Deforrest "Moe" Most (April 23, 1917 – September 2, 2006) was a gymnast and the unofficial "ambassador" of

Muscle Beach Muscle Beach is the birthplace of the United States physical fitness boom, which started in 1934 with predominantly gymnastics activities on the south side of the Santa Monica Pier. Muscle Beach Venice is the contemporary title of the outdoor we ...

Biography

Most was born in

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known fo ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. His parents named him after the inventor

Lee De Forest Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element "Audion" triode va ...

Tahiti and Samoa

Inspired by what he had read in books about the

South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, is used in several contexts. Most commonly it refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. In 1513, when Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term ''Mar del Sur'', ...

, Most sailed to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

in the early 1930s. He returned to

only because the steamship line on which he'd sailed was ending service to the island, and Most didn't want to lose the remaining fare on his round-trip ticket. Most later succumbed to wanderlust again and traveled to the

Samoan Islands The Samoan Islands ( sm, Motu o Sāmoa) are an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Independent State of Samoa a ...

, where he lived with the daughter of an island

chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...

. Most left the South Pacific a second time only because of the looming threat of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He wasn't able to serve in the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

because of an abnormality in his neck. Rather, he got a job on the bomber assembly line at the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

Muscle Beach

Most, a fitness enthusiast, began frequenting Muscle Beach in 1934 while still a student at Belmont High School. After his return from Samoa, Most again began frequenting Muscle Beach. In 1947 Most was named director of Muscle Beach. He was in charge of equipment and activities, including staging the Mr. and Miss Muscle Beach contests and arranging other quirky contests staged on the beach that involved feats of strength or gymnastic skills. Most served as director until 1958, when the city of

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

shut down Muscle Beach. The weightlifters who had frequented the Santa Monica shore moved south to

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed b ...

, and established a new Muscle Beach at the Venice Boardwalk. "There was a lot of prejudice involved," Most said in a 1999 interview of Santa Monica's decision to close down Muscle Beach. "People didn't like weightlifters and thought there was something wrong with them. Athletes were not accepted like they are today." Over four decades later, Santa Monica restored gymnastics equipment at the site and redubbed it "Muscle Beach."

Feats of strength

Most's physical strength, combined with an unerring sense of balance, made him a champion "understander" — the bottom person in a human pyramid. In his most memorable stunt, the four-man pyramid, Most balanced on the torso of

Harold Zinkin Universal Gym Equipment was an American manufacturer of exercise equipment, in particular weight machines. It was founded by Harold Zinkin in 1957. In 1998, it was acquired by Flexible Flyer. In 2006 it was acquired by Nautilus, Inc. The Univers ...

, the bodybuilder who won the first Mr. California title. Future exercise guru

Jack LaLanne Francois Henri LaLanne (; September 26, 1914 – January 23, 2011) was an American fitness and nutrition guru and motivational speaker. He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was aged 15. He also had behav ...

stands on Most's shoulders, and

Gene Miller Gene Miller (1928–2005) was a longtime investigative reporter at the ''Miami Herald'' who won two Pulitzer Prizes for reporting that helped save innocent men on Florida's Death Row from execution. He was also a legendary editor, mentoring genera ...

balances on LaLanne. "Moe was one of the greatest athletes I've ever known. We did tricks that nobody else had ever done," LaLanne told the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

. Most once anchored a three-man tower on which

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

climbed on top and without removing his

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Personal life

Most was married three times. His third wife, Jackie, died in 1999. Most had two sons, Michael and Steven; Michael died in 2000. Deforrest Most died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

UCLA Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, aged 89.

References

* Nelson, Valerie J. (2006, September 8). ''Deforrest 'Moe' Most, 89; Gymnast Was Unofficial Ringmaster at Santa Monica's Muscle Beach''. The Los Angeles Times * "Santa Monica shows off a restored Muscle Beach." The Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1999. "Beach veteran Deforrest Most, 82, of Venice, said he suspects businessmen on the Santa Monica Pier pressured the city to shut down Muscle Beach..." via Proquest Archiver (subscription). {{DEFAULTSORT:Most, Deforrest 1917 births 2006 deaths American gymnasts Gymnasts from Los Angeles