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Steve Reeves (Stephen L. Reeves) (January 21, 1926 - May 5, 2000), was a bodybuilder, actor, and author. ChildhoodBorn in Glasgow, Montana, Reeves moved to California, with his widowed mother Goldie, at the age of 10, after his father Lester Dell Reeves died from an accident. By the time he was 17 his interest in bodybuilding had led to his developing a Herculean build, long before the rise in general interest in the activity. After he was graduated from High School he entered the Army during the later part of World War II. BodybuildingHe won the following events:
By his own account, his best cold (unpumped) measurements at the peak of his bodybuilding activity were:
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding states: By [the 1940s] the distinction between lifting weights purely for strength and training with weights to shape and proportion the body had been clearly made. ... However, bodybuilding still remained an obscure sport. No champion was known to the general public--that is, until Steve Reeves came along. Reeves was the right man in the right place at the right time. He was handsome, personable, and had a magnificent physique. Survivors from the Muscle Beach era recall how crowds used to follow Reeves when he walked along the beach, and how people who knew nothing about him would simply stop and stare, awestruck. ActingAfter WWII military service, Reeves came to the attention film director Cecil B. De Mille, who considered him for the part of Samson in Samson and Delilah (1949) the part finally went to Victor Mature. Paramount considered Reeves for the title role of their upcoming film version of the Broadway musical Li'l Abner in 1958, but the part eventually went to Peter Palmer. Reeves first film was the 1949 Kimbar of the Jungle, a made-for-television movie, which was a pilot for a series that never materialised. Throughout the 1950s, Reeves also had guest spots on The Jimmy Durante Show, The Dinah Shore Show, The Burns and Allen Show, The Ralph Edwards Show, The Red Skelton Show, Topper and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. His first film break came in 1954 in the That same year he also appeared in "Athena" with Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell. In 1954 he had a co-starring role in his first major motion picture Athena playing Debbie Reynolds' boyfriend, and the same year was seen in the Ed Wood film "Jailbait." In fact this is one of the few opportunities to hear his own voice as most of his later films were dubbed. Rumor has it that Reeve's appearance in Athena is what prompted Italian director Pietro Francisci's daughter to suggest him for the role in her father's upcoming Hercules movie. In 1957, he played the title character in Francisci's Hercules, which was released in Italy in February of 1959, and then in the U.S. in July of 1959. Following the U.S. release, the film was an enormous hit and created a new sub-genre of the sword and sandal film (also known as the peplum film): the 'Hercules' or 'strong man' movie. The film is now in public domain and can be downloaden from the Internet Archive. From 1959 through 1964, Reeves went on to appear in a string of sword and sandal movies, and although he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the Greek hero Hercules, in actuality he played the character only twice - in Hercules and the sequel Hercules Unchained (released in the U.S. in 1960). He played a number of other characters on screen, including Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's Glaucus of Pompeii; Goliath (also called Emiliano); Russian hero Hadji Murad; Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome (opposite Gordon Scott as his twin brother Remus); pirate and self-proclaimed governor of Jamaica Captain Henry Morgan; and Karim, the Thief of Bagdad. Twice he played Aeneas of Troy and twice he played Emilio Salgari's Malaysian hero, Sandokan. He turned down a number of parts that went on to make the careers of other actors. He was asked to star as 'James Bond' in "Dr. No" in 1962 which he turned down as he did the role that finally went to Clint Eastwood in "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964). In 1968 Reeves appeared in his final film, a spaghetti western which he also co-wrote, A Long Ride From Hell fulfilling his wish to make a Western before he retired. His last on-screen appearance was in 2000 when he appeared as himself in the made-for-television A&E Biography: Arnold Schwarzenegger - Flex Appeal. Later lifeLater in his life, Reeves promoted drug-free bodybuilding and bred horses. The last two decades of his life were spent in Valley Center (Escondido), California. He bought a ranch with his savings and lived there with his second wife Aline until her death in 1989. Data originally published on Wikipedia |