Author Topic: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie  (Read 722947 times)

stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1375 on: September 27, 2015, 09:42:10 AM »
REPS, I had a pretty lengthy response to your last post but somehow lost it when trying to send it. Will get back to it ASAP.

stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1376 on: September 27, 2015, 10:15:26 AM »
  REPS, Yes, I would guess that that Weider magazine with Draper was a 1967 or 1968 issue.  

Dave's big movie back then (Don't Make Waves) was released in 1967 and if I recall correctly Weider had sent him to the west coast to manage a very small supplement shop where Dave spent most of his time responding to mail orders.

Dave might be reading this and make corrections but I stopped by a couple of times and talked with him while he was working (Zucky's Jewish Delicatessen was just across the street and anyone involved in lifting heavy things fine dined then more that three times a week).

Dave (one heck of a good guy)  was in the process or had just finished his work on that movie and ...... I forget the rest of that conversation ... but he knew Sharon Tate and was very sad when she was murdered.

To the best of my knowledge, that was Weider's first west coast office.

More later ...

6 Reps

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 2783
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1377 on: September 27, 2015, 08:44:34 PM »
 REPS, Yes, I would guess that that Weider magazine with Draper was a 1967 or 1968 issue.  

Dave's big movie back then (Don't Make Waves) was released in 1967 and if I recall correctly Weider had sent him to the west coast to manage a very small supplement shop where Dave spent most of his time responding to mail orders.

Dave might be reading this and make corrections but I stopped by a couple of times and talked with him while he was working (Zucky's Jewish Delicatessen was just across the street and anyone involved in lifting heavy things fine dined then more that three times a week).

Dave (one heck of a good guy)  was in the process or had just finished his work on that movie and ...... I forget the rest of that conversation ... but he knew Sharon Tate and was very sad when she was murdered.

To the best of my knowledge, that was Weider's first west coast office.

More later ...

stunt,

I've seen Don't Make Waves several times.  The TCM channel sometimes shows it.   Not a great movie, but enjoyable and interesting in several ways.  First, it makes fun of people who live in Southern California (which I do, so that's really neat).  Second, it has the gorgeous Sharon Tate in it, and I'm not sure if it was her last movie.  Third, the movie was directed surprisingly by Alexander Mackendrick who  directed Curtis and Burt Lancaster in their 50's classic Sweet Smell of Success.  Lastly, I think Draper's acting is pretty good in it, better than I would have ever guessed.

I have never read Draper's book, Brother Iron.  If you have, let me know if it's worth reading.


funk51

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39668
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1378 on: September 29, 2015, 12:02:57 PM »
stunt,

I've seen Don't Make Waves several times.  The TCM channel sometimes shows it.   Not a great movie, but enjoyable and interesting in several ways.  First, it makes fun of people who live in Southern California (which I do, so that's really neat).  Second, it has the gorgeous Sharon Tate in it, and I'm not sure if it was her last movie.  Third, the movie was directed surprisingly by Alexander Mackendrick who  directed Curtis and Burt Lancaster in their 50's classic Sweet Smell of Success.  Lastly, I think Draper's acting is pretty good in it, better than I would have ever guessed.

I have never read Draper's book, Brother Iron.  If you have, let me know if it's worth reading.


brother iron and sister steel is as close as a biography you will probably get on draper, also of note is west coast bodybuilding scene...
F

stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1379 on: September 29, 2015, 06:42:41 PM »
FUNK, REPS, Thanks again for contributing.

I was under the impression that Sharon Tate passed away shortly after DON'T MAKE WAVES was released in 1967 but actually she was in four more films up to her death in late 1969.....

1989 Twelve Plus One
1968 The Wrecking Crew
1967 Valley of the Dolls
1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers
1967 Don't Make Waves

TONY CURTIS ... I had lunch with him on a couple of occasions and we talked about SOME LIKE IT HOT and another film that he made during which he met his first wife ..... Something like Teris Bulba if I recall correctly.

His fondest memory of SOME LIKE IT HOT was how funny Joe E. Brown actually was on and off screen.

He was a great actor and also a great painter,,,,,,

Sorry to say that I have never read Dave's book nor the one by Tyler.

The Scott

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 21321
  • I'm a victim of soicumcision!!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1380 on: September 29, 2015, 06:51:22 PM »
brother iron and sister steel is as close as a biography you will probably get on draper, also of note is west coast bodybuilding scene...

I have and have enjoyed, both of them. Draper was kind enough to autograph them for me.

6 Reps

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 2783
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1381 on: October 04, 2015, 07:33:14 PM »
brother iron and sister steel is as close as a biography you will probably get on draper, also of note is west coast bodybuilding scene...

I've seen this book, but never read it.  If it's good, I'd like to.  Wasn't Tyler something of an actor?

6 Reps

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 2783
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1382 on: October 04, 2015, 07:43:31 PM »
FUNK, REPS, Thanks again for contributing.

I was under the impression that Sharon Tate passed away shortly after DON'T MAKE WAVES was released in 1967 but actually she was in four more films up to her death in late 1969.....

1989 Twelve Plus One
1968 The Wrecking Crew
1967 Valley of the Dolls
1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers
1967 Don't Make Waves

TONY CURTIS ... I had lunch with him on a couple of occasions and we talked about SOME LIKE IT HOT and another film that he made during which he met his first wife ..... Something like Teris Bulba if I recall correctly.

His fondest memory of SOME LIKE IT HOT was how funny Joe E. Brown actually was on and off screen.

He was a great actor and also a great painter,,,,,,

Sorry to say that I have never read Dave's book nor the one by Tyler.

Although it's been many years since I saw it, I remember Fearless Vampire Killers as a very good movie.  I think it was directed by Roman Polanski.  I don't know if he and Tate were married at the time, or this was where they met, or whatever.

I SURELY would like to hear more about your lunch with Tony Curtis.  He and wife Janet Leigh made a movie with Dean Martin that I kind of like, Who Was That Lady.

Back to the subject of movies with bodybuilders in them, if you've never seen Athena from the mid-50's, which starred Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds, I highly recommend it.  It has Steve Reeves in a really small part.  It is one STRANGE movie.


stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1383 on: October 04, 2015, 08:36:24 PM »
REPS, A bit pressed for time here so I'll do my best to respond to one of your comments and tackle the  others later.

Regarding ATHENA ..... That movie was an MGM musical released in 1954 and eventually made it to tape and then to DVD.

I must have been 4 , 5, or 6 when I first met Reeves who was a friend of my dad's  at Lake Tamescal  on the Oakland side of the SF Bay.

Steve was most likely around 20 at that time.

Many years later we invited Steve to be a special guest at one of the events we were promoting and .... after  picking him and his GF up at the airport we attended a party in his honor at which one of his Hercules movies was being shown on a huge screen.

Steve asked if he could watch it for a few minutes before taking his place in the reception line and offered various comments regarding the production of that Hercules  while we were all watching it.

Later that week I managed to find a VHS copy of ATHENA which he personally autographed for me.

And after he passed away, I found a DVD copy of Athena which I purchased for old times sake.

And a few years later, Tony Curtis signed a VHS copy of SOME LIKE IT HOT.

Funny thing about this story is that each of those two tapes (VHS?) was autographed many years apart but within  10 feet of each other inside a 24 Hour Fitness location.

6 Reps

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 2783
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1384 on: October 06, 2015, 10:07:05 PM »
REPS, A bit pressed for time here so I'll do my best to respond to one of your comments and tackle the  others later.

Regarding ATHENA ..... That movie was an MGM musical released in 1954 and eventually made it to tape and then to DVD.

I must have been 4 , 5, or 6 when I first met Reeves who was a friend of my dad's  at Lake Tamescal  on the Oakland side of the SF Bay.

Steve was most likely around 20 at that time.

Many years later we invited Steve to be a special guest at one of the events we were promoting and .... after  picking him and his GF up at the airport we attended a party in his honor at which one of his Hercules movies was being shown on a huge screen.

Steve asked if he could watch it for a few minutes before taking his place in the reception line and offered various comments regarding the production of that Hercules  while we were all watching it.

Later that week I managed to find a VHS copy of ATHENA which he personally autographed for me.

And after he passed away, I found a DVD copy of Athena which I purchased for old times sake.

And a few years later, Tony Curtis signed a VHS copy of SOME LIKE IT HOT.

Funny thing about this story is that each of those two tapes (VHS?) was autographed many years apart but within  10 feet of each other inside a 24 Hour Fitness location.


Great story.

I have an unfortunate one about Reeves, which I heard:

In the mid-60's when Italian movie director Sergio Leone was about to make A Fistful of Dollars, he wanted the biggest star he could find to play the lead.  And in Italy at that time, the biggest movie star was Steve Reeves.  So Leone offered him the part.  Reeves turned it down, he thought it was ridiculous that an Italian would make an American western.

So, Leone then got Clint Eastwood for the role, as Eastwood had just finished the western TV show Rawhide. A Fistful of Dollars became a big hit, and it made Eastwood into a big movie star.  So probably if Steve Reeves had taken the part... he would have likely become an even bigger star.

6 Reps

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 2783
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1385 on: October 09, 2015, 10:35:43 AM »
Back to mail order muscles:

Decades ago, there was a catalog company named Johnson Smith.  They sold really neat novelty items, but once in a while would offer some type of muscle building course or exercise device.  In the page below, they offered a "Hercules Wrist Band."

funk51

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39668
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1386 on: October 13, 2015, 12:46:55 PM »
gold's gym parade boys reunited...
F

6 Reps

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 2783
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1387 on: October 25, 2015, 11:05:19 AM »
One of the titans of bodybuilding that helped make it what it is today:

Thespritz0

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 3529
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1388 on: November 15, 2015, 03:39:59 AM »
Hey guys I found this posted on the internet, anyone know some of these guys??

As a teemager going to AAU sponsored events, the first at the old now defunct San Jose Civic Arts Center around 1963 I was utterly shocked to see Bill Stathes, a Mr America runner up and damned good Olympic lifter come on stage for lifts with a cloud of freshly exhaled cigarette smoke enveloping him. Stathes owned notoriety then for having been stabbed in the back several times by a perp, his back so thick the knife did little good. Smoking was pretty common at events in those days, in part no doubt due to the commercials featuring the Marborol Man as icon of masculinity - that he died of emphasema was not well known!
Drinking? Hell it was real common. One of the Bay Area's best powerlifters, Johnny Yamamoto died due to a head on collision on the Mountain View- Alviso Road in the late 60s, drunk at the wheel, taking his life and those of several others in his car. I also remember taking second place in the middleweight event of the California State Power lifting championships in Fresno, summer of 64 - hotter than hell - Peanuts West doing an incredible 460 bench press, cheating like hell, with Big Stever Marjanian both spotting and intimidating the judges into three green lights - after which Bill was hunting for some wine to do the night - he later died of a heroin overdose on the beaches of Santa Barbara - there's a fund still collecting money for a grave marker.
Worse still, thanks to Dr Craig Whitehead, was the energizing move from dianobol to meth to compensate from over training. Craig and his wife were convinced their home in Fairfield was bugged, so they shot it up with gunfire - he was a eye doctor at Travis Airforce Base then - his sentence in the mid sixties was public service so he jumped from the frying pan into the fire becoming the road physician for the Grateful Dead (as they say, what would Jerry do? likely cocaine and heroin).

My best friend and training partner after high school was Bob Kemper. In the 71 Pan Am games he set the last press record in the 242 class with 418. powerful boy. roids, meth, then lsd did not bode well with him- hell, he couldn't handle alcohol without a Jekyll/Hyde reaction - at 8 or so he'd come home with his little brother and sister to the Kemper Ranch in sunnyvale to discover mom dead from suicide. in those days there was no post- traumatic therapy, so he just stuffed it. roids by themselves feed substance addiction disorders and a host of psychological diseases, amplified by other therapeutic and recreational drugs.

flyod page. incredible bodybuilder of the golden age from palo alto, ca. back in training and boozing in the mid 60s a fatal heart attack claimed him

the list goes on. just because the old timers filled in culturally defined machismo roles and abuses never makes those abuses right or attractive. it's just worse today with 20-30 polypharmaceuticals.

funk51

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39668
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1389 on: November 15, 2015, 02:30:07 PM »
Hey guys I found this posted on the internet, anyone know some of these guys??

As a teemager going to AAU sponsored events, the first at the old now defunct San Jose Civic Arts Center around 1963 I was utterly shocked to see Bill Stathes, a Mr America runner up and damned good Olympic lifter come on stage for lifts with a cloud of freshly exhaled cigarette smoke enveloping him. Stathes owned notoriety then for having been stabbed in the back several times by a perp, his back so thick the knife did little good. Smoking was pretty common at events in those days, in part no doubt due to the commercials featuring the Marborol Man as icon of masculinity - that he died of emphasema was not well known!
Drinking? Hell it was real common. One of the Bay Area's best powerlifters, Johnny Yamamoto died due to a head on collision on the Mountain View- Alviso Road in the late 60s, drunk at the wheel, taking his life and those of several others in his car. I also remember taking second place in the middleweight event of the California State Power lifting championships in Fresno, summer of 64 - hotter than hell - Peanuts West doing an incredible 460 bench press, cheating like hell, with Big Stever Marjanian both spotting and intimidating the judges into three green lights - after which Bill was hunting for some wine to do the night - he later died of a heroin overdose on the beaches of Santa Barbara - there's a fund still collecting money for a grave marker.
Worse still, thanks to Dr Craig Whitehead, was the energizing move from dianobol to meth to compensate from over training. Craig and his wife were convinced their home in Fairfield was bugged, so they shot it up with gunfire - he was a eye doctor at Travis Airforce Base then - his sentence in the mid sixties was public service so he jumped from the frying pan into the fire becoming the road physician for the Grateful Dead (as they say, what would Jerry do? likely cocaine and heroin).

My best friend and training partner after high school was Bob Kemper. In the 71 Pan Am games he set the last press record in the 242 class with 418. powerful boy. roids, meth, then lsd did not bode well with him- hell, he couldn't handle alcohol without a Jekyll/Hyde reaction - at 8 or so he'd come home with his little brother and sister to the Kemper Ranch in sunnyvale to discover mom dead from suicide. in those days there was no post- traumatic therapy, so he just stuffed it. roids by themselves feed substance addiction disorders and a host of psychological diseases, amplified by other therapeutic and recreational drugs.

flyod page. incredible bodybuilder of the golden age from palo alto, ca. back in training and boozing in the mid 60s a fatal heart attack claimed him

the list goes on. just because the old timers filled in culturally defined machismo roles and abuses never makes those abuses right or attractive. it's just worse today with 20-30 polypharmaceuticals.
heard of most of them , there is a detailed story of dr whitehead in the history section of getbig...also the york gangs were noted for there marijuana brownies at their picnics...
F

The Scott

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 21321
  • I'm a victim of soicumcision!!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1390 on: November 15, 2015, 02:40:25 PM »
There was at one time a DVD that had footage form the '65 and '66 Olympia.  In addition to that the gentleman that filmed those contest with (I believe) 8mm or 16mm also showed footage of some York stuff and spoke a bit on it.

He said how when they stopped at a Denny's or some such restaurant, he was worried about what to eat in front of Bob Hoffman.  His fears were allayed when Mr. Hoffman ate something along the lines of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes with gravy.  ;D

He also spoke about the use of Dianabol amongst the lifters, including a friend of his that experienced excellent gains with it.  Lifters and bodybuilders were more open back then, even though no one but them really knew about this stuff.   That was my experience as well at the original Gold's in the mid 70s. The guys didn't hide it and they also took time away from it as they had no real idea what else it might do to them.

None that I met pretended to be anything other than what they were.  If there were any secrets kept from me then I had no business knowing them to begin with.  Privacy.

funk51

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39668
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1391 on: November 15, 2015, 03:03:14 PM »
There was at one time a DVD that had footage form the '65 and '66 Olympia.  In addition to that the gentleman that filmed those contest with (I believe) 8mm or 16mm also showed footage of some York stuff and spoke a bit on it.

He said how when they stopped at a Denny's or some such restaurant, he was worried about what to eat in front of Bob Hoffman.  His fears were allayed when Mr. Hoffman ate something along the lines of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes with gravy.  ;D

He also spoke about the use of Dianabol amongst the lifters, including a friend of his that experienced excellent gains with it.  Lifters and bodybuilders were more open back then, even though no one but them really knew about this stuff.   That was my experience as well at the original Gold's in the mid 70s. The guys didn't hide it and they also took time away from it as they had no real idea what else it might do to them.

None that I met pretended to be anything other than what they were.  If there were any secrets kept from me then I had no business knowing them to begin with.  Privacy.
i have a dvd with the 65 and 66  olympias on it made by norm komich rip... he also has a segment with his meeting with chuck sipes on it and other contests.
F

stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1392 on: November 15, 2015, 03:05:00 PM »
WOW! First of all I gotta respond to SPRITZ and the stuff he mentioned up above.

Spritz, You brought back a shit-load of memories because I either knew, or worked with, or saw at one time or another, most of the individuals you have mentioned above.

But it was so long ago that most of those memories have been long forgotten.

But here's my attempt at remembering  some of this long forgotten stuff....

BILL STATHES was a police officer in the city of San Francisco where I grew up. I didn't know Bill well but I was an initial member of the Sunset Gym which I believe he owned personally.

It was the smallest gym I've ever seen (about 500 square feet if I recall correctly) and most of the weights were spread out all over the floor (if I recall correctly).

I trained there a very short time before heading down to Camp Pendleton for an extended stint of active duty.

I do recall meeting Bill at the Sunset Gym and at some weight event on the second deck of the Golden Gate Avenue YMCA in San Francisco (this was way before gyms became popular as social gathering areas.)  

And the ladies were yet to gather up  the courage to enter these somewhat dens of inequity.

I sort of recall that Bill was a good friend of an old, retired stevedore who had a damn impressive bench press. (I think  I mentioned this gentleman years ago in an earlier post regarding the lighting of heavy things when Odd Lifting was initiated and the initial gym odd liftig champions would tape tennis ball behind their knees to get that extra bounce back to the top. (Honest Injun!)

I regret to say that I forgot this old timer's name but someone on this board will refresh my memory in that respect.

SO that was the extent of my involvement with Bill Stathes because I went south to get a short haircut and a rifle and from that time on I found myself anyplace where there was an international skirmish and a rifle was required.

But when skirmishes ended for a brief duration, I had the opportunity to meet many others who lifted heavy things.

 John Kemper lifted heavy things and now I gotta try to remember before heading on to Bill "Peanuts" West and a fe w others you younger GetBiggers are sure to mention.

stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1393 on: November 15, 2015, 03:56:04 PM »
OPPS! I made an error.

I never met Bob Kemper as far as I can recall but I did meet John Kemper.

I think that John competed in national BB contests the same years that my good friend and fellow Marine,Ernie Santiago.

I'll have to ask Ernie to bring me up to dare on John.

But BILL 'PEANUTS" WEST I can remember.

And also his good friend George Frenn (if I am remembering correctly).

Bill was a very colorful figure when it came to lifting heavy things, which to the best of my recollection is all he ever did; but that's simply due to the fact that I never met him out of the lifting environment.

Years ago, I think it was Jeff Everson  who told me that Bill was interested in competing in or had been competing in bodybuilding contests.

Which is pretty damn hard to believe because he had a  somewhat similar shaped to SWOLE.

They were also somewhat similar in their love for the sport of lifting heavy things  and the somewhat colorful way in which they presented themselves  within the iron game.

George Frenn .... WOW! I have forgotten ... but he was also a colorful individual who was a good friend of Peanuts' and lifted heavy stuff much more better than 99% of the worldwide human population.

Thespritz0

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 3529
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1394 on: November 15, 2015, 04:14:37 PM »
WOW! First of all I gotta respond to SPRITZ and the stuff he mentioned up above.

Spritz, You brought back a shit-load of memories because I either knew, or worked with, or saw at one time or another, most of the individuals you have mentioned above.

But it was so long ago that most of those memories have been long forgotten.

But here's my attempt at remembering  some of this long forgotten stuff....

BILL STATHES was a police officer in the city of San Francisco where I grew up. I didn't know Bill well but I was an initial member of the Sunset Gym which I believe he owned personally.

It was the smallest gym I've ever seen (about 500 square feet if I recall correctly) and most of the weights were spread out all over the floor (if I recall correctly).

I trained there a very short time before heading down to Camp Pendleton for an extended stint of active duty.

I do recall meeting Bill at the Sunset Gym and at some weight event on the second deck of the Golden Gate Avenue YMCA in San Francisco (this was way before gyms became popular as social gathering areas.)  

And the ladies were yet to gather up  the courage to enter these somewhat dens of inequity.

I sort of recall that Bill was a good friend of an old, retired stevedore who had a damn impressive bench press. (I think  I mentioned this gentleman years ago in an earlier post regarding the lighting of heavy things when Odd Lifting was initiated and the initial gym odd liftig champions would tape tennis ball behind their knees to get that extra bounce back to the top. (Honest Injun!)

I regret to say that I forgot this old timer's name but someone on this board will refresh my memory in that respect.

SO that was the extent of my involvement with Bill Stathes because I went south to get a short haircut and a rifle and from that time on I found myself anyplace where there was an international skirmish and a rifle was required.

But when skirmishes ended for a brief duration, I had the opportunity to meet many others who lifted heavy things.

 John Kemper lifted heavy things and now I gotta try to remember before heading on to Bill "Peanuts" West and a fe w others you younger GetBiggers are sure to mention.
^^
Was this you STUNT looking for some Rice Paddy Daddies??

stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1395 on: November 15, 2015, 04:21:17 PM »
SCOTT, Someplace up above you said ....."the use of Dianabol amongst the lifters, including a friend of his that experienced excellent gains with it.  Lifters and bodybuilders were more open back then, even though no one but them really knew about this stuff.   That was my experience as well at the original Gold's in the mid 70s. The guys didn't hide it and they also took time away from it as they had no real idea what else it might do to them.

None that I met pretended to be anything other than what they were.  If there were any secrets kept from me then I had no business knowing them to begin with."

SCOTT, What you said above is a perfect description of how things were back then when it came to the use of roids within the 'living game'.

No one hid anything about roids except HOW TO USE THEM FOR BEST RESULTS simply because the users did not want the other users to get that jump ahead and win the title which they were also training for.

And the types of roids that were available were few in number with D-Bol being among the favorite.

If I recall correctly there was also Anavar and primobolin and nothing was illegal and the general public had no idea what the deal was all about and could care less if they had a basic roid  ed-u-ma-ca-tion.

And the doctors would ask us how they worked and what worked best and then ask, "How much ya need?"

It wasn't until the IOC got involved .... and then it became a felony when a lot of 'innocents' spent time in jail or spent more than they had to protect themselves from he law.

Back then no one hid the fact that they were the individual who scored the highest point with an expended needle in the dressing room  dart-board.

Things were so much different then.

funk51

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39668
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1396 on: November 16, 2015, 10:16:32 AM »
john kemper of diamond gym in new jersey died a few years back...
F

stuntmovie

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8946
  • Getbig!
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1397 on: November 16, 2015, 08:00:33 PM »
FUNK ….. That magazine cover photo of Bill Grant and Kathy was shot the weekend of the AAU Mr America Contest in Santa Monica.

That was the year that Ken Sprague owned Gold’s on 3rd Street in Santa Monica and promoted one of the best bodybuilding weekend events in the history of the lifting world.

I think it was either Waller of Dupree who rode the elephant.

In that photo Bil and Kathy are standing on one of the floats that was a part of the Mr America Parade and the following day the contest was held at the Santa Monica Civic Audirorium with a high  school symphony orchestra supplying all the posing music.

SCOTT ….. I think we had that ’65 Olympia footage (or was it the UNIVERSE CONTEST back  then).

I sort of recall it due tot he fact that it included Larry Scott whom we knew back then.

ANd did’n it also include a competitor named ‘STONEWALL’ whom we met many years later in LV the year after Gary Leonard won the title.?

SCOTT ….. i never  had a meal with Hoffman but I did meet him a couple of times …. including Terpak, and other members of he York Crew.

Bu tthe most interesting individual of all who was part of that group years ago was Bill Starr who is able to write a very interesting book concerning those good old days …. and some episodes of  the “bad old days” also.

Bill has a good number of very interesting stories that need to be published for the weight lifting fanatics as well as most of your GerBiggers.

SPRITZ … Thanks for the photo. Close but no cigar. My “job’ required ‘warpaint’ so the bad guys would overlook me beneath the canopy.

Wartime Hide  and Seek is the best way to explain it to the civilian populace and those GetBiggers who have never had the opportunity to play war-games with real live ammo in a jungle environment.

Big kids playing real live games with destructive stuff.

Them were the good old days!

Most days ,... anyway.

6 Reps

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 2783
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1398 on: November 17, 2015, 06:12:39 AM »
FUNK ….. That magazine cover photo of Bill Grant and Kathy was shot the weekend of the AAU Mr America Contest in Santa Monica.

That was the year that Ken Sprague owned Gold’s on 3rd Street in Santa Monica and promoted one of the best bodybuilding weekend events in the history of the lifting world.

I think it was either Waller of Dupree who rode the elephant.

In that photo Bil and Kathy are standing on one of the floats that was a part of the Mr America Parade and the following day the contest was held at the Santa Monica Civic Audirorium with a high  school symphony orchestra supplying all the posing music.


SCOTT ….. I think we had that ’65 Olympia footage (or was it the UNIVERSE CONTEST back  then).

I sort of recall it due tot he fact that it included Larry Scott whom we knew back then.

ANd did’n it also include a competitor named ‘STONEWALL’ whom we met many years later in LV the year after Gary Leonard won the title.?

SCOTT ….. i never  had a meal with Hoffman but I did meet him a couple of times …. including Terpak, and other members of he York Crew.

Bu tthe most interesting individual of all who was part of that group years ago was Bill Starr who is able to write a very interesting book concerning those good old days …. and some episodes of  the “bad old days” also.

Bill has a good number of very interesting stories that need to be published for the weight lifting fanatics as well as most of your GerBiggers.

SPRITZ … Thanks for the photo. Close but no cigar. My “job’ required ‘warpaint’ so the bad guys would overlook me beneath the canopy.

Wartime Hide  and Seek is the best way to explain it to the civilian populace and those GetBiggers who have never had the opportunity to play war-games with real live ammo in a jungle environment.

Big kids playing real live games with destructive stuff.

Them were the good old days!

Most days ,... anyway.


STUNT:  Was that the year Mae West handed out the trophy to the overall winner?

Thespritz0

  • Getbig IV
  • ****
  • Posts: 3529
Re: Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie
« Reply #1399 on: November 17, 2015, 08:51:08 AM »
STUNT:  Was that the year Mae West handed out the trophy to the overall winner?
^^
If I can answer before STUNT, I actually have pics from that event (1977), plus a non-winner Ric Drasin!!!