Ambrose Schindler

Ambrose "Amblin' Amby" Schindler (April 21, 1917 – December 30, 2018) was an American college football player, coach, and on-field official. He played football at the University of Southern California (USC). Schindler served as the head football coach at El Camino College in Alondra Park, California from 1947 to 1951.

Sports career Schindler prepped at San Diego High School. A star quarterback for the USC Trojans, during the 1937 season he led the team in rushing, scoring and total offense and was named to all-conference honors. His senior year, he led the Trojans to a share of the 1939 national championship: At the 1940 Rose Bowl, capping the 1939 season, Schindler ran for a touchdown and passed for another in a 14-0 victory over a Tennessee Volunteers team that had previously gone undefeated for 23 games and unscored upon for the previous 16 games (including the entire 1939 regular season); he was named the game's most valuable player. He went on to be the MVP in the 1940 College All-Star Game, held at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Film and stunt work During the end of his college career, he appeared in The Wizard of Oz (1939) as a Winkie guard and as Jack Haley's Tin Man stunt double. At the time of his death, Schindler was one of the last surviving living people working on the film classic, having outlived all major cast members, original Tin Man Buddy Ebsen, and adult Munchkins (Jerry Maren died several months before him). He also appeared in Sailor's Lady (1940).

Later sport career and honours Although selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 1940 NFL draft, Schindler did not play in the National Football League. At the time, coaching at high school and college offered more financial security than the low pay NFL of the early 1940s; he would later admit that he had lifelong doubts about his decision. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2002.

Personal life Schindler was one of three children born to Charles Anthony Schindler (1880–1961) and Nellie Ethel Parks (1880–1957). Schindler married his wife, Lucille Frances West (1917–1984), on August 29, 1943, and they together had two children. He did occasionally think about what his life would have been like if he played professional football, but part of his decision to select a more, at the time, stable career was because of his wife. and died in December 2018 of undisclosed causes at the age of 101.

Head coaching record Junior college