Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie

[The Scott]

SCOTT, HAWAIIAN SHIRT guy is my good friend , Gene Mozee who' has been around the BB games since the 50's and I believe Gene wrote the first US article on Arnold S, but I never did see or read that one so I coul be mistaken.

BTW... that information was told to me by Only Me ... Keiith Jones who also knew Gene.

Gene is a walking, talking encyclopedia when it comes to all things regarding bodybuilding and to this day still stays in contact with most of the old timers. who still remain on planet earth.

Yup, Gene!

I know about my heroes, Dave Draper and Steve Reeves along with George Eiferman, Clarence Ross et al as I trained at Stern's for awhile and that place is historic.  There used to be some great caricature drawings of the guys that lifted there (along with superb photographs of the greats of Iron) on the walls.  My cousin had his drawing up there along with many other good folks.  The squat bar at Leo's was curved from years of heavy use, my own included. 

A good friend told me a story about Reeves coming through San Diego on his way to Italy and said he was not only well built, but quite strong.  Naturally the Reeves photos were a great inspiration for me.

By the way, the format you were recalling for the film "Athena" is Laser Disc.  I should know, as I have that film on Laser.  And many more.  Another great film featuring Edmund Purdom is "The Egyptian".  I have the "Ed Wood Collection" on Laser as it had the first film Reeves appeard in, "Jail Bait".

[stuntmovie]

SCOTT. I was in Leo's gym in the early 60's and I think those characters were on the walls back then also. I stopped by to meet Leo but he was out for the day but as I was driving back to Camp Pendelton, a truck passed by me with a Bill Pearl logo on the side door and it was Bill himself behind the wheel. But it wasn't until about ten years later that I actually met him at his Pasadena Gym.

I guess Leo's gym in no longer there. Do you know when it closed down? What year were you there?

Did you ever meet a competitor by the name of Von Lamon in the San Diego area?

[The Scott]

SCOTT. I was in Leo's gym in the early 60's and I think those characters were on the walls back then also. I stopped by to meet Leo but he was out for the day but as I was driving back to Camp Pendelton, a truck passed by me with a Bill Pearly logo in the side door and it was Bill himself behind the wheel. But it wasn't until abou t ten years later that I actually met him at his Pasadena Gym.

I gues Leo's gym in no longer there. Do you know when it closed down? What year were you there?

Did you ever meet a competitor by the name of Von Lamon in the San Diego area?

Never met anyone by that name that I can currently recall.  I trained there in the mid 70s.  Stern's is still there but I think it is now owned by one of the Brown brothers (local bodybuilders) I knew Al Brown  (a great physique in the mold of Robby Robinson!) but not his brother that bought Stern's.  Leo passed away a few years ago and both of his sons are no longer living.  If memory serves me, there was a laundry next to or below the gym. 

My brother lives in Medford Oregon and used to see Pearl once in a while.  Zane is not far from me here in the La Mesa area of San Diego county and I have been to his home (not inside mind you, as I do not know the man on that level) to pick up an autographed book for my brother who is a tremendous fan of Frank's.   Leo introduced my brother to Frank one night at a local contest. 

[Mr. MB]

Stunt...that was not me on the MB bench that day. These days I look like Ric Drasin. In fact when we are together it turns heads.

We could have met at Pearls Pasadena. I was his brother Harry's WO partner for 3 years.

[stuntmovie]

SCOTT, I’m surprised that there’s still a gym in Stern’s old location, Even back in the 60’s I can recall thinking that it was out of place among all those bars, laundries, etc,

And  a 2nd floor gym was usually not a very good ‘neighbor’’ for any business below it.

I  gotta aassume that that location is the oldest/longest  location on the west coast in continuous use as a gym …… Except for some YMCAs maybe.

Von Lamon was an upcoming bodybuilder from the San Diego area who
suffered a severe accident to his leg with a chain-saw and we never heard anything about him after that accident. We were in the process of inviting him to give a seminar at Pendelton.
  
Regarding Bill Pearl in Oregon …. I haven't seen Bill for quite a while now
but it would not surprise me if he still trains at 5 pm every morning.  

Will be posting more on  Bill's gym later.

The  last time I saw Frank and Christine must have been roughly ten years ago at one of the expos. I thought that they still resided in the Palm Springs  area . (A funny Zane story for a later post,,,,,,

[funk51]

Another great series of ol time photos! Thanks, Funk.

Time for a TEST .... WIthout naming them, how many people can you ID in this photo (just give a number).

And have any of you GetBiggers met any of them personally?

nine.

[funk51]

 

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[stuntmovie]

FUNK, Great pix once again. Give me some time ti tale a closer look.



MB,  I never ha the opportunity to meet Ric Drssin but Grymkowski and Keith Jones spoke about him with lots of respect …. And Ric (as you most likely know) appeared in a movie with Mae West called SEXTETT with the following BB competitors who were relatively big names back in them good old days ….

DENNY GABLE - Denny Gable died Saturday, July 22, 2000 from a pulmonary embolism, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Age 49.
REG LEWIS - Sheri (Cheri?) ended up marrying Ed Holvocik (Ed Fury)
JIM MORRIS
KAL SZKALAK
JIM TARLETON (Last contact in Hawaii)
BRIAN ABADLE
And ROGER COLLARD - Need some help here

I would guess that RIC may still cross paths with some of them on rare occasions.

SEXTEET was/is available to warch on IMDB.com if you new guys want to see a small part of BB history (movie-wise).

MB, it’s possible that our paths crossed in Bill’s Pasadeba Gym.

I’ll test my memory banks on that topic next,



MB,  I never ha the opportunity to meet Ric Drssin but Grymkowski and Keith Jones spo,e about him with lots of respect …. And Ric (as you most likely know) appeared in a movie with Mae West called SEXTETT with the following BB  competitors who were relatively big names back in them good old days ….

DENNY GABLE
REG LEWIS
JIM MORRIS
KAL SZKALAK
JIM TARLETON
BRIAN ABADLE
And ROGER COLLARD

I would guess that RIC may still cross paths with some of them on rare occasions.

SEXTEET was/is availab le to warch on IMDB.com if you new guys want to see a small part of BB history (movie-wise).

MB, it’s possible that our paths crossed in Bill’s Pasadeba Gym.

I’ll test my memory banks on that topic next,

PHOTO  .... GABLE and COLLAED .... both mentioned above ...THE Golen Age?

[The Scott]

Stunt, I did not know of Callard's passing and that truly saddens me as he was a fantastic bodybuilder.  Denny Gable has been gone a long time but Kal Skalak is still with us and is now a Triathlete. He still has those peaked biceps (much smaller) but now his calves better fit with the rest of him. 

A local guy by the name of Ty Youngs was another great physique from San Diego.  He claimed natural and seeing him next to Jim Morris one night my brother said he believed the natural claim as Morris dwarfed Ty. 

But Ty was fantastic all the same and he and my cousin were good friends.  His brother Mike also had a good build and I knew him much better than I did Ty whom I rarely (if ever) spoke with.

I think Chet Yorton is still with us too.  Great physique on that man.  Everyone had their own style, their own shape if you will back then.  Now it seems everyone is just huge or as John used to say, "muscularly obese"  .

[funk51]

Stunt, I did not know of Callard's passing and that truly saddens me as he was a fantastic bodybuilder.  Denny Gable has been gone a long time but Kal Skalak is still with us and is now a Triathlete. He still has those peaked biceps (much smaller) but now his calves better fit with the rest of him. 

A local guy by the name of Ty Youngs was another great physique from San Diego.  He claimed natural and seeing him next to Jim Morris one night my brother said he believed the natural claim as Morris dwarfed Ty. 

But Ty was fantastic all the same and he and my cousin were good friends.  His brother Mike also had a good build and I knew him much better than I did Ty whom I rarely (if ever) spoke with.

I think Chet Yorton is still with us too.  Great physique on that man.  Everyone had their own style, their own shape if you will back then.  Now it seems everyone is just huge or as John used to say, "muscularly obese"  .

;)mae west with the first generation mbers.

[stuntmovie]

MB… Here’s my recollection of the good ol Pearl’s Pasadena Gym days.

I’ve know Bill throughout the years for a good long time and as far as I am concerned, he’s one of the very few and last remaining ‘good guys’ within  the bodybuilding world.

I have totally forgotten the dates but I do remember some of the members  so you might possibly be able to solve this date puzzle if you  can recall any of the following:

Harry Pearl ….. I never did meet Harry . I think Harry arrived on the scene later but I do recall some of the members saying that he was a damn tough individual, so he must have been there before I arrived..

I was on active  duty at that time and was invited to spend a week or so with a good friend of mine who trained at Bill’s and was a good friend of Bill’s and Judy’s and Judy’s sister if I recall correctly. At that time Bill had a home directly behind the gym which was vey convenient even though the SO Cal traffic was nothing like it is today.

My good friend was a bodybuilding competitor by the name of ROV JOHNSON) who had just been released from 4 years in the US Navy and moved to Pasadena to train under Bill’s guidance.

The first day ROB arrived in Pasadena he made an appointment to meet with Bill and to join the gym.  

Rob had great potential and Bill told him to get a job and a place to stay first …. And then to come back in for some serious training.

Rob followed Bill’s advice and within that first week he found a job and a place to stay and then joined the gym and became something like a family member with Bill and Judy, etc.

Rob also became a close friend with SOLO EL FENZY who eventually worked with and for Bill in the gym. I thin k he eventually managed it.

A young kid by the name of WAYNE BOUVIER was a shot-putter for USC (UCLA??) and he was huge and did a lot of powerlifting exercises. I’d help him load the plates and we eventually became good friends until he passed away at a very young age.

Wayne was big (huge) but he always rode a very small motor scooter and when he road it down the road it simply appeared that he was moving very fast without moving his legs. It was always a funny sight and very funny to see Wayne hop on that scooter and ‘scoot away’.

Then there was a real young kid who had won some teen age bodybuilding contest who came in when the gym was relatively empty. I forgot his name but there were some posts about his a short while back.

Judy used to reserve the gym or a part of the gym for the ladies a few days each week as those were the days when men and women trained separately.

Now here is where I need your help…..

There were two exceptionally great bodybuilders who trained at Bill’s and were planning  to compete in the Mr America contest that was being promoted by Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica (Ken Spregue) and they felt that it might be to their advantage if they competed as Gold's Gym members, but they had been Bill’s Pasadena Gym members for a good long time and did not want to offend Bill.

So like the good gentlemen they were ….. they went into Bill’s office to explain the situation and immediately after explaining it, Bill said that it was a good idea and there would be no problem if they did so.

At that time one of the guys was well known for his vascularity and eventually attended a flight school and got his pilot license.(Can you name him? Most likely still well known today, but I have forgotten.)

That same weekend we received an invite to attend an afternoon pool party which was a send-off and best-wishes function for BOB BIRDSONG whom I had met a year or so earlier. Bob was competing in the IFBB Mr International Contest the next day in Tiajuana. (He won it easily/.)

This send-off event was held in a very upscale Hollywood area in a private community of very expensive homes with a common pool and garden setting and over 100+ members of various gyms throughout the LA area came to wish him well.

They also came to say congratulations to Jim Morris who had just won the Mr A.

Could you have possibly been there or even possibly attended that contest in Tiajuana when Sergio constantly challenged Arnold to a posedown?

Can you recall any of the above?

[stuntmovie]

Doing my best to respond to all these posts, but will need a bit of time to do so.

And thanks for all the help and interest.

[Gregzs]

Roger Callard? Very much alive: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130320/

I've seen the Ric Drasin interviews with him from a few years ago:

http://videos.bodybuilding.com/watch/64322/rics-corner-roger-callard-part-1

http://videos.bodybuilding.com/watch/64812/rics-corner-roger-callard-part-2

http://videos.bodybuilding.com/watch/64872/rics-corner-roger-callard-part-3

http://videos.bodybuilding.com/watch/64982/rics-corner-roger-callard-part-4

[Mr. MB]

OK Stunt which man is Ric? Muscle Beach Memorial Day 2010.

Of the names you mention I knew Judy, Jim Morris and the teenager may have been Doug Brignoli. later Mr. America.

I showed up in Pasadena about April 1980. WITH HAIR.

[Gregzs]

Ric Drasin talks about the Silver Era

[Gregzs]

Silver Era part 2

[Gregzs]

Reg Lewis talks about the Silver Era part 1

[Gregzs]

Reg Lewis part 2

[stuntmovie]

GREGZS!!!! THANKS! I corrected that error earlier as shown above.

I stupidly made a mistake and mistook Roger Collard for Denny Gable.

ANd I gotta apologize for that dumb error!

[stuntmovie]

MB! Interesting resemblance but I say you are in the partially yellow shirt.

Wild guess here but I think I know the exact location where that picture was taken.

Are there two of the original Venice Beach homes behind that wall?  If I'm correct those two beach front houses were built aroind 1904 and the original sales price was approximately $3,000.

Got that info from one of 1970's owners.

Thanks for posting the photo of you and Ric.