Dan Lurie (April 1, 1923 – November 6, 2013) was an American bodybuilder, television personality, entrepreneur, and world record holder. He was regarded as a pioneer in

physical fitness Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of Outline of sports, sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate ...

and a founding father of

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

. Lurie had won the Mr. America title of "America's Most Muscular Man" four times by 1949, and in 1984 made history by arm wrestling U.S. President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

on the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table (furniture), table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading (activity), reading, writing, or using ...

in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Biography

Lurie was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, graduated from

Samuel J. Tilden High School Samuel J. Tilden High School is a New York City public high school in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. It was named for Samuel J. Tilden, the former governor of New York State and presidential candidate who, although carryin ...

and later moved to North Woodmere on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

where he lived until age 90. A world-class

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

in the 1940s, Lurie won numerous titles in the Mr. America competitions. In 1948, he established the

International Federation of Body Builders The International Fitness and BodyBuilding Federation (IFBB), headquartered in Las Rozas (Madrid), is an international professional sports governing body for bodybuilding and fitness that oversees many of the sport's major international events, ...

and later went on to create The World Body Building Guild. In the 1950s he went on to star as "Sealtest Dan, The Muscle Man" in a long-running

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

TV series called The Sealtest Big Top. Throughout his career, Lurie had a long-standing and well-known rivalry with his former business partner,

Joe Weider Joseph Weider (; November 29, 1919 – March 23, 2013) was a Canadian bodybuilder and entrepreneur who co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) alongside his brother Ben Weider. He was also the creator of Mr. Olympia, Ms. O ...

. As a magazine publisher, bodybuilding trainer and contest promoter, Lurie also had well publicized relationships with

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

and

Lou Ferrigno Louis Jude Ferrigno Sr. (; born November 9, 1951) is an American actor and retired professional bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, Ferrigno won an IFBB Mr. America title and two consecutive IFBB Mr. Universe titles; and appeared in the documentar ...

. These relationships both ended in litigation; the details of which were controversially detailed in Lurie's 2009 book ''Heart of Steel'', to which

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...

contributed a foreword. Throughout his colorful career, Lurie honored and befriended many Hollywood stars such as

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagon ...

and

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

. In the course of his career in the fitness realm from the 1940s through the year 2000, Lurie owned and operated numerous Dan Lurie Gyms and Health Clubs in New York and Miami Beach that attracted celebrities and bodybuilders alike.

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

famously trained at one of them. President Ronald Reagan Arm Wrestling Dan Lurie of Muscle Training Magazine in Oval Office

Lurie manufactured his own line of weights, exercise equipment and nutritional supplements which he sold via catalog and through the flagship chain of stores he owned and operated in New York called Dan Lurie's Sports World. Additionally, Lurie was known for creating and publishing several successful international magazine titles that included ''Muscle Training Illustrated'', ''Wrestling Training Illustrated'', ''World Karate'', ''World Champion Boxing'' and ''Hot Rock''. He was still active well into his 80s when he came out of semi-retirement to promote new bodybuilding events and products. At age 90 he continued to make plans to create and promote bodybuilding shows and travel to schools, universities and conventions to speak out in regard to the dangers of drugs and steroids in sports as he had done for years before. Lurie was a staunch promoter of clean athletics and natural bodybuilding and claims to have never used performance enhancement drugs. He was famous for his trademark slogan "Health Is Your Greatest Wealth".

Television career

Lurie appeared on the ''Sealtest Big Top Circus Variety Show'' on

. This was the first color television program in the USA. He played "Sealtest Dan, The Muscle Man".

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...

played a clown. Lurie also appeared as "The Mighty Rewop" in the popular children's TV series ''

Captain Video ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television. The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...

''.

Hall Of Fame

On April 29, 2007, Lurie was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

Strength and endurance records

*1225 parallel dips in 90 minutes *A one-handed overhead bent press with 285 lb bodyweight 168 lb *Leg press with 1230 lb *Back lift of 1810 lb

References

External links

Dan Lurie Official website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lurie, Dan 1923 births 2013 deaths 21st-century American Jews American bodybuilders American male writers Television personalities from New York City Jewish American sportspeople People associated with physical culture Writers from Brooklyn People from North Woodmere, New York Samuel J. Tilden High School alumni