Lou Ferrigno Background Pictures - How Much Did These Cost Tommi Thorvildsen?

[Matt]

 

They weren't technically photos, but in Tommi Thorvildsen's DVD "Viking Strong Reloaded", Tommi was working out when he saw Lou Ferrigno in the gym.  While his video camera was recording.  He shook Lou's hand, and basically kept shaking it while telling the camera that Lou was his idol while growing up.  Lou basically kept smiling and nodding, and so on - keeping things amicable, while I wasn't even sure if Lou had even heard of Tommi.  

As I understand it, Lou hates when other people take his photo, and in the past, has even asked people to delete photos that they have taken of him just standing around by his booth at expos.  Even if Lou did not take the picture himself or otherwise pay for it.

Does anyone have any idea what is the actual truth here?  Would Lou have asked Tommi off-camera to shoot him $100 for the guest-appearance in his DVD?

Most people tend to confirm the stories about Lou to be true...but I'm just curious for some more information.  

These photos really sum these experiences up from Lou's perspective...the dude is probably minding his own business most of the time, with all sorts of people stopping him and asking him to take a photo with him.  How many times do you do that before getting fed up with it?  I can see why Lou would want to make a minimum of $10 [or whatever he charges] just to put a stop to it.

What I don't understand is when Lou allegedly does things like asks people to delete photos of him just standing near his booth, because apparently Lou seems to think that people need his permission to take his photo using their own camera, in a place deemed to be a public space.

Robby Robinson is bad for this sort of thing too.  If Robby is at Olive Garden [assuming this institution still exists], and you take his picture as he goes from his car to the restaurant...that's fine.  Robby has no right to demand you give him money for that.  Some people need to be aware of laws regarding intellectual property, public domain versus copyright theft, etc.

Here's the DVD, if anyone is interested...Tommi was VERY strong.  He was 5'8", and was said to have competed at 260-lb at the 2002 Mr. Olympia contest.  He looked nowhere near that size.  But for the size he looked [maybe 230-lb], he was very strong.

It's not that he was small...I just think he didn't look bigger than Ronnie Coleman in 2002.  That's all.  Yet somehow, Tommi weighed in at 260-lb, and Ronnie weighed in at 245-lb.  Ronnie was tiny by his own standards, but he looked much heavier than Tommi...leading me to believe that Tommi was under 260-lb.

[dan18]

lou looks great makes arni look like an old feeble woman

[LurkerNoMore]

Legless Lou

[Matt]

lou looks great makes arni look like an old feeble woman

Agreed - I think overall, Lou had a better constitution for professional bodybuilding [or took less cocaine, or something else, lifestyle-wise, that possibly caused Arnold's heart condition - although Arnold was pretty insistent that it was due to a genetic precondition...it's just that everyone says that, so I have no idea what's true and is not true.

Lou may not have had the genetic component to lead to early onset heart problems...or perhaps Lou avoided other things [possibly some degree of recreational drug use - I'm only thinking that's possible due to the severity of Arnold's heart problems and requirement to get steel plates in his heart at age 50.  Rather young for such an elaborate/extensive [and expensive] heart surgery.

Meanwhile, Lou was 318-lb at 6'5" at his heaviest competition weight.  Presumably, Lou would have been at least 350-lb at 6'5"....that's why I think Lou has better bodybuilding genetics than Arnold - if you also consider longevity...Lou was able to be bigger/heavier, for longer, and not have it tax his body to the extent it did Arnold.  If Arnold could not afford that half a million or million he shelled out for those steel plates for his heart in 1997, he would have died, my friend told me.

Arnold has done well, and lived a fairly long life, so I'm not saying he has awful genetics - plus, I don't know what he does elsewhere [in terms of drugs and alcohol, or even cigar smoking for that matter, but to come down with heart problems as he did at only age 50...that's a pretty big deal, overall, at that age.  And the operation/cure required would not have been affordable to him had he not been the man he was.  But as I said, I don't know exactly what Arnold's Hollywood lifestyle was like in the 1980's and 1990's.

[funk51]

lou after he was told that he would not receive any money for appearing on this dvd.

[Matt]

lou after he was told that he would not receive any money for appearing on this dvd.

Was that The Apprentice?  Lol, why is he in tears in that shot?

[funk51]

Was that The Apprentice?  Lol, why is he in tears in that shot?

                                        yup the trumpster made big louie cry when he banished him from the show.

[dan18]

Agreed - I think overall, Lou had a better constitution for professional bodybuilding [or took less cocaine, or something else, lifestyle-wise, that possibly caused Arnold's heart condition - although Arnold was pretty insistent that it was due to a genetic precondition...it's just that everyone says that, so I have no idea what's true and is not true.

Lou may not have had the genetic component to lead to early onset heart problems...or perhaps Lou avoided other things [possibly some degree of recreational drug use - I'm only thinking that's possible due to the severity of Arnold's heart problems and requirement to get steel plates in his heart at age 50.  Rather young for such an elaborate/extensive [and expensive] heart surgery.

Meanwhile, Lou was 318-lb at 6'5" at his heaviest competition weight.  Presumably, Lou would have been at least 350-lb at 6'5"....that's why I think Lou has better bodybuilding genetics than Arnold - if you also consider longevity...Lou was able to be bigger/heavier, for longer, and not have it tax his body to the extent it did Arnold.  If Arnold could not afford that half a million or million he shelled out for those steel plates for his heart in 1997.

Arnold has done well, and lived a fairly long life, so I'm not saying he has awful genetics - plus, I don't know what he does else where [in terms of drugs and alcohol, or even cigar smoking for that matter, but to come down with heart problems as he did at only age 50...that's a pretty big deal, overall, at that age.  And the operation/cure required would not have been affordable to him had he not been the man he was.  But as I said, I don't know exactly what Arnold's Hollywood lifestyle was like in the 1980's and 1990's.

if lou would have competed again I think he would have beaten Arnold he was bigger just needed to dial it in and lets be honest he was weiders squeeze so you do the math

[Tapeworm]

Seems unlikely Lou just happened to be there and the whole thing wasn't planned but I'm not all that experienced with musclemen videos.

[Humble Narcissist]

Agreed - I think overall, Lou had a better constitution for professional bodybuilding [or took less cocaine, or something else, lifestyle-wise, that possibly caused Arnold's heart condition - although Arnold was pretty insistent that it was due to a genetic precondition...it's just that everyone says that, so I have no idea what's true and is not true.

Lou may not have had the genetic component to lead to early onset heart problems...or perhaps Lou avoided other things [possibly some degree of recreational drug use - I'm only thinking that's possible due to the severity of Arnold's heart problems and requirement to get steel plates in his heart at age 50.  Rather young for such an elaborate/extensive [and expensive] heart surgery.

Meanwhile, Lou was 318-lb at 6'5" at his heaviest competition weight.  Presumably, Lou would have been at least 350-lb at 6'5"....that's why I think Lou has better bodybuilding genetics than Arnold - if you also consider longevity...Lou was able to be bigger/heavier, for longer, and not have it tax his body to the extent it did Arnold.  If Arnold could not afford that half a million or million he shelled out for those steel plates for his heart in 1997.

Arnold has done well, and lived a fairly long life, so I'm not saying he has awful genetics - plus, I don't know what he does else where [in terms of drugs and alcohol, or even cigar smoking for that matter, but to come down with heart problems as he did at only age 50...that's a pretty big deal, overall, at that age.  And the operation/cure required would not have been affordable to him had he not been the man he was.  But as I said, I don't know exactly what Arnold's Hollywood lifestyle was like in the 1980's and 1990's.

Arnold has way better genetics than Lou.  Lou has an ugly mug and is deaf!!!  That's pretty bad genetics plus Arnold's IQ is probably 50 points higher than Lou's.

[Matt]

if lou would have competed again I think he would have beaten Arnold he was bigger just needed to dial it in and lets be honest he was weiders squeeze so you do the math

I think that too...I think he had the potential to beat Arnold, but it would have required bringing epic conditioning to the table.  If Lou Ferrigno had Rich Gaspari-like conditioning, I think we could just stop looking for a Mr. Olympia winner right there.  Almost anyone with Rich Gaspari-like conditioning could say that, aside from Rich Gaspari himself, lol.  No disrespect there - of course, no one single component [conditioning] is everything.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened to Lou in 1976 onward.  Against Arnold, or not.

Arnold has way better genetics than Lou.  Lou has an ugly mug and is deaf!!!  That's pretty bad genetics plus Arnold's IQ is probably 50 points higher than Lou's.

Sadly true, regarding Lou's deafness, and genetics in general, IMO.  Is the consensus that Lou has an ugly mug though?  Just not sure if that is the general view, or if most would say he is ok looking.  I never really thought about it outside of thinking his face went with his physique.

[BlackMetallic]

Agreed - I think overall, Lou had a better constitution for professional bodybuilding [or took less cocaine, or something else, lifestyle-wise, that possibly caused Arnold's heart condition - although Arnold was pretty insistent that it was due to a genetic precondition...it's just that everyone says that, so I have no idea what's true and is not true.

Lou may not have had the genetic component to lead to early onset heart problems...or perhaps Lou avoided other things [possibly some degree of recreational drug use - I'm only thinking that's possible due to the severity of Arnold's heart problems and requirement to get steel plates in his heart at age 50.  Rather young for such an elaborate/extensive [and expensive] heart surgery.

Meanwhile, Lou was 318-lb at 6'5" at his heaviest competition weight.  Presumably, Lou would have been at least 350-lb at 6'5"....that's why I think Lou has better bodybuilding genetics than Arnold - if you also consider longevity...Lou was able to be bigger/heavier, for longer, and not have it tax his body to the extent it did Arnold.  If Arnold could not afford that half a million or million he shelled out for those steel plates for his heart in 1997.

Arnold has done well, and lived a fairly long life, so I'm not saying he has awful genetics - plus, I don't know what he does else where [in terms of drugs and alcohol, or even cigar smoking for that matter, but to come down with heart problems as he did at only age 50...that's a pretty big deal, overall, at that age.  And the operation/cure required would not have been affordable to him had he not been the man he was.  But as I said, I don't know exactly what Arnold's Hollywood lifestyle was like in the 1980's and 1990's.

Not sure if Lou was ever 6’5

My chiropractors husband is a legit 6’4

20 years ago he took a pic with Lou

He said he was at least 2’ taller than him

Lou grabbed a 2x4 and stood on it to take the pic

[joswift]

Tommi is probably still paying by direct debit....

[oldschoolfan]

lou looked better in his 74 universe victory than he did in is olympia shows,  this is the best he ever looked to me

[Twaddle]

Multiple photos from different angles, handshake, thumbs up, etc. 

This had to be an incredibly expensive session.  I'd reckon in the thousands.   

[njflex]

lou looked better in his 74 universe victory than he did in is olympia shows,  this is the best he ever looked to me

Looks like his hercules build i feel that  is his best build.