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Dave Draper (born April 16, 1942) bodybuilder, actor and author, nicknamed "The Blond Bomber".
Draper was born in Secaucus, New Jersey. His weight training began at the age of ten and was a well-formed habit by the time he was about twelve, in the mid-1950s.
In high school he participated in wrestling, gymnastics, and swimming, but was most inspired by training with weights.
At 21, he won the Mr. New Jersey title. Six months later he moved to Santa Monica, California, working for the Weider Barbell Company until 1969. During this period he also worked in motion pictures.
In the early days, Draper says, "There wasn't a whole bunch of encouragement or inspiration | from a society which considered you either stupid or egotistical and probably a sissy."
In California, Draper initially trained at a gym many called "The Dungeon", which he described as "a large, awful space dug out of the ground on the corner of 4th and Broadway, and later at the original Gold's Gym. Training partners included Frank Zane, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, and Mike Katz.
Draper is 6 ft. 0 in. (1.83 m) tall, and his bodybuilding competition weight was around 225 lb. (102 kg).
Dave Draper continues to train with weights into his 60s, and to write, including a weekly newsletter which he emails and publishes on his website. |
