Kamala

James Arthur Harris (May 28, 1950August 9, 2020), better known by his ring name Kamala, was an American professional wrestler.

Nicknamed "The Ugandan Giant", Kamala portrayed a fearsome and simpleminded Ugandan.

He wrestled barefoot, clad only in a loincloth, his face painted with war paint and two stars and a moon painted on his torso.

During his ring entrance, he sported an African mask and wielded a spear and shield.

Harris was born on May 28, 1950, in Senatobia, Mississippi, to Jessie Harris and Betsy Mosely.

He grew up in Coldwater, Mississippi, where his family owned a furniture store.

He had four sisters.

When he was around four, his father was shot dead during a dice game, leaving the family impoverished.

As a youth, Harris worked as a sharecropper to help support his family.

Harris left high school in the ninth grade and became a habitual burglar.

In 1967, local police suggested he leave town.

As Harris put it, "Back then if you didn't leave like they said, you would be found dead somewhere."

He relocated to Florida, where he drove trucks and picked fruit.

At age 25, he moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he met wrestler Bobo Brazil.

Harris then began training as a wrestler, under Brazil's friend, "Tiny" Tim Hampton.

He moved to Arkansas to continue training and escape the snow in Michigan.

Harris debuted in 1978 under the ring name "Sugar Bear" Harris.

He spent most of his early career in the Southern United States, also using the ring names "Ugly Bear" Harris and "Big" Jim Harris.

His first manager was Percy Pringle.

He won his first championship in NWA Tri-State in 1979, teaming with Oki Shikina to win the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship.

In 1980, Harris joined Southeastern Championship Wrestling as "Bad News" Harris, winning the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship in 1980.

In 1981, Harris traveled to Europe for seasoning.

Following a stint in Germany, he traveled to the United Kingdom, where he wrestled for Joint Promotions as "The Mississippi Mauler", a character with some similarities to his future Kamala character.

In June 1981, he competed in a tournament for the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing to Wayne Bridges in the final in Wembley Arena in London.

Harris returned to Senatobia in the United States in 1982 after sustaining a broken ankle.

While visiting his friend The Dream Machine at the Mid-South Coliseum in nearby Memphis, Tennessee, to borrow ring attire, Harris met Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) promoter Jerry Lawler, who offered him a job.

Harris, Lawler and Jerry Jarrett developed a new character for Harris, "Kimala" (later adjusted to "Kamala"), drawing upon ideas for a character originally developed for Harris by The Great Mephisto.

The character was a vicious Ugandan headhunter with face and body paint copied from a Frank Frazetta painting.

His backstory was that he was a former bodyguard of deposed President of Uganda Idi Amin who had been discovered by J. J. Dillon during an excursion to Africa.

A promotional vignette aired on WMC-TV featuring a spear-wielding Kamala seemingly emerging from a steamy African jungle; the vignette was actually filmed on Jarrett's farm in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with the steam effect created using dry ice.

To establish Kamala as a monstrous character, Jarrett instructed him to wrestle in a brawling style with chops and biting.

To preserve kayfabe, Harris wore robes and refused to speak English while in public in Memphis.

Kamala made his debut in the CWA in May 1982 with Dillon as his manager, losing to Lawler by disqualification in a match that sold out the Mid-South Coliseum.

In June, he defeated Lawler for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, which he held until August that year.

Toward the end of the year, he feuded with the imposter "Kamala II".

In late-1982, Kamala began wrestling for Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion.

He was managed by Skandor Akbar and Friday (originally portrayed by Buddy Wayne, then by Frank Dalton), forming part of Akbar's villainous Devastation, Inc. stable.

In April 1983, he wrestled André the Giant in a highly promoted bout at the Louisiana Superdome.

During 1983, he faced The Junkyard Dog in a series of "battle of the monsters" matches.

He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) over the course of numerous runs in the company between 1984 and 1993.