Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie

[stuntmovie]

Thanks, JPM. I have some comments regarding your latest post but right now I'll be cut and pasteing something I just finished writing that's been in the back of my mind with the hope of resolving it before it falls out completely.



Just recrntly I read an undated article on the internet which wrote briefly about the transition phase between the AAU as the sanctioning body for bosybuilding within the USA and the NPC as the sanctioning body for bosybuilding within the USA


The article states that the NPC took  control directly from the AAU.

The article appears to neglect a short period of “bodybuilding history” ….. a time in which I was involved (mostly on the sidelines … but in the game for  the winning touchdown).

I am very bad at recalling dates and minor details but I will attempt to put this “jig-saw puzzle” together with the hope that another inividual who knows the dates andd related facts can lend a hand with this relatively unknown part of bodybuildimg history which should not be overlooked nor forgotten.

Or maybe it’s already recorded elsewhere and someone can let us know where.

Even pieces of this puzzle  would be appreciated.

II’ll post what I can recall (the corners and the edges) ASAP.

[stuntmovie]

JPM. Reeves did a number of things like that but I only recall a couple such as chewing his food 20 times before swallowing and doing dynamic tension exercises with the steering wheel while driving his car.

To the best of my recollection it was Scott who introduced Boudreaux to Blair. (They both trained at Vince’s).

And “Yes”, R. H. Blair’s was the big seller back then among the serious lifters. Milk and egg if I recall.

There was some sort of an attempt to overthrow Blair’s success with  the introduction of a pure liver product in powder form but it smelt and tasted so bad that it only was successful for a short time period. It had the odor dirty socks!

Gotta check this out but Steve was more of a Denny Miller look-a-like,  but I may be wrong here, Give me time to agree or otherwise,



 

[stuntmovie]

GORDON SCOTT / DENN MILLER

Both had Tarzan movie roles.

Either similar to Reeves?

[stuntmovie]

Has anyone read or even seen a copy of MUSCLE, SMOKE, AND MIRRORS by Randy Roach? ($60+)

I just read a part of it that was posted on the web ... the whole volumn was not posted, but the small section of it that I did read was well written and damn accurate and very informative.

I'm going to stop by the library this evening and see if I can check out a copy. I believe it will describe the circumstances and the formation of the NPC, etc., etc., etc.

I'll see if it supports my memory banks or informs me that I've really lost it.

[funk51]

GORDON SCOTT / DENN MILLER

Both had Tarzan movie roles.

Either similar to Reeves?

reeves and gordon scott appeared as brothers in duel of the titans because of reeves insistance i read somewhere.

[The Scott]

Has anyone read or even seen a copy of MUSCLE, SMOKE, AND MIRRORS by Randy Roach? ($60+)

I just read a part of it that was posted on the web ... the whole volumn was not posted, but the small section of it that I did read was well written and damn accurate and very informative.

I'm going to stop by the library this evening and see if I can check out a copy. I believe it will describe the circumstances and the formation of the NPC, etc., etc., etc.

I'll see if it supports my memory banks or informs me that I've really lost it.

I have never seen it but I have read Dick Tyler's "West Coast Bodybuilding Scene: The Golden Era",  a great look at the end of the innocence of what it meant to be a real bodybuilder.

Stuntman, I recall reading a few years back before Eiferman passed away that he had recently found out that he had a son from a woman he had loved, but never married.  I have been trying to find the story online but have so far failed.  I seem to recall a video of it too, so perhaps that is where I should next look.

Another great video to watch, and one which I no longer have on DVD because I lent it to a friend who gave it to his brother and he lost it, is the DVD on the 1965 Mr. Olympia.  It was shot in 8mm and while the film is just that, 8mm quality, the narration by the man who did the filming is wonderful.  He goes into the whole scene including York.

I remember him saying that he was travelling with the York guys and they stopped to eat at a Denny's or some such place and he was worried about what to eat so as to appear "health oriented" like Bob Hoffman and the men of York put forth in Strength & Health magazine.  Turns out Hoffman ordered something along the lines of chicken fried steak and gravy, you know... Just like a normal man would.

If only I had a "Way-Back Machine"...  

[Thespritz0]

Gable Boudreaux ......

WOW! That's a long time forgotten name.

I never did meet Gabe (very short) because I was overseas during most of the time that he was in SoCal. (He's originally from Louisiana and may be residing in Louisiana as we speak).

If I recall correctly, he trained with Scott at Vince's and placed second in the Cal contest the year after Corvello took the overall.

I believe Corvello won the Cal in 1965, so that would put Gable second in the 1966 Cal.

Joe, Can you tell us who won the Cal title in 1966??

^^
1966 Mr. California RALPH KROGER

[stuntmovie]

FUNK, Thanks again for the most recent pictures.

The first one is  Don Howorth with Rheo H. Blair. My best guess is that it was taken 64/65.

Howorth was known for his huge delts and always wore a long sleeve cashmier sweater which was very popular back them. A few years later he got into some kind of trouble (drugs), but I have forgotten that story a long time ago.

That photo taken in the back of Yarick’s Gym is interesting for a couple off reasons …

Back in them days dress-coats always had ‘shoulder-pads’ such as you see in the dress-coat worn by Steve. He was very much in style in that phone and must have been heading out to some formal function of the day,

Interesting photo because Ed Yarlck photos are relatively rare.

And also interesting because it includes a young Jack Dillinger.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Jack when he was working in the Oakland Bay Area .

Jack was working in a plant that made gym equipment similar to UNIVERSAL and we talked about HIS old days for an hour or so
 
We discussed the old timers back then and what those still-among-the-living were doing with their lives.

Jack had a full length cast (half length cast?) on  his leg which was in an elevated position due to some discomfort. When I asked his what was the cause of  his broken leg he said, “I fell off  a bar-stool!”

I thought he was joking so I laughed and then we went on about our business.

A couple of days later, I met another friend of Jack’s and mentioned his broken leg and the  laugh I had when he told me that he had fallen off a bar-stool.

And the friend said … “He did fall off a barstool! That’s how he broke it!”

SCOTT …. Thanks! I just ordered TYLER’s book and plan to read it as soon as Amazon sends it to me,

I also asked my library to order MUSCLE, SMOKE, AND MIRRORS because I don’t want to pay $60 for a copy. (And it comes in two volumns! At $60 a piece)


I think I saw that 1965 Olympia Super-8 once. Only once because it took too long to set up the projector and wind the film.)

That was Scott’s major win and I sort of recall RICK STONEWALL in it.

Am I correct?

Many years later I would be meeting RICK and a lot of other great early day bodybuilders at a big function in LV . ‘I’ll save that story for a later post.

I never heard that story about George Eifferman.

SPRITZ …. Thanks for the Kroger info. I should have known that but I was out of the country when he won that one.

[funk51]

I have never seen it but I have read Dick Tyler's "West Coast Bodybuilding Scene: The Golden Era",  a great look at the end of the innocence of what it meant to be a real bodybuilder.

Stuntman, I recall reading a few years back before Eiferman passed away that he had recently found out that he had a son from a woman he had loved, but never married.  I have been trying to find the story online but have so far failed.  I seem to recall a video of it too, so perhaps that is where I should next look.

Another great video to watch, and one which I no longer have on DVD because I lent it to a friend who gave it to his brother and he lost it, is the DVD on the 1965 Mr. Olympia.  It was shot in 8mm and while the film is just that, 8mm quality, the narration by the man who did the filming is wonderful.  He goes into the whole scene including York.

I remember him saying that he was travelling with the York guys and they stopped to eat at a Denny's or some such place and he was worried about what to eat so as to appear "health oriented" like Bob Hoffman and the men of York put forth in Strength & Health magazine.  Turns out Hoffman ordered something along the lines of chicken fried steak and gravy, you know... Just like a normal man would.

If only I had a "Way-Back Machine"...  

i heard the same story about eiferman's son but was told that it was a fake. i  had a dvd by norm kpmonich of the 65 mr o and several other contest, norm has recently died so i doubt you could find it now. i paid a whopping 3 bucks for it.on it he also visits chuck sipes.

[funk51]

FUNK, Thanks again for the most recent pictures.

The first one is  Don Howorth with Rheo H. Blair. My best guess is that it was taken 64/65.

Howorth was known for his huge delts and always wore a long sleeve cashmier sweater which was very popular back them. A few years later he got into some kind of trouble (drugs), but I have forgotten that story a long time ago.

That photo taken in the back of Yarick’s Gym is interesting for a couple off reasons …

Back in them days dress-coats always had ‘shoulder-pads’ such as you see in the dress-coat worn by Steve. He was very much in style in that phone and must have been heading out to some formal function of the day,

Interesting photo because Ed Yarlck photos are relatively rare.

And also interesting because it includes a young Jack Dillinger.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Jack when he was working in the Oakland Bay Area .

Jack was working in a plant that made gym equipment similar to UNIVERSAL and we talked about HIS old days for an hour or so
 
We discussed the old timers back then and what those still-among-the-living were doing with their lives.

Jack had a full length cast (half length cast?) on  his leg which was in an elevated position due to some discomfort. When I asked his what was the cause of  his broken leg he said, “I fell off  a bar-stool!”

I thought he was joking so I laughed and then we went on about our business.

A couple of days later, I met another friend of Jack’s and mentioned his broken leg and the  laugh I had when he told me that he had fallen off a bar-stool.

And the friend said … “He did fall off a barstool! That’s how he broke it!”

SCOTT …. Thanks! I just ordered TYLER’s book and plan to read it as soon as Amazon sends it to me,

I also asked my library to order MUSCLE, SMOKE, AND MIRRORS because I don’t want to pay $60 for a copy. (And it comes in two volumns! At $60 a piece)


I think I saw that 1965 Olympia Super-8 once. Only once because it took too long to set up the projector and wind the film.)

That was Scott’s major win and I sort of recall RICK STONEWALL in it.

Am I correct?

Many years later I would be meeting RICK and a lot of other great early day bodybuilders at a big function in LV . ‘I’ll save that story for a later post.

I never heard that story about George Eifferman.

SPRITZ …. Thanks for the Kroger info. I should have known that but I was out of the country when he won that one.

;)don in the sweather i remember a reader of md wrote in critizing howorth for appearing in the pic with the sweather. why who knows.

[Powerlift66]

Has anyone read or even seen a copy of MUSCLE, SMOKE, AND MIRRORS by Randy Roach? ($60+)

I just read a part of it that was posted on the web ... the whole volumn was not posted, but the small section of it that I did read was well written and damn accurate and very informative.

I'm going to stop by the library this evening and see if I can check out a copy. I believe it will describe the circumstances and the formation of the NPC, etc., etc., etc.

I'll see if it supports my memory banks or informs me that I've really lost it.

Stunt, I have both Volumes of Roach's Muscle, Smoke, Mirrors.Some of the best stuff ever written on the iron game.
A nice pic of Joe Roark in there as well, he was a contributor...

[funk51]

FUNK, Thanks again for the most recent pictures.

The first one is  Don Howorth with Rheo H. Blair. My best guess is that it was taken 64/65.

Howorth was known for his huge delts and always wore a long sleeve cashmier sweater which was very popular back them. A few years later he got into some kind of trouble (drugs), but I have forgotten that story a long time ago.

That photo taken in the back of Yarick’s Gym is interesting for a couple off reasons …

Back in them days dress-coats always had ‘shoulder-pads’ such as you see in the dress-coat worn by Steve. He was very much in style in that phone and must have been heading out to some formal function of the day,

Interesting photo because Ed Yarlck photos are relatively rare.

And also interesting because it includes a young Jack Dillinger.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Jack when he was working in the Oakland Bay Area .

Jack was working in a plant that made gym equipment similar to UNIVERSAL and we talked about HIS old days for an hour or so
 
We discussed the old timers back then and what those still-among-the-living were doing with their lives.

Jack had a full length cast (half length cast?) on  his leg which was in an elevated position due to some discomfort. When I asked his what was the cause of  his broken leg he said, “I fell off  a bar-stool!”

I thought he was joking so I laughed and then we went on about our business.

A couple of days later, I met another friend of Jack’s and mentioned his broken leg and the  laugh I had when he told me that he had fallen off a bar-stool.

And the friend said … “He did fall off a barstool! That’s how he broke it!”

SCOTT …. Thanks! I just ordered TYLER’s book and plan to read it as soon as Amazon sends it to me,

I also asked my library to order MUSCLE, SMOKE, AND MIRRORS because I don’t want to pay $60 for a copy. (And it comes in two volumns! At $60 a piece)


I think I saw that 1965 Olympia Super-8 once. Only once because it took too long to set up the projector and wind the film.)

That was Scott’s major win and I sort of recall RICK STONEWALL in it.

Am I correct?

Many years later I would be meeting RICK and a lot of other great early day bodybuilders at a big function in LV . ‘I’ll save that story for a later post.

I never heard that story about George Eifferman.

SPRITZ …. Thanks for the Kroger info. I should have known that but I was out of the country when he won that one.

[funk51]

 ;)rock stonewall

[Mr. MB]

Enjoyed the thread. I too paid my 10 cents and took the Pico trolly from La Brea to Santa Monica. 1951. Started my 60 years in the gym after seeing Muscle Beach.

Steve Reeves was my first trainer at Bert Goodrich's Hollywood Gym.

[funk51]

 ;)another angle of the paul anderson shot. plus sr hsquat

[stuntmovie]

POWER, I HAVE  lots to ask you about  those two volumes. But can you tell me if the following two individuals were mentioned during the period of time immediately before the NPC was incorporated .....

RALPH COUNTRYMAN
JEROME WEISE

And in which VOL. is the creation of the NFC discussed? I was a part of that undertaking but have forgotten way too many of the important details.

To the best of my recollection they were the most important individuals who made it possible for the NPC to be a legal entity.

More on that if I ever get the chance to read one of both of those books. I have asked the library to place them on order and they are pretty good about doing so.

MR.... Can you post some of the details regarding Goodrich's Hollywood Gym  and your opinion of S Reeves as a personal trainer and the years that this occured.

Did that Street-car from La Brea to the beach run along the road on which the Mormon Temple is prestnly situated and along the front of the Century Cty complex (Santa Monica Blvd I believe)?

Do you recall the year that that street-car service was discontinued? I seem to recall it when I ws there in the mid 50's

Thanks MR

And thanks again, FUNK

[stuntmovie]

THINKING OUT LOUD!

Myself and a couple of Gary Leonard's good friends helped him prepare for the 1980 Mr America contest which I think was the last Mr America title awarded before the NPC took over.

JOE, I'm a bit confused here regarding the legal use of the 'Mr America" title between the AAU and the NPC back then but I was backstage helping Gary in the pump-area when he won it and many years later he said something like he was the last Mr America title holder before the NPC broke away from the AAU .... actually a 'sub-division' of the Olympic Lifting part of the the AAU. (I have long forgotten the exact title but I do know that  it will be addresed extensively in  MUSCLE, SMOKE, and MIRRORS.)

The last time I talked with Gary was the year in which he had gotten lost in a California forest (Sierra foothills I believe and it took his rescuers three days to find him and get him out.)

I am going to try to contact Gary and see how he's presently doing. (I believe that he is an avid hunter now with some Forest Survival training as a part of his past.)

[Mr. MB]

The PE electric car stopped running in about 1950-51. It was replaced by a coach to the beach.

I was 14 in 1954 when I joined Bert's gym. I told him I was 16. He assigned Steve Reeves as my trainer. Steve showed me the ropes and kept an eye on me. Other notables in the gym were Larry Scott and my fav...Bill Smith. They left after a while to Girondas in the Valley. No easy way for me to get there by bus.

Attached is a pic of me onstage at Muscle Beach, age 11. The kid in the stripe shirt.

[stuntmovie]

MB... I'm bad at dates but I think Steve worked there while he was the side kick of Ralph Edwards on the Ralph Edwards daily afternoon TV show  .

Thanks for your interesting input. (I even enjoyed your 'street-car' remarks).

I never realized that Scott was residing in California that early. I believe that the first time I met Larry was around 1961 when he was a real slim, gymnast looking guy. Very lean but in decent shape. We called it 'functional muscle' back then. Do you recall his age when he trained at Bert's? I assume he must have been 15-18 years of age then. I don't know Scott's date of birth.

The LA area was many years ahead of Northern California when it came to good, functional places to train ... but it was just starting to get-with the program within the San Francisco city limits.

I can sort of recall driving from Hollywood to the beach along Santa Monica Blvd. and seeing old electric trolly rails running down the center of the road in front of the present Century City Mall and the Mormon Temple and a lot of that land was simply weed riddden vacant lots .

I guess I never did actually see the street-cars themselves.

One of my relations was a big movie star on the rise back then and we drove all over town searching for him during a movie shoot but we never did make contact until a few years later. He did not like all the bullshit and adulation that the studios were feeding him so he simply said the hell with it and quit except for some decent TV roles in whieh he was able to maintain some simblance of privacy.

Anyway .... It's good to see someone posting who was there when bodybuilding history was being made.

Great photo also! I will assume that was shot around 1952 ? And two of the backgreound buildings are still in the same location.

Thanks, MR !!!

[jpm101]

Seen that picture of Reeves doing those BB hack squats, with raised heels, a few times before. Believe that belt had hooks on the back to help with the weight, or something like that. Wonder if that was at York. Another pic of him using the  "T" handle device back there, think Funk51 put it up before, doing something like a Hack lift..

Howorth must have had those sweaters made for him, couldn't buy them store made with that taper to the waist. Heard Steve Marjanian was also a yard wide in the shoulders. Big rumor (only a rumor) about Howorth being involved with bikers  (believe Hells Angels/Satan's Slaves) in The Valley. And running some drugs for them. Hope that's not true.

At onetime L.A. had one of the best transportation systems in America, with the old Red Cars. Been told that one line ran on little Santa Monica blvd to the beach. Mormon temple is right near there in Westwood. I know because I had to go to the temple a couple of times when a teenager. Did one run on Venice blvd, I wonder. Had a Long Beach line also.

Earl Liederman, who use to write for Weider mags way back in the day, use to hang around Goodrich and other Hollywood and L.A. gyms. Most of the time was at a bar that was owned by Big Mac, or something like that.

[stuntmovie]

JPM … Once again if I recall correctly Don’s sweaters were not specialluy designed nor modified.These were the good old days when service like that never existed. But I do know for a fact that some guys with big shoulders (and Don had the hughest shoulders among the bodybuilders back them) would often do a military tuck in the back .

But from the looks of that photo he simply purchased a sweater that was  two sizes larger than he would normally wear if his shoulder weren’t so darn huge.

The motorcycle gang story is exactly as I had heard it years ago so I woold assume it’s correct or nearly so.

Santa Monica Blvd was wide enough to accommodate rails down the center of the street … and in many cases … still is, but Venice Blvd is now and was then way too narrow to do so. Could be wrong though.

I don’t recall ever meeting Liedeman but that could have happened and just about all of the Physical fitness magazines had Ghost Writers writing articles attributed to one well knowb bodybuilder or another.

BIG MAC??? Cold that have possibly been Mac Batchelor? I wrote a small article about Mac Batchelor a long while back but I don’t believe he ever owned a bar.

Mac Batchelor was BIG but I believe that he was a trucker that delivered beer to various bars in the LA area (if memory serves me right).

It is my understanding that  Mac had a standing offer to buy any bar patron (or was it  all the bar patrons?) the next round of beer (or was it the next X rounds of beer?) if anyone in the bar could beat him at arm/wrist wrestling.

I ws probably too young to enter bars so I never did have the opportunity to accept his challenge ….. but there is no question that he would have broken my wrist, my elbow, my shoulder and a couple other of my bones if I had  stepped up and given it a try.

Ia’ve never heard of anyone who had beaten him.

That coul possibly be the BIG MAC you mentioned above.

And it is possible that he became a bar owsner later on.

Did you ever hear of L’il ABNER’s which was in the vicinity of ZUVER’S GYM?

And do you remember the electric trolly that ran from the Santa Monica Pier down to Venice Beach?

Thanks, MR!B Great to reminist with ya. Or however that word is spelt.

[stuntmovie]

 I forgot to mention that Mac Batchelor would bend beer bottle caps with his two fingers and that they became somewhat of a collector's item by beer drinkers everywhere within the LA basin.

Years later I would meet an average sized (but muscular) individual who could tear a quarter in half  with his fingers.

And some claimed that he could remove lug nuts without a tool other than his left or right hand.

TRUTH

[stuntmovie]

ROBERT ZUVER! My computer is having problems moving around the GetBig boards but I did fall across some of your recent posts and I want to tell you that I did know your dad (Rev. Zuver) while I was stationed at Pendleton in the 60's.

I did not know your dad well but I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times in the gym and I believe I also met you if your nickname is or was RHINO when you were very young.

You dad gave us a tour of the gym starting at the Gorilla 'greeting' and then an explanation of the front door which was huge and had a sign attached saying someting like .... IF YOU ARN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO OPEN THIS DOOR, YOU CAN'T COME IN! Or something like that.

I can recall all the great and heavy equipment and the floor with the Olympic Weight 'carpeting'.

I believe your home was next door to the gym and if I'm not mistaken the gym was built in a residential area. (Costa Mesa???)

Your dad or one of the members referred us to a little bar up the main road a bit called L'il Abner's but it was too early for young, weight lifting Marines to start drinking ... (That's a lie! Actually it was closed when we stopped to get some beers after a decent workout.)

I wrote something about our Zuver's Gym visit and will do my best to find it and repost it here.

I hope you see this and will respond.

Thanks, Stunt

[stuntmovie]

FUNK, the photo of Jack Dillinger appears to have been taken with a fellow competitor by the name of Ray Rutledge but I could be seriosuly mistaken.

Where is Joe when we need him??!

HELP, JOE!!!!

Is any of this stuff new to you, Joe!?

[The Scott]

1954 was the year Reeves starred in the film (with his own voice!) "Athena".  Dick Dubois was also in the film but billed as "Richard Sabre".

Later in life it appears that Dubois married and became a Christian minister.  He recently passed away (I believe about two or three years ago) and I believe his church was in some part of Hollywood.  It may have been West Hollywood, but I was unable to locate any information on his family. 

Both Reeves and Dubois had great all natural physiques and their rolls in the film while relatively minor, were speaking ones and they looked and sounded fantastic.

It also starred Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Louis Calhern, Vic Damone and the very handsome (and fonly recently deceased) Edmund Purdom.