineligible and had to return the gold metals after he lost his amateur status - he had played baseball for a season a couple of years earlier. He was native American - Sac and Fox and Potawatomi Indian as well as having French and Irish ancestors. Later, he played pro football and was inducted into the hall of fame. In 1982, his name was restored as co-winner of the 1912 Track Events. He also was cast in about 60 movies and later worked to get Native Americans hired in roles of Indians. Ironically, Burt Lancaster played him in the 1950 movie, "Jim Thorpe -All American."