ROY HILLIGENN.....1951 MR. AMERICA
Roy Hilligenn's life was a story of determination, achievement, and tragedy. He was born in California in 1922, but spent his youth in South Africa.
Hilligenn was four years old when his father, a police sargeant, died of cancer. This left his mother the task of raising five children.
Sent to an orphanage from age six to 15, Roy frequently ran away and often scrounged for food in garbage cans. At age 16, he spent two years at a trade school to become a certified electrician.
A proverbial "97-pound weakling," Hilligen began weight training at age 18. During one of his electrical jobs, he fell from a four-story building, sustaining broken ribs, wrists, fingers, plus severe internal injuries. Two years of convelescence, and then working out with a set of home-made weights, his body weight climbed to 101 pounds in the first year, and to 150 pounds the second.
Three years following his serious injuries, Roy won a novice weightlifting meet in the 148-pound class. In 1943 combining basic weightlifting and bodybuilding exercises, he became the first South African to clean-and-jerk double his bodyweight. He captured the Mr. South Africa crown in 1943, 1944, and 1946.
Immigrating to the United States, Hilligenn placed third at the 1949 AAU Mr. California contest and won the Mr. Northern California and Mr. Pacific Coast events while training at Ed Yarick's Gym in Oakland. In 1950, he placed third at the Mr. America, behind John Farbotnik, and Melvin Wells. That year, in the 198-pound class, he captured the Pacific Coast Weightlifting Championships.
In 1951, weightlifting three days a week and bodybuilding on the opposite days, Roy won the 1951 AAU Mr. America crown, weighing 176 pounds. He equalled the world record with a 375-pound clean-and-jerk, and it was reported at a heavier bodyweight, he clean-and-jerked 405 pounds.
Hilligenn credited a large part of his strength and vitality to diet. He stated, "Being a vegetarian most of my life is the secret to my youthful countenance, longevity and perfect health. I believe fruit is the body's cleanser, vegetables are body healers, and meat is the body's premature aging agent."
In 1952, the York Barbell Company sponsored the dual IWF Mr. World and World's Most Muscular Man contests. Jim Park, 1952 AAU Mr. America winner, outscored Hilligenn by a half point for the over-all title, while Hilligenn won the World's Most Muscular Man award.
Roy Hilligenn died in 2008, at age 85, from a brain blood clot caused from falling. He went into a coma and did not wake up. Sexual battery convictions
Hilligenn who had worked as a masseur at his Hernando County clinic was convicted of sexually assaulting two of his female clients. He was also hired as a personal trainer for a St. Petersburg family and was accused of fondling a 21-year old female member of the family.[5] Between 1987–1989, Hilligenn served two years in prison on two accounts of sexual battery and three accounts of assault.[1] In 1991, Hilligenn was convicted of sexual battery and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in 1999.[6]
Personal life
Hilligenn was a vegetarian, claiming not to have eaten meat.[3] He stated that "I believe being a vegetarian all my life is a secret to [my] youthful countenance and longevity and perfect health."[3]
Hilligenn married Marilyn Hilligenn in the early 1960s. He died on August 3, 2008, at the age of 85.[3] He developed a blood clot after he fell and hit his head. After undergoing surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, he went into a coma and never came out of it.
