Getbig Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Forums
Getbig Bodybuilding Boards => History - Stories - and Memories => Topic started by: Formerly_Owner76 on December 08, 2010, 02:09:51 PM
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Anyone remember trivia about this freak??
What he did just to get to a "Thong Contest"??
(http://)
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he was thought to be the blond version of steve reeves won mr cally at 18 years old. was a decent olympic lifters aau rules gave points for athletic performance which usually meant the olympic lifts. also a veggyterian.
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i believe he was a teen ager when he lost mr a to reeves by half a point. was a pro wrassler after.
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The last info I ever heard about Eric was that he was a gambling debt collector in Las Vegas.
If he is seill alive today he would be about 85 years old.
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Eric died in 1990.
Charles Roland Putnam [Eric Pedersen]
Aug 17, 1928 - Oct 13, 1990
He 'borrowed' a car to get to the 1947 Mr. America contest. There is a photo of him in jail after, and because of, that.
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Joe, a while back I met someone in LV who knew an Eicc Pedersen and I have to assume it was the same Eric because I do know that 'Eric the bodybuilder' resided in LV for a while.
That person described Eric as 'One tough SOB who ran around town collecting gambling debts for some of the local casinos!'
Did not know he passed away. Must have been approximately 74 years of age.
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Joe, a while back I met someone in LV who knew an Eicc Pedersen and I have to assume it was the same Eric because I do know that 'Eric the bodybuilder' resided in LV for a while.
That person described Eric as 'One tough SOB who ran around town collecting gambling debts for some of the local casinos!'
Did not know he passed away. Must have been approximately 74 years of age.
Probably the same man. There was a story that Pedersen became unsettled and unruly when Reeves beat him for the Mr. America title, and matters nearly got out of hand.
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Hey, Joe! How did Dr Craig Whitehead pass away? And what year was it?
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Wow, Dr Whitehead. Some people told me that, when he was in Hawaii years ago, he was really wired and pretty violent. Major druggie back then and may have done a little time. His wife and him were into some heavy stuff, or so the rumor goes. Believe he was a captain in the Air Force or such. Let's hope he had a subdued and happy life in later years.
Reminds me of the story of Dave Drapper getting freakie at a party in Santa Monica (I believe). Did some damage and was arrested and booked. Said some one slipped him a tab (acid) in his drink, or something like that.
Lot of old stories about drugs, and whatever, around the Muscle Beach sub culture back in the 60's and up to today. Also the pesky HIV thing seems to keep hanging on. Don't really know how true most of them are. Maybe just locker room stories.
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JPM, I played a small role in the Muscle Beach 60's "sub-culture" (as you referred to it) and have to disagree with you a bit.
To me the word 'sub-culture' would mean a culture consisting of many people, but back then bodybuilding was relatively unknown and the number of real bodybuilders in the surrounding area could be counted using the digits on one and a half hands (almost).
I would probably be somewhat accurate by saying that 90% of the world's population at that time had no idea what "bodybuilding" meant or exactly what it involved.
And back in those good old days, no one had ever heard of HIV. And even then marijuana was stepping over the line a bit.
And there were no computers to hide behind and spread malicious gossip about who was doing what with whom. The 'real gossip mongers' were actually two older, grey haired ladies in Hollywood who made millions telling partial truths about the top named movie stars providing it wasn't too provocative.
But what was interesting about those old ladies was the fact that they let the world know who they were. They didn't hide behind their typewriter.
To the best of my knowledge Rick Wayne was the first to write monthly columns about the inside world of bodybuilding, but it was never as 'sensationalized' as some GetBiggers dream about and comment about on this GetBig board.
To the best of my recollection there were two relatively well known activities in the 60's that have yet to be disclosed to GetBiggers ..... And both only ocurred on the fringe of the BB world.
One such activity was the invite only Mazola Party held in some fancy mansion in Beverly Hills. You'd arrive. Your car would be parked by a valet. A butler would open the door. You would strip down. You'd be given a bottle of oil and led to a huge room where the Mazola Party was in full progress.
No more comment because I never went, but a lot of the gym members tried to get invites as most of the invited ladies were good looking Hollywood wanna-bees.
Second reocurring "scandelous story" concerned the pro athlete (not IFBB Pro) turned Hollywood celebrity with a great looking wife who would show up outside the gym and invite the best looking muscle-head to spend the weekend with them in Malibu.
Neither of the above was secret and Monday stories spread rapidly throughout the gym.
Not too many scandelous stories that I participated in. I'm sure others can tell a few, but it was a very different world back then even after the Hippies took it over.
It wasn't until the 70's and the 80's when major changes happened within the world of bodybuilding ..... and the rest of the world in general.
And we wern't in Kansas any more!
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Stuntman: Culture meaning a way of life, with it's own beliefs, customs and way of looking at and doing things. Sub would mean not with the main majority of society or out of the norm.. Like surfing & surfers (which I have been involved with), tattoo freaks or MMA people, each can be called a sub culture. Even movie people. Doesn't have to be a lot of people caught up in any sub culture. Your correct about the old Muscle Beach and BB'er of that era, with it's small circle of people. But still a sub culture, never the less. Sub cultures doesn't mean being inferior or wrong, just something different.
Of course HIV was not known back then, but STD were, in the Muscle Beach/BB'ing 50 and 60's. HIV seemed to have cropped up in the late 80's, as had coke & meth, for the west coast BB'ing world. All this along with exploring chemical engineering with 'roids and other junk. A few well known BB'ers (Pro's and others) seemed to drop out of the sport (debatable term) almost over night. Health issues being the main concern. "What ever happened to what's his name?", could be a common question at times.
I think the old timers (50 & 60's) had the right idea about training. Just getting too stupid now with the sorry drug use. And inflated ego's. Been told that in the old days some gym's would have a friendly challenge to another gym as to lifting, usually benching or other odd lifts. Nice to have that today.
Stuntman, any stories about Walt Marcy? Gym equipment maker. An old timer, I once knew, said he used to workout at his Sunset Blvd gym (nearer downtown LA). Nice , neat gym. Said Marcy seemed to have a new girlfriend every week. Richard Tyler worked at the front desk for awhile. Tyler was very good at one arm curling I believe. Also trained at the old Bert Goodrich gym on Hollywood Blvd. Was and actor than became a chiropractor later on.
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JPM, thanks for the 'sub-culture' clarification.
I think that the point I was try to make is that bodybuilding in and of itself was little known back then and there were not many bodybuilder sub-culture members.
I don't recall ever meeting Marcy or Tylor but I could be mistaken as over the years I think I met just about 90% of anyone associated with the 'lifting game' - and that includes the early day European lifters too.
Who was the old man who always appeared at functions in a three piece suit? Throw out some old time names and I'll do my best to ID him.
And do you recall the foundry in WATTS that made iron olympic plates that were always 7 to 10% lighter than they claimed to be? I was in their often weighing plates to get the most accurate ones.
I think it was BELL Foundry! I was always told that I was taking my life in my hands by traveling through that neighborhood. That was around the time of the Watt's Riots or immediately thereafter, but I never had any problem what-so-ever.
Merry Christmas. ya'll!
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...Stuntman
Don't know about the Watt's foundry, wasn't born around the time of the riots. Maybe Paramount mfg? After coming to the mainland, when I was 10 years old, my mom, me and 2 sisters lived in Willowbrook for a year & a half. Willowbrook is between Watts & Compton. I could see why you might have had a problem around there if you were a white boy.
Yeah, got to check those plates from India and China now days. Also those exercise bars are not the best quality steel and may tend to bend out of shape. Though China does make a higher quality Olympic lifting bar but not exercise bar.
Actually that old man in the 3 piece suit might have been Marcy. Heard he always dress well at the meets with a much younger girl on his arm.
Ever meet Armand Tanny, brother of Vic? Or Hugo Labra (think that's right) who hung round MB about your time.Seen pictures of him and his skin looked paper thin. Larry Scott , from what I heard, did a lot of his early training out around there. Before Gironda's gym.
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JPM, Yes, I did know Armand, brother of Vic! He used to hang out with the old time wrestlers on Waikiki Beach behind Duke's in the Outrigger Hotel would help the beach boys take the tourist out for a ride in the Outrigger Canoes.
I also met VIc Jr when he was an up and coming amateur. And also Jon Jon while he dad was still alive.
If I recall right it was the days of Lord Blears and Hot Dog Annie and Don (Hot Pants) Moraco when THE ROCK was still a little kid waiting for his dad to get out of Dean's Gym and take him home.
And shortly the Von Ericks followed in their footsteps!
And if you remember Hot DOg Annie or any of he others I mentioned, you really are familiar with wrestling history!
We used to have a late meal at her hot dog stand on Kalakaua Ave and challenge the "pro" wrestlers to a "beef" in the hopes that some newspaper reporter would be on site to give the morning's paper the publicity we felt they deserved.
That worked a good number of time.
Low on battery.
SATURDAY, 18 December .... Drove from Las Vegas to Los Angeles yesterday and ended up in a deluge while driving from Little Rock (Pear Blossom Highway route) to Woodland Hills past Vasquez Rock. The traffic was all heading in the other direction (towards Las Vegas) so it was a slow but steady flow into town, but I was thinking ..... If California ever collapses economically or it it suffers from a massive series of earthquakes, the entire population of Southern California will pack it all up and move east.
And the closest town east of SoCal happens to be LV.
If you own LV property, keep it because eventually it's gonna happen.
All they talk about is EARTHQUAKE in this part of the state!
And how earthquakes that happen south within Mexico and even further south in South America have adverse affects on each and every fault-line in California.
Scientists now claim that they will be able to forecast earthquakes fairly accurately within the next decade.
(Something about sattelites being able to measure heat variation beneath the earth's crust.)
Sorry! Off topic.
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Stunt,
So far I have not been able to find solid details regarding Whitehead's passing. I have appealed to a friend for details- hopefully he will be able to make contact with those who may know.
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OK, Joe! Thanks. I think it was something other than a 'normal' death. But in an effort to not start a rumor, I'll not elaborate.
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Stuntman
Good, interesting stuff.
When you say The Rock, do you mean Dwayne Johnson himself or his father Rocky Johnson? Just wondering because Dwayne was born in 1972 in Hayward and grew up in Pa. Our family is supposes to have some ties to Dwayne's grandfather Pete Maivia, so just wondering. From what I heard, Rocky Johnson (black) was one muscular and strong dude. Also a Pro wrestler.
Waikiki must have been something back in your day. Now it's just an over built tourist trap. Get the smell of tanning lotion and sun screen everywhere. I'm guessing you were around there in the early 50's?
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JPM, I knew The Rock's dad when he used to train at Dean's Gym on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki during the 60's and I believe I met Dwayne a couple of times much later when he visited his dad in Hawaii. Not real positive about that though.
Don "Hot Pants" Moraco also trained at Dean's with a good number of the other wrestlers whose names I have forgotten. I do recall Don Moraco well because we named a dog (Hot Pants) after him.
You had to be able to bench press 300+ at Dean's or else you were asked to leave.