Who Is Ed Connors?Simply put, Ed Connors is the #1 All Time Bodybuilding Schmoe. Known to many as the man behind the success of the Gold’s Gym franchise, Ed Connors has supported more hungry bodybuilders than the United Way has supported hungry children.
For more than 20 years, Ed Connors exhibited extremely high levels of generosity in allowing up and coming, down on their luck, broke bodybuilders the opportunity to live in one of his four Venice condos FREE of charge, or in some cases, subsidized through some sort of ‘arrangement’.
According to Lee Priest, Ed was happy just to drop by the place every now and then and cop a feel of a bicep or quad, or in other instances, perch himself on a stairway above Lee in a strategic manner wearing nothing but a towel to permit Lee to observe his low-hanging testicles in an effort to ‘tempt’ Lee into temporarily overlooking his own heterosexuality.
From Franco Santoriello to Paul DeMayo and Mike Matarazzo to Lee Priest to Gunter to Ben Pakulski to Dan Hill, it seems as though every single white bodybuilder to crack the pro ranks in the last 25 years owes his career to the legend Ed Connors.
Some would ask what Ed gets out of this. But one could just as easily ask what any other schmoe gets out of supporting his favorite bodybuilder, former playmate, model or escort. He gets the pleasure of the association. And if he’s lucky, perhaps a few additional fringe benefits.
Regardless of what some might say, the only reason you’ve heard of the aforementioned bodybuilders — the only reason you worshiped Matarazzo’s calves, DeMayo’s quads, Priest’s arms, and Dan Hill’s, err, umm, okay scratch that last one — is because of one man: Ed Connors. With the recent liquidation of his Venice and Santa Monica properties, Ed Connors has since ‘retired’ to the Palm Springs desert area to enjoy golf and the solitude of sunshine.
But when one doors closes, another one opens.
Long live the Legend of Ed Connors and his successor: Special Ed Connors.
