McIntosh, Hugh D. (Hugh Donald), 1876-1942

Entrepreneur. Born Sept. 10, 1876 in Sydney. Ran away from school before the age of 10 to work as an ore-picker in Broken Hill. Eventually made money selling pies outside sporting events. After selling his catering business he invested in several hotels then in 1908 he built the Sydney Stadium at Rushcutters Bay. He promoted two fights with the American heavyweight champion Tommy Burns, the latter a title bout against black American, Jack Johnson, which McIntosh refereed. These fights including a film of the Burns-Johnson clash, made "Huge Deal" McIntosh a fortune, with whic he bought the Tivoli chain of theatres in 1912 and later the 'Sunday Times' and 'Referee' newspapers in 1916. He continued an extravagant lifestyle with mansions in Australia and England, generous support of charities and was an MLC in NSW state politics from 1917-1931 until he was declared bankrupt. In 1935 he moved to England where he opened a chain of milk bars that eventually failed. He died penniless in London on Feb. 2, 1942.