Reg Park

Nov 28 2007 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

“GOSH, his arms are thicker than my legs,” said the pale boys, one to the other, as they gazed at his photographs in the body-building magazines.

This, and the desire not to have sand kicked in your face by the beach bully, was a strong reason why so many lads enrolled on the various muscle-development courses in the 1950s.

But by the ’60s, many of those boys discovered that girls preferred the consumptive-poet look, so the craze for lifting weights and eating ridiculous quantities of beef-steak petered out.

Nonetheless, there was a sneaking admiration for Reg Park, whose name suggested no-nonsense Northern grit – particularly when he was seen wrestling a stuffed lion in the sun-and-sandals epic King Solomon’s Mines (1964).

“Who will win?” audiences gasped. It was a close-run thing, but the glistening Park came out on top.

He had gained international recognition in 1951, when he smashed the American denomination of the National Amateur Bodybuilders’ Association Amateur Mr Universe. He followed that triumph by winning the professional versions in 1958 and 1965, by which time his daily diet included a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs.

Reg was born in Leeds. His father, also Reg, ran a gymnasium and barbell company. To the father’s delight, the son was a superb athlete and a fine footballer.

This led him to sign for Leeds United, but when injured he read a fitness magazine which featured some famous body-builders.

This would be his career and he entered it with admirable enthusiasm, lifting dumbbells on freezing days in the garden.

His first significant success was in 1949, the Mr Northeast Britain title. Later that year he became Mr Britain, and then went to the USA for six months, appearing in magazines, before winning Mr Europe in 1950.

His successes resulted in film parts in the early 1960s, including a series about Hercules. Although not a natural actor, Park was perfectly competent in parts which allowed him to flex his muscles to the delight of the leading ladies.

By then resident in South Africa, Park, married with two children, became a legendary figure on the body-building circuit, featuring in educational films and magazines, and he trained clients at a gym in Sandton, near Johannesberg. Arnold Schwarzenegger was an admirer.

Reg Park, Mr Universe; born June 7, 1928,died November 22, 2007.