Griffo: Sydney thug starred in world's 1st film

Who's heard of Young Griffo? I certainly hadn't until very recently.

Young Griffo (1871 - 1927) was an Australian newspaper boy from the slums of Sydney's docklands, who had a mighty punch and a nasty temperament and went to the USA where he became the Lightweight Champion of the World.

He was also the star of Young Griffo vs. Battling Charles Barnett (filmed on the roof of Madison Square Garden, May 4, 1895), the first motion picture in the world to be screened before a paying audience, at 153 Broadway in New York City. It premiered on May 20, 1895, more than seven months before the Lumiere brothers showed their film at the Grand Cafe on the Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, on December 18 – the event usually said to be the first movie-by-ticket screening in the world.

Then, at the height of his career, he sexually abused an 11-year old boy in New York, and things went downhill from there for Albert Griffiths. I've just posted the yarn here, and I hope you find it as interesting as I did.