Although I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. After suffering a knee injury from wrestling in school, my coach took me to a bodybuilding gym to help me rehab. Within a couple of months my legs and my knee were stronger than ever. The owner of the gym took an interest in my training and after six months of intensive workouts I had gained 20 pounds of solid muscle. In a way I am thankful for that injury because it introduced me to my forte in life.
Another six months later I decided to move to California as I really wanted to fulfill my dream of becoming a pro bodybuilder. I arrived in Los Angeles on a one-way bus ticket with just two pairs of jeans, $75 in my pocket, and a heart filled with optimism and self-confidence. I headed straight to the “Mecca of Bodybuilding”, Venice Beach. Barely two months later I entered the Mr. Venice Beach Bodybuilding Competition. This was my first contest and I won it! A few days later, while training on Muscle Beach, Arnold Schwarzenegger came over to me: “I have been watching you training very hard, let me take you through a workout.” Arnold showed me a couple of great exercises and wrote down Joe Weider's address: “Go there, tell him that I sent you. He should write an article on you for his magazine “Muscle Builder”.”
My bodybuilding career began to take flight as I worked my way through the amateur competitive ranks in 1978 winning the Mr. Los Angeles, Jr. Mr. USA, Jr. Mr. America, and finally, the frosting of the cake, Mr. America. I was featured in Muscle Builder and Arnold's first “Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding”.
In February 1979 the owner of Gold's Gym asked me to guest pose at the Mr. L.A. Bodybuilding Championships together with Lisa Lyon. I hesitated at first because this was all new, but then I thought it's worth to give it a try. Obviously, this was the beginning of women's and couples bodybuilding. Before practicing our routine, Lisa, the true artist, come up with the idea to hire a saxophonist to play live on stage. To add even more drama, we should use two spotlights only.
Finally on stage, in the middle of the routine, I said to myself: “This is bad. Although the place is completely full, I could not hear a sound except the saxophone”. But at the end of the performance, we got a standing ovation. Complete Pandemonium! Lisa and I had created a magical moment for couples posing and women's bodybuilding.
The same year Lisa won the first Women's World Pro Bodybuilding Championship in Los Angeles. A few months later Lisa promoted her first own Pro Show which was won by Rachel McLish - and the rest is history.
In the same year I won the Pro Mr. World as well as the Pro Mr. Olympus in New York and in Italy the WABBA Mr. World. Following the footsteps of my mentor Arnold, I captured the Pro Mr. Universe title in London the following year.
After conquering the individual aspect of competition, the more dramatic style of couples competition appealed to my artistic side. Combining my stage charisma with the dance of two finely tuned physiques worked well to my advantage. In an unprecedented winning streak, I garnered six pro world mixed-pairs titles with different partners in 1982 and '83 (Shelley Gruwell), '84 (Carla Dunlap), '85 (Tina Plakinger), '86 (Juliette Bergmann), and '88 (Carla Dunlap).
In 2007 I was inducted into Muscle Beach Bodybuilding Hall of Fame. I have made guest appearances on "Good Morning America", "NBC Sportsworld", and "Soul Train", and dabbled in show business appearing on “Empty Nest” and “Man from Atlantis”. I also competed in the now defunct World Bodybuilding Federation's shows launched by wrestling mogul Vince McMahon. They dobbed me THE JETMAN!
I am currently a personal trainer and nutritional consultant to the stars both in Los Angeles and in Europe.
My goal is to show by example, that the best lifestyle is a natural one and that after a 20-year competitive career, I'm still in the game. I remain in good physical condition, not having any intention of ever being less than in perfect health. I'm an advocate of good health and fitness, and always looking for new avenues to get my message out there to the younger generation and to encourage them to follow their dreams. "Always keep your goal in sight. Stay focused no matter what the obstacles, because there will always be challenges along the way, no matter what you pursue. But if you are persistent, have a positive attitude and surround yourself with positive people, you will achieve your ultimate dream."
Carefully listening to my body about it's needs from the beginning of my career until today, I always felt and analyzed which food and supplements were helping me to receive serious results, making me stronger, recuperate faster and enhance my overall health. I tried nearly every supplement available during the past 35 years and I am convinced that WIN products are incomparable to all others I tested in the past.
Focusing more and more on the health and wellness aspects of people in their best years, I decided to become an independent distributor for WIN products worldwide.
