What actors were bodybuilders before Stallone and Schwarzenegger?

Ed Fury.

Does Buster Crabbe count?

Mickey Hargitay (yes, HER father).

Lou Ferrigno

Darth Vader (David Prowse)

Steve Reeves

Peter Lupus

Do the pro wrestlers count - Dave Bautista, Dwayne Johnson,

George O'brien?

R2 OP asked for oldie actors (before the 80s)

Clint Walker

R4 There are a few oldie actors in that list:

Buster Crabbe

Mickey Hargitay

Steve Reeves

[quote]OP asked for oldie actors (before the 80s)

The only ones who wouldn't count based on your reading of the request are the pro wrestlers.

All the others on my list are from before Arnold and Stallone - even Lou Ferrigno.

Victor Mature

Jeff Chandler (woof!)

But it wasn't the norm, right? There was no pressure for men to look like that the way there is now. I assume it was okay to have what is referred to as a swimmer's build.

Reg Park, who made more than one "Hercules" movie.

William smith from "Laredo".

Woody Strode had probably the best body development (if you are interested in that sort of thing) of any of the old time actors. And he was in his mid 40s when he filmed Spartacus.

Steve Reeves!

Ricardo Montalban

Guy Madison

Cornel Wilde

William Holden

Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan)

Ron Ely (Tarzan)

George Reeves (Superman)

The Italian Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) was probably the first on film. I have his film "Maciste" (1915) on DVD and he is really stunning in it. Then he got fat.

Rudolph Valentino

Sean Connery

The most famous villain of them all was.....Dave Prowse.

Dick Shawn

R23 Uh...no.

George Reeves was kinda lumpy.

I used to watch ABC's Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons. Occasionally they would cover the Mr. America and Mr. Universe bodybuilding contests. One year Lou Ferrigno popped up. So did my dick. I was just getting started with puberty. His nipples were glorious. I once even licked the tv screen (alone, of course) pretending I was mouthing one. I miss that show terribly.

OP’s a dummy who could have easily Googled the likes of Frank Merrill, Johnny Wussmeiller, Buster Crabbe, Steve Reeves, Jack Lalanne, Reg Park, Ed Fury, Frank Zane and many, more.

Douglas, Lancaster and Brynner weren’t even bodybuilders. Give me a break!

Valentino, Holden, Madison were not bodybuilders. Shut up.

If you ignore r27, three posts disappear. I confess I've used the word "bodybuilder" inexpertly. Today many actors have toned, muscled physiques with a lot of definition. I'm trying to get a sense of who the forerunners of this trend is. That's why I'd like theories, not simply a list of names. What made having a body so important to people like John Travolta, who was on the wiry side?.

Not is, were. Damn autocorrect.

Yul had a beautiful body and was definitely on the bodybuilder side.

Sean Connery

Bodybuilder Dave Draper made an appearance on an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies and, later, on an episode of The Monkees. But he's probably best known for his small role in the Malibu Beach movie "Don't Make Waves," starring Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale, Jim Backus, Joanna Barnes and, at the time, a little-known actress named Sharon Tate.

Has anyone yet thought of Sean Connery? Because I believe he's gone unmentioned.

Mat Pendleton - and he was funny too! -

[quote] Were there even personal trainers before Jake Sternberg?

It wasn't uncommon for the Old Hollywood magazines to run feature articles with photos showing an actor working out or exercising, sometimes with a trainer from one of the clubs.

God ... Tab was so hot. Those legs are mighty fine.

I read that many actors, though not professional bodybuilders, availed themselves of the studio's trainers and practiced exercise regimens to keep toned and younger-looking. One I know did so was Clark Gable. If you watch 1939's [italic]The Women,[/italic] it featured ladies' gyms albeit with some crazy contraptions.

In addition to the equipment found in boxing gyms, men had their own specialized gyms with much emphasis on push and pull-ups and that old favorite, weight lifting.

[quote]Founded in 1844 in London England, The YMCA would eventually lead the way for fitness for many men. According to the YMCA website, the first buildings constructed with gymnasiums opened in 1869. In 1881, Boston YMCA staffer Robert J. Roberts coined the term “bodybuilding” and developed exercise classes, which are the forerunner of today’s health club model.

[quote]n 1939, fitness legend Jack LaLanne opened what is believed to be the first U.S. health club in Oakland, Calif. At that time, doctors advised patients that there were dangers associated with lifting weights and rigorous exercise, LaLanne found success and designed and introduced many of the machines that are still mainstays on traditional gym floors such as first leg extension machines and pulley-cable based strength equipment. He even was an early proponent of women lifting weights, although very few took him up on it in the early days.

Yes, *Nat* Pendleton was an early bodybuilder in movies. Here's a cap from a bad print of a 1930 film - what an ass he had!

Another Nat Pendleton butt shot, this time from one of his early silent movies.

Jack LaLanne

Not really a “bodybuilder,” but I tend to think of Buster Keaton that way since he was such an athlete.

Jack Lalanne wasn't an actor

[quote]OP’s a dummy who could have easily Googled the likes of Frank Merrill, Johnny Wussmeiller

R27 And you could have easily Googled how to spell Weissmuller.

R37. I find the stocky trainer in the pic much hotter than Tab. Woof!

Well r30, if you ignore r27, you’re going to miss the correct answers from someone more knowledgeable than you.

If it’s all about your pride and saving face, don’t ask for help.

What kind of clueless elderqueen wants to figure out John Travolta, but can’t?

Why would you ask who was like Stallone and Schwarzenegger if you really wanted to learn about Travolta?

I can't think of any bodybuilding actors of the 1940's. Too bad Clarence Ross didn't become an actor - now there's a man I would have watched in any film!!

John Payne

R49 Probably the most homoerotic picture taken during Hollywood's golden age.

John Payne - I've never understood the publicity photos they used to take.

Clearly, some queen was left running thing in the PR department at most of the major studios.

Yes, R12, Woody Strode was beautiful.