Edward George Farhat was one of eleven children of David and Eva Farhat, who lived near the Oldsmobile factory on Williams St. on Lansing’s westside. His father, who immigrated from Lebanon (Syria), worked in the nearby auto plant and was one of the many Syrians who operated grocery stores on the westside of Lansing.

After a stint in the Army during WWII, Edward began wrestling locally in 1951, and shortly would adopt the stage name “The Sheik” and began to introduce “gimmicks” that would become his trademarks throughout his career. Among them were the use of magician’s flash paper that would allow him to throw fireballs at his opponents. He would also portray himself as a bad boy of wrestling and would perform a faux Islamic prayer before a match despite being Catholic.

He held a variety of World Wrestling Federation Titles and he also operated in the Detroit region as a promoter with his own Big Time Wrestling operation booking and managing wrestlers. Despite public perception he was close friends with one of the good guys of wrestling Leapin’ Larry Chene. He retired in 1998 but not before drawing 56,000 fans at a match in Japan. In 2007, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.