AOBS Honorees

In the 25 year history of the AOBS, a total of 62 immortals of the Iron Game have received the organization's highest achievement award.  They include:

Highest Achievement Award Recipients:

Joe Abbenda

Paul Anderson

Jules Bacon

Doris Barrilleaux

Clarence Bass

Al Berger

Isaac Berger

Vic Boff

Jim Bradford

Pat Casey

Bill Clark

Gary Cleveland

Dave Draper

Joe Dube

Marvin Eder

Clyde Emrich

George Eiferman

Slim Farman

Dr. James George

Dr. Peter George

Bert Goodrich

John Grimek

Kenny Hall

Gene Jantzen

Harry Johnson

Ed Jubinville

Mike Karchut

Russ Knipp

Tommy Kono

Ron Lacey

Red Lerille

Johnny Mandel

Dave Mayor

Jim Murray

Al Oerter

George Paine

Reg Park

Bill Pearl

Joe Pitman

Joe Puleo

Mabel Rader

Peary Rader

Terry Robinson

Steve Reeves

Don Reinhoudt

Rudy Sablo

Bruno Sammartino

Elmo Santiago

Hy Schaeffer

Norb Schemansky

Dave Sheppard

Dick "Smitty" Smith

Frank Spellman

Milo Steinborn

Leo Stern

Pudgy Stockton

Frank Stranahan

Dennis Tinerino

Jan Todd

Terry Todd

Chuck Vinci

David Webster

Malcolm Whyatt

 

Special Guest Honor Awards:

Leo Murdock

Rudy Riska

Joe "The Great" Rollino

Jim Sanders

Dr. Theodore Struhl

 

"Carry On" Award Winners

Mike D'Angelo

Ann Boff

Artie Drechsler

Joe Marino

Steve Sadicario

Jim Sanders

The following recipients of our highest achievement award plan to attend this year's dinner:

Joe Abbenda – Joe Abbenda emerged on the bodybuilding scene in the late 1950’s. He competed as a weightlifter as well as a bodybuilder, but the latter sport was his focus from day one. After years of hard work on simple exercises, Joe’s training paid off in a very big way, when he won the Teenage Mr. America competition in 1959. In 1960 he placed 5^th in the Mr. America competition, moving up to 2^nd place in 1961. The following year proved to be the breakout year for Joe as he won both the 1962 Mr. America and amateur NABBA Mr. Universe titles. In 1963, he returned to the NABBA Mr. Universe competition, this time as a professional. He continued his undefeated streak in taking the 1963 professional title. Shortly thereafter, Joe enhanced his worldwide reputation when he traveled to South Africa to appear with Reg Park in a series of exhibitions. Joe went on to become an educator for many years, coaching young men and women with regard to the benefits of exercise, particularly weight training. He then earned a law degree and today is in private practice as an attorney.

Doris Barrilleaux - A true pioneer in women’s bodybuilding, Doris has often been referred to as “The First Lady of Bodybuilding.”  An outstanding competitor in her own right she, perhaps more than any other person in the history of the Iron Game, made national and international women’s physique competition a reality. Even while she was competing, she devoted her endless energy in organizing and promoting women’s bodybuilding competitions, wherever and whenever she could, eventually in virtually every state of the union. Moreover, despite having invested so much of her life’s energy in getting women’s bodybuilding under way, Doris had the courage to take a stand against the drugs she believed would ruin the sport she had worked so hard to build. She walked away from a coveted leadership position with a major bodybuilding organization as a protest of the movement of drugs into the world of women’s bodybuilding. However, she did continue her careers as one of bodybuilding’s top photographers and she is still active today in her beloved sport.

 Clarence Bass – After a fine career in weightlifting, Clarence moved into the field of bodybuilding with a vengeance. In “Past-40” bodybuilding competition, he has won his height class in both the Mr. America and Mr. USA competitions. In the latter competition, he has also earned the Most Muscular, Best Abs and Best Legs awards. But Clarence is probably best known for the instruction and inspiration he provides to others. It all began with is now classic book “Ripped”. Espousing the benefits of a healthy diet and proper exercise, Clarence is living proof that this philosophy works. After his initial book, Clarence has gone on to produce a series of books and videos that have literally reached many thousands around the world with his prescription for healthy living and with a lean and muscular physique. As the photos of now 70 year-old Clarence in his latest book (“Great Expectatons”) show, Clarence remains in phenomenal shape to this day. Given his example and his prolific communications, his audience will no doubt continue to grow.

 Isaac Berger – Issac Berger had one of the fastest rises in weightlifting history. After entering his first weightlifting competition in 1952, Berger improved so fast the by 1955 he became a National Champion. Defending his title in 1956, despite an injury, Berger lifted enough at the 1956 Olympic Trials to earn a berth on team going to Melbourne. He moved his training into high gear and shocked the weightlifting world by winning the Olympic Games as a teenager and breaking the world record in the total at the same time. He later went on to win both the 1958 and the1962 World Championships, along with silver medals in both the 1960 an 1964 Olympic Games. Isaac also set many world records across his illustrious career. The last world record he earned, at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, in 1964, was a 152.5 kg. That record lasted for more than 5 years, becoming one of the longest held world records in weightlifting history.

Jim Bradford – Jim Bradford always considered himself a strongman, more than a weightlifter. He prided himself in being able to compete with the best weightlifters in the world with limited technique and one of the strictest pressing forms of any athlete in the world at the time. Across his career Jim won 2 US National Championships and earned silver medals at 4 World Championships and in both the 1952 and 1960 Olympic Games. In the latter case, he gave the USSR’s legendary Yuri Vlasov a run for his money. In addition to being remembered for the lifting he did do, Jim is famous for the lifting he declined to do. Competing at the World Championships in Milan, in 1951, Jim battled it out with the legendary John Davis, who was defending his undefeated record at World and Olympic Games that began in 1938. When Davis was injured during the competition, Bradford refused to take his last C&J attempt, not wanting to defeat an injured man, or force Davis to take another lift, which might have injured John further. Bradford’s act has gone down as one of the greatest displays of sportsmanship in the history of sport.

 Bill Clark –  In 1959, when some boxers he was training wanted to enter the Missouri State Weightlifting championships, Bill found there was no such event, so decided to run it. The following year he became the chairman of his local AAU weightlifting committee, a position he retained for approximately 30 years. In 1962, Bill organized postal competitions in the US prison system, a program that lasted more than 20 years and produced some of the top lifters in the country. By 1964, Bill cooperated with Jim Witt and Homer Brannum to persuade the AAU to permit the organization of the first National powerlifting championship.  In 1973, Clark was innovating again, asking the AAU to permit him to run the first National Masters weightlifting competition, which was held by Bill in 1975. Today more than 60 nations competed in Masters Weightlifting competitions worldwide. In 1986, Bill worked with Tony Cook of England to from the International All Around Weightlifting Federation, which continues its activities today. Without innovators like Bill Clark, the Iron Game would not be nearly as rich and diverse as it is today.

 Dave Draper – Known during the 1960s as “America’s Strongest Youth” and the “Blond Bomber”, Dave Draper became an idol to the teens who followed the sport of bodybuilding in that era. With a physique possessing a combination of extraordinary size and balance, Dave was soon winning major titles with regularity. He subsequently reformed his physique, becoming known for his extraordinary definition. As Dave continued the training that he loved in his later years, he began to realize that many in the Iron Game were inspired by his tenacious dedication to training and his unique style of writing about his personal experiences with training. Today, he operates one of the most successful web-sites on bodybuilding in the world and is an great demand as a speaker, both for the motivation his communications impart and for the wisdom regarding training that could only be gathered by someone who has been as dedicated and consistent in his training as Dave has been for so many years.

 Joe Dube – Joe Dube first burst upon the weightlifting scene as a teenager, becoming the first teenager in history to press 400 pounds. In his twenties he continued to gain bodyweight and strength, soon rising to become a top contender for the superheavyweight championship of the US, and one of the best lifters in the world. During his illustrious career, Joe set numerous American and World records. He won the Pan American Games in 1967 and went on the following year to win a bronze medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, the only American to medal that year.  Inspired by his Olympic experience and convinced he could defeat the reigning superheavyweight Olympic and World Champion, Leonid Zhabotinsky (who said the Americans could never beat him), Joe trained with a vengeance for the 1969 World Championships. His dedication was rewarded when he handed Zhabotinsky his first defeat since he the Russian won the Olympic Games in 1964. With his victory, Joe became the last American male to date to win a world weightlifting championship.

 Clyde Emrich – Clyde is remembered by many as an Olympian, a 4-time National Weightlifting Champion, a medallist in 2 World Weightlifting Championships and a World Record Holder in weightlifting. But after his weightlifting career was over, Clyde, went on to make another great contribution to the Iron Game and to the spread of the use of weight training in sport. After providing weightlifting instruction to some of the most well known players on the legendary Chicago Bears football team, Clyde was hired by the Bears to become one of the pioneers of the Strength Coaching field. He started officially working the team in the in the 1960’s. Although he has gone on to accept broader duties within the organization, Clyde continues to help out in the weight room. In the fickle and stressful world of professional sports, a stay of that length with one team speaks for itself as does Clyde’s Super Bowl ring.

 Slim Farman – Slim Farman worked as a stone cutter most of his life. Unlike many in that field, he did not regard that profession solely as a form of skilled labor, but also as a profound challenge to his physical strength and skill. Wielding his sledge hammers on a daily basis had given Slim extraordinary strength in his hands, wrists and arms, but it was a chance meeting with the legendary “Might Atom” – Joe Greenstein that propelled Slim into a career as a professional strongman and heir to the Atom. Apprenticing under the Atom, Slim soon learned and developed his strength sufficiently to duplicate many of the Atom’s amazing feats, but he coupled those feats with hammer lifting feats of his own design, welcoming others to try and duplicate what he could do (which no on ever has). A phenomenal showman, as well as strongman, Slim has thrilled audiences all over the country with his feats of strength and his incredibly polished way of presenting them. Slim has carried on the legacy of the Atom in another important way, by inspiring a new generation of strongmen to carry on the feats performed by the Atom and to invent new feats of their own.

 Mike Karchut – One of the most outstanding lifters in the US during the late 1960s and through the 1970’s, Mike Karchut was renowned for his outstanding technique and dedication to the sport of weightlifting. Across a career that spanned more than 25 years, Mike amassed 8 National Championship titles, broke 10 American Records and was a member of 3 US Olympic teams. His international accomplishments included a Gold Medal at the Pan American Games and a total of 4 bronze medals at 3 World Championships. He also has the distinction of competing in more consecutive National Championships in US weightlifting history – 25. Mike was always one of the most popular lifters in the US, not only because of the wonderful style with which he lifted, but for the deep and sincere encouragement he provided to so many lifters of his day and in the years that followed, by his example and by his willingness to help anyone who has a sincere desire to improve their weightlifting performance.

 Tommy Kono – If being a sickly and underweight child did not make Tommy Kono’s early years difficult enough, being interred with his family at the Tule Lake detention camp during WWII (for no other reason than their Japanese ancestry) raised the bar. But during his interment, Tommy took up weight training and thereby started one of the greatest careers in world weightlifting history. A winner of 6 World Championships, 2 Olympic Games (winner of a silver medal in a 3^rd), holder of 26 World Records is 4 bodyweight categories, Tommy is on anyone’s short list of the greatest lifters of all time (he has been officially recognized by the International Weightlifting Federation as one of the greatest lifters of all time). As if his record as athlete were not sufficient to preserve his name in weightlifting history, Tommy is perhaps the only coach ever to have coached Olympic Teams from 3 different countries (Germany, Mexico and the US). More recently, he has authored the classic book – “Weightlifting – Olympic-style”.

 Red Lerille – While he had successfully competed in a number of high level bodybuilding competitions by the time he entered the Mr. America contest in 1960, Red Lerille was far from the favorite. Nevertheless, he prevailed over more experienced competitors to win that coveted title. Upon returning home, Red immediately set about achieving the second of his boyhood goals (winning the Mr. America competition had been the first). That second goal was to build a gym where people who were seeking health and strength could gather together to build their bodies. Red has succeeded beyond even his own imagination. Through his relentless work over a span of more than 40 years, Red has built the largest health club in the Southeast, and one of the largest in the world. Today that club includes more than 200,000 square feet of fantastic space that accommodates the fitness and recreational desires of countless members of his community. So outstanding have been Red’s achievements that his is recognized as one of the legends of the fitness industry.

 Joe Pitman – Joe Pitman had one of the greatest strings of National Weightlifting Championship victories in the history of the United States. Across his tremendous career, Joe won a total of 11 National Championships (the only lifters in US weightlifting history who won more were Tony Terlazzo – 13 and John Davis – 12). Joe was very successful on the international scene as well, winning gold medals at the inaugural Pan American Games in 1951, and then again at the 1955 Pan American Games. At the World Championships, Joe earned silver medals in both 1949 and 1951. Perhaps Joe’s greatest year came in 1950 where, after defeating Tommy Kono and Dave Sheppard in a colossal battle at the US National Championships, he went on the win the Gold Medal at the World Championships in Paris. His total of 352.5 kg. that day equaled to winning totals made by Shams of Egypt the year before and Pete George of the US in 1947. After retiring from weightlifting, Joe spent is career educating America’s youth.

 Joe Puleo – Joe Puleo emerged on the weightlifting scene as a teenage phenomenon, breaking “teenage” American and World records. He also won the first of his 5 National Championships in 1962, while he was still a teenager. A year later, he established himself as one of the top lifters in the world, by winning the Pan American Games (which he did again in 1967, along with taking second in the “Little Olympics”, a hastily arranged substitute for the World Championships that had been cancelled that year). Joe retired from competition in 1970 to pursue a very successful career as an attorney. However, in 1979, he decided to make a comeback in an effort to earn a spot on the 1980 US Olympic Team. Joe’s effort was successful, when earned that team spot at the 1980 Olympic Trials in Philadelphia. Although the US boycotted the Olympics that year, Joe was invited to compete in substitute championship held in China. By competing in China, Joe became the US athlete with the longest international career in US weightlifting history. 

 Don Reinhoudt – Don Reinhoudt didn’t begin to lift weights until he was 18, and he wasn’t particularly strong when he first touched the iron. But during his college years, focused primarily on upper body exercises, Don gained more than 40 pounds of muscular bodyweight. After graduating from college in 1968, Don entered his first powerlifting competition. By 1972, he had improved enough to place 3^rd in the World Championships, with a total of 2150 lb. He won that championship in 1973 and in the ensuing years added more world championship titles and many world records to his list of accomplishments. Later Don became one of the top performers in the World at the World’s Strongest Man competitions. But Don is perhaps best remembered for the incredible 2420 lb. total he amassed in 1975. It is a total that many believe has never been beaten with the same equipment and rules as the ones that prevailed in Don’s day.

 Terry Robinson - A recipient of the AOBS’s highest honor in 1993, former Mr. NY State and Mr. America contender Terry Robinson has earned the title “trainer to the stars” many times over. In addition to his long association with Mario Lanza, as Mario’s trainer and adviser (and the godfather who helped to raise Mario’s children when the star and his wife died within months of each other in their 30s), Terry has worked with the biggest stars in Hollywood for years, from Anthony Hopkins to John Ritter. A writer, artist and true renaissance man, and now more than 90 years of age, Terry is the trainer of the trainers and a manager with Sports Club LA – one of the largest and most prestigious health clubs in the US. Terry has said, “I look at the body as a miracle, and I take care of it by staying healthy and fit.” In the vast list of his accomplishments Terry is perhaps proudest of his work as a physical therapist, through which he has helped to make the disabled “able-disabled” and the handicapped “handicapable”.

 Bruno Sammartino – Bruno was the longest reigning champion in the history of the World Wide Wrestling Federation. He held the world heavyweight championship total during two separate reigns as champion (a total of 11 years). He appeared as a headliner in Madison Square Garden more than 200 times. Bruno received the AOBS’s highest honor in 2000, for his achievements in the wrestling and strength worlds. Besides being a professional wrestler, Bruno, was a strongman capable of world class feats. He has always attributed much of the success he achieved in his fabulous wrestling career to weight training and other forms of exercise. Sammartino grew up in post-WWII Italy, where food was scarce. When he came to the US, he was a sickly and undersized young man. Weight training and healthy living built him into the Hercules who dominated the professional wrestling world for so many years. He is another living example of the power of dedicated training to generate a Herculean transformation.

 Dick “Smitty” Smith - Smitty made his first trip to York PA in the late 1930s, to purchase a set of weights. It was a journey that was to change his life. During the ensuing years, he began to travel to York with ever greater frequency, eventually relocating there and becoming employed by the Your Barbell Co. An astute observer of the Iron Game, Smitty soon began to assist lifters like Bill March and Bob Bednarski in their training and competitions. He could be seen behind the scenes and in the background on the stage, in nearly any photo of York’s top lifters during the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. World Champion, Joe Dube, and Olympic silver medallist, Lee James, both give Smitty a great deal of the credit for their international successes. And there are countless others who will always thank Smitty for his coaching on and off the platform. He still trains many people today and conducts tours of the York Barbell Company’s Museum. The museum’s visitors couldn’t hope for a better guide.

 Frank Spellman – At the age of 85, Frank Spellman is the oldest living Olympic Weightlifting Champion in the USA. After becoming a successful weightlifter in the early 1940’s, Frank served for three years in the military in WWII. When he was discharged at the end of 1945, Frank moved to what was then Weightlifting Mecca of the US, York, PA. The following year he won his first National Championship and earned a bronze medal at the first postwar World Championship in Paris. He trained even harder the following year and was rewarded with the silver medal at the 1947 World Championships. He resolved to dedicate himself even further to improving his weightlifting performances and, in 1948, Frank’s persistence paid off. After winning the US National Championship, he won the coveted gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. He came back to win one more Nationals in 1961. Frank still trains today and is in terrific shape, a shining inspiration to the champions who have followed him.

Malcolm Whyatt – Malcolm Whyatt is known worldwide as a physical culture historian, researcher and writer. He was formerly the publisher of Health & Strength Magazine, the oldest continuously published Iron Game magazine in the world (founded in 1898). Malcolm has also been recognized as a historian for NABBA. Whyatte was an intimate friend of Oscar Heidenstam, Mr. Britain in 1938, Mr. Europe in 1939. Oscar served the NABBA in various posts, including secretary and president between 1956 and his death in 1991, so became one of the most revered administrators in the world. When Oscar died, Malcolm founded the Oscar Heidenstam Foundation in Heidenstam’s honor, with it’s associated Hall of Fame and annual awards dinner (a British counterpart to the AOBS reunion that attracted the greatest names of the Physical Culture worldwide to its grand evenings, the last of which will occur on March 15 of this year.

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that this is an amazing group of legends. To have them all together in one evening, along with others yet to confirm and still other greats who will attend to honor this group, will make this one incredible gathering!