Bodybuilders

[gcreptile 10,979]

John Abdo, fitness coach, nutritional "expert" and frequent guest on TV for all things motivational/fitness/lifestyle, dies at 66:

https://thecapitalsportsreport.com/2022/08/10/olympic-athlete-strength-conditioning-coach-john-abdo-has-passed-away/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Abdo

 

He looked pretty fit for his age. Reason of death is cancer, according to facebook. 

[drol 11,995]

On 31/01/2022 at 20:52, Ulitzer95 said:

Whilst I'm here... a list I compiled recently. 

Male bodybuilders turning 80+ in 2022:
 

Arthur Robin b. 5 Feb 1927 French
Ed Fury b. 6 Jun 1928 American
Samson Burke b. 8 Apr 1929 Canadian
Albert Beckles b. 14 Jul 1930 Barbadian-born British-American
Bill Pearl b. 31 Oct 1930 American
Henry Downs b. 1931 British
Vic Seipke b. 23 Apr 1932 American
Peter Lupus b. 17 Jun 1932 American
Len Sell b. 3 Feb 1935 British
Otto Acron b. 12 May 1935 Australian
Earl Maynard b. 28 Nov 1935 Barbadian
Red Lerille b. 9 Jun 1936 American
Rick Wayne CBE b. 27 Jan 1938 St. Lucian-born British
Tony Emmott b. 1938 British
Joe Abbenda b. 4 Jul 1939 American
Tony Holland b. 1939 British
Ivan Putski b. 21 Jan 1941 Polish-born American
Manu Pluton b. 7 Jan 1942 French
Ken Waller b. 20 Mar 1942 American
Frank Zane b. 28 Jun 1942 American
Kirk Morris b. 26 Aug 1942 Italian

These are just the names with English Wiki pages, so the list is far from complete. Many older bodybuilders don't seem to get Wiki pages until after their deaths, likely due to limited interest in the subject vs. areas like pop music or Hollywood films.

Several obitable names in there nonetheless.

Bill Pearl dead at 91.

[Ulitzer95 12,668]

10 minutes ago, drol said:

Bill Pearl dead at 91.

That’s very sad. An absolute legend in the bodybuilding world.

 

Should get a QO.

[gcreptile 10,979]

Died after a "mower accident", developed an infection. So not even a typical age-related death.

[Spade_Cooley 9,547]

See, I was just about to post "where does he rank in the great pantheon of mower-related deaths alongside Hasil Adkins and Merle Watson?", but I double-checked and neither of them actually died in a mower accident (Adkins was run over by a quadbike after telling some local children to stop making so much noise with their quadbike, Watson rode a tractor off an embankment and was pinned underneath it while drunk and bleeding out from a DIY accident).

[arghton 6,773]

So...here's a small list. As Ulitzer's list mentions those born 1927-1942 on the previous page, here's Bodybuilders born 1943-1955 and the oil-filled steroid beasts/synthol giants born before 1975 considering they have a much shorter lifespan usually:

 

 

1943-1955 "old-fashioned" bodybuilders:

Sven-Ole Thorsen (24 September 1944) Bodybuilder/strongman/actor, Danish strongman in Hollywood known for playing Goliath-like characters. Most recent IMDB credits seemingly from around 2017/2018.

Roy Callender (31 October 1944) Barbadian Canadian IFBB hall of famer who has an instagram page and is quite active.

Mike Katz (14 November 1944) Appeared with Arnold in Pumping Iron. Didn't look so great when he met Arnold around 2014 or 2015.

Bo Johansson (7 February 1945) Swedish weightlifter and bodybuilder, not to be confused with the football player and coach born 1942.

Ken Sprague (14 July 1945) Bodybuilder/businessman responsible for the growth of Gold's Gym. Also an author, model, school teacher and hardcore gay porn actor.

Rasa von Werder (16 July 1945) German female bodybuilder known as one of the founders of female bodybuilding. Also a child prodigy, stripper, evangelist, author, photographer, religious guru, mystic and founder of her own church. 

Filippo Massaroni (19 July 1945) Italian, still looked great a few years ago.

Robby Robinson (24 May 1946) "The Black Prince of Bodybuilding" who seems to be in great health.

Bolo Yeung (3 July 1946) Hong Kong bodybuilder, martial artist, actor who worked with Bruce Lee.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (30 July 1947) Needs no introduction.

Christa Bauch (19 December 1947) German female bodybuilder and world class arm wrestler. Tested positive in a drug test in her 40s and has had some health problems but seemingly not a massive steroid user, so won't qualify on that list.

B. J. Annis (1947) Hart Wrestling Family.

Monroe Saffold Jr. (12 April 1948) Later an educator and religious figure.

Ahmet Enünlü (3 July 1948) Still active Turkish bodybuilder.

Bob Birdsong (1948) Bodybuilder/artist who was bullied in school due to his surname and stutter. IFBB Mr. America 1974.

Mary Roberts (17 March 1950) One of the 80s top female bodybuilders, known as "Bodybuilding's bitch".

Kerry Kayes (3 April 1950) British bodybuilding champion.

Bertil Fox (5 January 1951) St. Kitts/British bodybuilder, Brutal Bertil, and convicted murderer.

Danny Padilla (3 April 1951) "The Giant Killer"

Ridwan Kodiat (11 July 1951) Indonesian. Not sure if alive.

Diana Dennis (21 July 1951) 

Lou Ferrigno (9 November 1951) Mr. America and of course Hulk.

Claudia Wilbourn (ca. 1951)

Spice Williams-Crosby (26 April 1952) Star Trek actress.

Aleksandr Yashankin (5 June 1952) Russian bodybuilder and powerlifter who holds a ton of titles

David Hasselhoff (17 July 1952) The Hoff. Most watched man on TV.

Kitty Tsui (4 September 1952) Bodybuilder, poet, BDSM author.

Michael Van Wijk (30 September 1952) Indian-born English bodybuilder known as the Wolf on Gladiators.

Kathy Segal (1952) Ms. International 1987

Bruce J. Oreck (3 January 1953) US bodybuilder and diplomat.

Lisa Lyon (1953-2023) Another pioneer of female bodybuilding.

Jon Mikl Thor (1953) Bodybuilder, actor, author, Mr. USA, Mr. Canada, screenwriter, songwriter, historian, vocalist and musician.

Andreas Cahling (1953) Swedish bodybuilder and judoka.

Tony Atlas (23 April 1954) Bodybuilder, powerlifter, show wrestler.

R. Sarathkumar (14 July 1954) Indian bodybuilder/actor/politician and President of the All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi.

Carla Dunlap-Kaan (22 October 1954) Ms. Olympia 1984.

Bev Francis (15 February 1955) Bodybuilder, gym owner, powerlifter, shot put champion.

Rachel McLish (21 June 1955) First Ms. Olympia in 1980.

Lance Dreher (27 June 1955) Two-time Mr. Universe.

Ritva Elomaa (16 July 1955) Finnish bodybuilder and politician, Ms. Olympia 1981.

Indrek Otsus (14 August 1955) Estonian bodybuilder.

Premchand Degra (1 December 1955) Padma Shri, Indian bodybuilder.

Samir Bannout (1955) Mr. Olympia 1983.

Tom Platz (1955) The Quadfather.

 

 

Those known more as needle-injectors/synthol giants/steroid beasts/oil-men:

(Sometimes the line is quite thin but these are the ones well known to have used steroids for a longer time)

Superstar Billy Graham (7 June 1943) Widely known for his show wrestling career, but also a bodybuilder who trained with good old Arnold.

Betty Pariso (29 January 1956) Longtime bodybuilder who definitely didn't inject anything ever.

Dorian Yates (19 April 1962) Mr Olympia 1992-1996, self-confessed steroid user

Denise Rutkowski (1962) Known for her decades of steroid use and drug addiction and the "before and after" pictures.

Miloš Šarčev (17 January 1964) Former Mr. Yugoslavia. Once nearly died due to a Synthol injection gone wrong.

Ronnie Coleman (13 May 1964) Mr. Olympia 1998-2005. Used steroids for over a decade. Ill for ages.

Toney Freeman (30 August 1966) US IFBB bodybuilder, got caught by the Swedish police.

Craig Titus (14 January 1967) Steroid user and convicted murderer.

Dave Palumbo (17 February 1968)

Dexter Jackson (25 February 1969) Mr. Olympia 2008

 

Other, in ill health

Lex Luger (2 June 1958) Bodybuilder, show wrestler

C.T. Fletcher (8 June 1959) Bodybuilder, founder of Iron Addicts Gym. Hypertension in 2001, OHS in 2005, heart attack in 2017, heart transplant in 2018.

Marc Mero (6 July 1960) Bodybuilder, show wrestler. Three overdoses, long history of heart problems.

Mahadev Deka (17 May 1969) Indian bodybuilder, OHS and lung cancer in around 2002.

 

Continuing this later. Lots of interesting names and stories in that group.

[alt obits guy 3,371]

Doug Brignole, a former AAU Mr. Universe title in the Light Heavyweight division who was training to be a guest poser at the AAU Mr. Universe competition in Las Vegas on Oct. 22, has died. He was 63

 

https://generationiron.com/doug-brignole-passes-away-bodybuilding/

[arghton 6,773]

Japanese bodybuilder Toshisuke Kanazawa, 86, breaks own record as the oldest person to compete in the Japan championships. 

[arghton 6,773]

Is 1930s strongwoman Relna Brewer McRae of Muscle Beach, US still alive? Unlikely as she'd be 103 now, but she was still alive and in good health back in 2010, so there's a chance.

 

Betty Brosmer is alive. Widow of Mr. Olympia founder Joe Weider. 87 this year.

To add one name to Ulitzer's list on the previous page Clarence Bass is alive and 86 this year.

Arthur Robin lives in Italy as far as I know.

[tracy 2,433]

8 minutes ago, arghton said:

Is 1930s strongwoman Relna Brewer McRae of Muscle Beach, US still alive? Unlikely as she'd be 103 now, but she was still alive and in good health back in 2010, so there's a chance.

 

Died June 30, 2017 per MyLife.

[Ulitzer95 12,668]

On 20/01/2023 at 22:05, arghton said:

Is 1930s strongwoman Relna Brewer McRae of Muscle Beach, US still alive? Unlikely as she'd be 103 now, but she was still alive and in good health back in 2010, so there's a chance.

 

Betty Brosmer is alive. Widow of Mr. Olympia founder Joe Weider. 87 this year.

To add one name to Ulitzer's list on the previous page Clarence Bass is alive and 86 this year.

Arthur Robin lives in Italy as far as I know.

I've added Clarence Bass. I was shocked that Bill Pearl didn't receive a single QO. Doesn't appear to be much love for world champion bodybuilders amongst obituary writers, or they're not sure how to write them. If Pearl didn't get one, I'm not sure that any of the others on my list will tbh.

[arghton 6,773]

As someone in a certain Finnish tabloid I occasionally read seemingly has a weird obsession with relatively minor names (no English wiki) in bodybuilding, I've read that 40-year-old IFBB bodybuilder from Ghana William Bonac "The Conqueror" is apparently suffering from a kidney infection and not following doctors advice, in his own words:

"A little bit of inflammation in my kidneys. I have to take measurements for that. I have some medicine to take but I can’t take it right now because I’m in prep because it goes against each other."

"Measurements" in this case means he isn't taking oral steroids. He intends to compete in Arnold Classic next month. A few days ago he mourned that penis enlarger who was mentioned here somewhere, maybe there's some kind of a chance The Conqueror will join him soon.

[YoungWillz 21,076]

Various reports that Tonya Knight, Ms International in 1991 and who portrayed the character Gold In American Gladiators, has died from cancer: 

 

[Ulitzer95 12,668]

Seems like an appropriate time to serve a reminder that John Anderson (wiki), referee from the UK series of "Gladiators" is still alive and turns 92 this year.



Decent chance that he's still in reasonably good shape as he appeared on Top Gear in 2016, and The Last Leg in 2017.

A pick for 2 teams on the DDP. I feel like that should be higher, but then again he's seldom mentioned on here given his level of fame in the UK.

[msc 18,487]

7 minutes ago, Ulitzer95 said:

Seems like an appropriate time to serve a reminder that John Anderson (wiki), referee from the UK series of "Gladiators" is still alive and turns 92 this year.



Decent chance that he's still in reasonably good shape as he appeared on Top Gear in 2016, and The Last Leg in 2017.

A pick for 2 teams on the DDP. I feel like that should be higher, but then again he's seldom mentioned on here given his level of fame in the UK.

 

He's always been shortlisted for my oldies theme team but has always been a safe pick for I'll Sleep when You're Dead. Only debuted on the DDP in 2020 though, I wrote his bio. 

 

Recovered swiftly from a heart attack in his late 80s so made of stern stuff as you'd expect.

[alt obits guy 3,371]

Tonya Knight, a former Ms. International champion who had appeared on the Mr. Olympia stage, has died. She was 56. Knight died of cancer.

 

https://fitnessvolt.com/tonya-knight-obituary/

[Ulitzer95 12,668]

5 hours ago, alt obits guy said:

Tonya Knight, a former Ms. International champion who had appeared on the Mr. Olympia stage, has died. She was 56. Knight died of cancer.

 

https://fitnessvolt.com/tonya-knight-obituary/

[wannamaker 1,414]

 

Kurt Marnul, one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's first fitness idols, has died.

 

[gcreptile 10,979]

Power lifter Dawn Whitham dead of brain cancer at 57:

https://www.the-sun.com/sport/7421741/dawn-whitham-dead-bodybuilder-brain-cancer/

[Sinbabad 1,127]

What about Peter Lupus ? He’s 90 and I haven’t seen any news or pics for a while 

[diego 1,993]

On 03/08/2022 at 17:58, arghton said:

Não tenho certeza se isso se encaixa aqui, eu não chamaria esse cara de fisiculturista, mas ele realmente não se encaixa no segmento de atletas de drogas de desempenho, pois ele certamente não era um atleta...

 

O "Hulk brasileiro" Valdir Segato , "fisiculturista" que se injetou Synthol por anos,  morreu aos 55 anos de ataque cardíaco . Ele é o único que tinha seios enormes.

I know it's old news but I'm just seeing it today, Segato lived in the city where I live and I saw him several times riding his bike shirtless near my work, he was really well known, and he drew a lot of attention wherever he went , it was impressive

[YoungWillz 21,076]

On 31/01/2022 at 19:52, Ulitzer95 said:

Ed Fury b. 6 Jun 1928 American

Report of the death of Ed Fury, bodybuilder and "sword and sandal" actor more famously in the Ursus movies: 

I believe he's a pick for a certain @Gooseberry Crumble on the DDP. 

 

Edit: Just checked - he was a Crumble sub, so not picked for the DDP. 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,347]

11 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

Report of the death of Ed Fury, bodybuilder and "sword and sandal" actor more famously in the Ursus movies: 

I believe he's a pick for a certain @Gooseberry Crumble on the DDP. 

 

Edit: Just checked - he was a Crumble sub, so not picked for the DDP. 

Thanks  @YoungWillz

 

A DDP miss but a 'hit ' for me in the Death race run by Maryport 

[YoungWillz 21,076]

Ed Fury was a pick in 2022 though @Death Impends https://www.derbydeadpool.co.uk/deadpool2022/celebs_F.html#fury99e022

 

Dropped as an ingredient in the Crumbles.

[Death Impends 8,008]

Gooseberry sure to get the tissues out for that one.