Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie

[funk51]

The following may only be of interest to a very few GetBiggers, but if someday anyone were to write the complete  encyclopedia regarding the World of Bodybuilding it should be included within that encyclopedia under the heqding, “YEA! THIS REALLY DID HAPPEN!”

But first … a little bit of background to set the mood and attempt to take you 21st Century Centurions back to a time when bodybuilders were seldom seen, gyms as we know them today never existed, and the somewhat dreaded personal trainers showed no signs of their eventual arrival, self importance, and popularity.

So ...... There is a city  within the northern section of California called San Francisco where a young kid by the name of Steve used to walk to the top of that city’s seven hills on his  tip-toes in an attempt to  have bigger calves.

But no one knew this ….. simply because no one gave a damn about muscle growth back then except for Steve and a handful of other young guns who wanted bigger calves, or bigger arms, or bigger chest, etc., etc.

This is sort of  the condensed version of how it all began up north … walk or run those hils or through those parks in some unique manner…. until you were either bigger, faster, or stronger than the kid next door who most likely lacked the 'secret' of how to  get it done.

So back in them god old days, a kid had to do it with whatever nature gave him simply due to the fact there were no gyms in this city of the Seven Hils that a decent kid would ever consider entering.

Sure …. there was LaLanne’s down on Market Street which seemed to cater to a much older gfoup of overweight citizens who picked up heavy things and put them back down (but never in the correct location).

And there was the downtown YMCA for those who preferred being bulked up odd-lifters of one sort or another. These characters would soon be known as powerlifters and garner world wide reputations and most likely still do to this very day.

And then there was a mid-town Yoga ‘Gym” above a well known auto showcase on Lombard  ...... but anyting resembling heavy objects that one could lift over one’s head were somewhat scare and hard to find.

And NoCal had China Beach which 99% of  the NoCal population had never heard of.

So China Beach was seldom visited by any individual who lifted heavy things and eventually became a long forgotten memory except for college student who enjoyed their studies under heavy blanket of fog.

And then a US President by the name of Kennedy spoke a few forgotten words on national TV that somehow got part of the US citizenship to do some exercises on a semi-regular basis.

And that’s when shit began to happen  within the northern regions of California.

Bodybuilding ‘shit’ that is!

A gym of some sort sprang up in every neighborhood.

But way down south in the Los Angels region ….. they were years ahead of the game.

Years earlier on a small strip of beach in Santa Monica …. Muscle Beach had grabbed a foot-hold and had already become a major tourist attraction and somewhat of a headache for the ‘City Fathers’ who seemed to want something different for the ‘endearment’ of their ‘city’.
 
More to follow ...the "Yea! This really did happen part!"

john f kennedy the first president to appear on the cover of a muscle magazine to the best of my knowledge.

[6 Reps]

john f kennedy the first president to appear on the cover of a muscle magazine to the best of my knowledge.

STUNT:  Great stories as always; I really enjoy reading them.  You should write a book.

FUNK:  Aside from this magazine cover, has ANY other President been on a muscle magazine cover??

[stuntmovie]

REPS, Thanks for reading this stuff as we as well as reading 'this stuff' from many others who have been contributing

I've been digging down really deep to recall this stuff ..... so don''t send out the GetBig Suicide Squad  if you discover that my dates are out of sequence or if I forget to place the apostrophes where the apostrophies  are supposed to go.

Many years back we were planning to write a historical bodybuildng book
based on fact but were seriously advised not to do so until many years had passed.

But now that those 'many years' have all gone by, it's damn near impossible to make REALITY more interesting than the unsubstantiated rumors, outright lies, and sexual fantasies surrounding the world of bodybuilding as so often found on internet boards such as this.

But life as described on o=boards such as this is far more interesting than the life in which I have participated.

And tons more 'morally corrupt' which makes life much more interesting.


BREAK TIME

[6 Reps]

Other than Arnold, Franco, and Zane, I don't recognize any of these guys here.  Maybe is that Dennis Tinerino next to Zane?

[The Scott]

Other than Arnold, Franco, and Zane, I don't recognize any of these guys here.  Maybe is that Dennis Tinerino next to Zane?

Al Brown next to Zane.  Chuck Collras next to Franco. Bottom row starting from the right are Chet Yorton and Zabo.  The rest I cannot yet recall.

[stuntmovie]

REPS / SCOTT: Good call but let me add one more!

That definitely looks like SPRAGUE to Arnold's  immediate left.

That leaves two who are unaccounted for ...  the two guys to Arnold's immediate right.

But as somewhat of the imminent know-it-all regarding all things bodybuilding related and a quazi-intellectual when it comes to Quantum Mechanics, I have to add a few very short comments about  the one individual in that photo who seemed to enter every contest ever held within the LA Basin back in them good old days.

And believe me ....... there were very few BB Contests within that basin with the main contest venue being the Embassy Auditorium in Downtown Los Angeles plus the small events held on Venice Beach on an outdoor theater stage that is no longer there.

Chuck Collras. The contest promoters could always count on Chuck showing up to compete which was quite important if you wanted to promote an event with more than five contenders.

And Chuck always appeared on stage in tip-top condition.

And Chuck was very short.

And for some unknown reason the name "REG LEWIS" pops into my head while I'm typing this. He and his beautiful wife also conpeted back then. Maybe one of  you wise GetBiggers can help in this regards. (Sheri Lewis??)

That photo above seems to have been taken at Joe Gold's second location but where the hell was Draper and a few others who appear to be missing?

[The Scott]

Stunt, Reg Lewis was a great natural physique man and I believe he competed once in the Olympia getting 3rd out of three competitors.  Few wanted to go against Arnold back then.   From what I know of Draper, he trained early so he may have been out of there by the time this photo was taken.  I don't think that is Sprague as I believe he was a bit taller than the gentleman in the photo but he could be slumping down for this photograph.  Facially he does look like Ken.  Who knows?

I miss those days.  Even if some consider today a "golden age" that time period was and remains mine.  From Steve  Reeves through Bob Paris, that is the time I most identify with bodybuilding.

[stuntmovie]

Reg Lewis 

[stuntmovie]

SCOTT, Thanks again. Yea that could have been the time when Dave was employed by Weider to run the small supplement shop across from ZUCKY's Deli where every bodybuilder (as few as there were back then) seemed to have at least one meal during the day or evening

[funk51]

Al Brown next to Zane.  Chuck Collras next to Franco. Bottom row starting from the right are Chet Yorton and Zabo.  The rest I cannot yet recall.

  guy on arnold's left is arthur peacock.

[funk51]

Stunt, Reg Lewis was a great natural physique man and I believe he competed once in the Olympia getting 3rd out of three competitors.  Few wanted to go against Arnold back then.   From what I know of Draper, he trained early so he may have been out of there by the time this photo was taken.  I don't think that is Sprague as I believe he was a bit taller than the gentleman in the photo but he could be slumping down for this photograph.  Facially he does look like Ken.  Who knows?

I miss those days.  Even if some consider today a "golden age" that time period was and remains mine.  From Steve  Reeves through Bob Paris, that is the time I most identify with bodybuilding.

pic of reg lewis in the mr. olympia. just to show what a natural bber could do.

[funk51]

STUNT:  Great stories as always; I really enjoy reading them.  You should write a book.

FUNK:  Aside from this magazine cover, has ANY other President been on a muscle magazine cover??

  there might have been a pic of ronald reagen on the cover of mti, when he  "beat" dan lurie in arm wrestling but not 100 percent sure of it.

[funk51]

Al Brown next to Zane.  Chuck Collras next to Franco. Bottom row starting from the right are Chet Yorton and Zabo.  The rest I cannot yet recall.

peacock

[stuntmovie]

Good call, FUNK! I don't recall ever meeting him but the name is now familiar.

[6 Reps]

peacock

Recent photo of Mr. Peacock:

[6 Reps]

Great still photo from the movie Muscle Beach Party; Larry Scott in the middle.

[stuntmovie]

Thanks, REPS!

I first met Larry around the time that movie was being shot and worked with him a very few times thereafter.

I've listened to a good number of bodybuilding seminars and the vast majority of them were snooze festivals but two seminars will never be forgotten.

Those two seminars were Larry's and Mike Mentzer's.

Both of those seminars were not memorable due to what was said ..... but they were great due to the fact they were very well-presented.

Larry's seminar in particular was noteworthhy ... and I have mentioned this in another post a few years back.

But since some of today's Getbiggers were not even born a few years back ... I'll make a short attempt at repeating myself..

The first thing Larry said as he took the podium to the side of a blackboard was....

"Ok, Do I have any questions?

And almost immediately every hand in the room was in the air!

Larry would point to one of the hands and the hand's mouth would ask a question about dieting for a contest.

And that single question would cause about 20% of the other hands to assume a lower position.

So Larry would turn to the blackboard and scribble "DIET" in big bold letters.

The he'd point to another hand and that hand's owner would ask a question about training.

And Larry would scribble TRAINING under DIET on that blackboard.

And another 20% or so of those hands would assume a normal position

This would continue for the next 20 minutes or so and the blackboard would be filled with big, scribbled words, until eventually there were no more hands in the air.

Then Larry would say, "OK, no more questions. I'm going to respond to each of these topics in detail and I don't want to be interrupted with any questions until this seminar is over.

If you have any questions at that time, you can stay and ask them while the others are are their way home.

And that's the way he did it. It solved the problem of having one or two individuals at that seminar asking personal training questions that others did not want to listen to.

Mike's seminar was interesting because it was so damn interesting and he presented it like we were all sittinaround a bon-fire roasting marshmellos!

Many years later I joined Mike in a seminar and I'll tell you about that one at another time. That one started after a contest one evening around 1:00 AM and lasted till around 4:00 AM ...

and no one left the room except for the fat lady who refused to sing!

[funk51]

chins on muscle beach hugo labra chinning, dave draper, and mike bonoire

[stuntmovie]

Hey, FUNK! Thanks for your latest input.

I can’t add much but I’l say the following because saying nothing is beyond my capabilities.

I do recall Hugo and knew Dave pretty well back then when Dave worked in Joe Weider’s first California office in Santa Monica across the street from Zucky’s restaurant where every bodybuilder used to ‘dine’. (Sorry but it;s closed down now!).

But I’ve never heard of Mike Bonoire and I can't find him on the net.

Zucky’s (A Jewish coffee shop) served some of the best Kosher meals in the LA basin and Arnold and his crew seemed to have their very own table in the rear whenever I entered the place.

Zucky’s Chicken Soup cured the most persistent colds.

That photo was most likely taken in the early to mid 1960’s and the big building in the background was some kind of beach club or YMCA at that time and eventually became some sort of drug rehabilitation facility soon thereafter.

Now a days it’s a very expensive condominium project called The Sand Castle.

Immediately in front of The Sand Castle on the beachfront side there is a 6 foot wall where just about every Santa Monica beach bum and bodybuilder chose to sit in order to get some protection from the blowing sand which occurred frequently.

Venice was not as popular back then as it is today.

Back in those good old days private LA beach clubs were somewhat popular  and the building in the extreme background was an exceptional one.

I believe it is now a fancy hotel.

That photo was most likely taken around the time that Dave appeared in DON’T MAKE WAVES and before his friend Sharon Tate was slain by the Manson group,

Dave also played the part of Hercules on TV introducing sword and sandle movies.

To the best of my knowledge Dave always trained in the DUNGEON and eventually moved to the Santa Cruz area of northern California,

I don’t think any GetBigger knows about the DUNGEON but I cold be mistaken.

That’s another important part about bodybuilding history that could be completely forgotten

[funk51]

 

[Primemuscle]

By comparison to current professional bodybuilders, these fellows look more like your average Joes who are in good physical condition.

[Thespritz0]

REPS / SCOTT: Good call but let me add one more!

That definitely looks like SPRAGUE to Arnold's  immediate left.

That leaves two who are unaccounted for ...  the two guys to Arnold's immediate right.

But as somewhat of the imminent know-it-all regarding all things bodybuilding related and a quazi-intellectual when it comes to Quantum Mechanics, I have to add a few very short comments about  the one individual in that photo who seemed to enter every contest ever held within the LA Basin back in them good old days.

And believe me ....... there were very few BB Contests within that basin with the main contest venue being the Embassy Auditorium in Downtown Los Angeles plus the small events held on Venice Beach on an outdoor theater stage that is no longer there.

Chuck Collras. The contest promoters could always count on Chuck showing up to compete which was quite important if you wanted to promote an event with more than five contenders.

And Chuck always appeared on stage in tip-top condition.

And Chuck was very short.

And for some unknown reason the name "REG LEWIS" pops into my head while I'm typing this. He and his beautiful wife also conpeted back then. Maybe one of  you wise GetBiggers can help in this regards. (Sheri Lewis??)

That photo above seems to have been taken at Joe Gold's second location but where the hell was Draper and a few others who appear to be missing?

^^
STEVE NEECE with the Sunglasses...

[funk51]

^^
STEVE NEECE with the Sunglasses...

                    aka moby of the iron game novel..

[funk51]

someone on the main board must have been reading my mind about moving this thread to the proper section...

[funk51]