Steve Reeves 1954 Mr. Universe... filmed in the movie Athena... the GOAT of his time?

[Nyoco]

Not buying the 29 inch thighs. Everything else, fine. Arnold was slightly taller than Steve and had bigger quads the him, yet even Arnold said his quads were 28.5 at their biggest. I've seen plenty of 6'1 tall guys with 29-30 inch legs...and this is not it.

Regarding the measurements, maybe the picture is just there to accompany the stats and those numbers were at his best, but indeed looking around the net, his legs don´t seem to be that big. We have to think Reeves was most likely taking only test prop if anything at all (Dianabol started selling in the US around 1958) and only competed for four years, retiring in 1950.

I have a profound admiration for the man´s physique, especially as shown in the iconic Tony Lanza photographs, but I will let others illustrate it for me:

https://starkcenter.org/igh/igh-v6/igh-v6-n4/igh0604n.pdf

The greatest compliment I could ever pay any man is the way Steve made me feel the first time I ever met him; I could not stand being in the same room with him! He made me feel totally inadequate as a bodybuilder . . . Steve was Michelangelo’s concept of the perfectly formed man! —Vince Gironda

We used to wonder what it would be like to be like Reeves— the best looking, best built man God has ever created. —Larry Scott

I can remember the first time I saw Steve. It was 1952 at Leo Stern’s Gym. I was never so impressed with a male in my life. —Bill Pearl

It was the Reeves movies more than anything else that inspired my training in the late 50s and early 60s. His films also marked the beginning of the public accepetance of bodybuilding —Frank Zane

Steve Reeves was the first man that was responsible for getting bodybuilding to the general public through his films. He did a hell of a job with it and was a good actor and should get a lot of credit for putting bodybuilding where it is today. —Arnold Schwarzenegger

A bit of history and an entertaining read:

1996 | mysite-1

www.stevereeves.com

 

[alfresco]

I just like Clancy's physique more. Personal opinion.
I met Clancy in the 80's when he worked at Joe Corsi's store. I just remember that chest and rib cage sticking out a mile!

Do know if Clancy had a gym in Oakland? I’m thinging he might have, hence the Reeves connection.

I remember seeing a foto of Steve doing pushdowns on a wide triangular bar which is very stable and effective if of you think about it. Never saw one before.

 

[Bio]

Do know if Clancy had a gym in Oakland? I’m thinging he might have, hence the Reeves connection.

I remember seeing a foto of Steve doing pushdowns on a wide triangular bar which is very stable and effective if of you think about it. Never saw one before.

I don't know. When I met him it was roughly 1985. His hip was pretty bad at that point. I ran an errand at the grocery store for him. He showed me a personal letter from Arnold and asked me if I wanted to meet him? Of course I said yes! He said the next time Arnold was in town he would let me know. I was 16 at that time and couldn't have been more excited!! Sadly the meeting never happened.

That's a great picture of Reeves! That bar is homemade all the way with galvanized 1/2" pipe...that's great!!

 

[buck]

Not buying the 29 inch thighs. Everything else, fine. Arnold was slightly taller than Steve and had bigger quads the him, yet even Arnold said his quads were 28.5 at their biggest. I've seen plenty of 6'1 tall guys with 29-30 inch legs...and this is not it.

When i view his pics from the side or rear. He had hardly any hamstrings or glutes. No disrespect to Reeves but his physique looks more athletic then like a bodybuilder to me. I like the strong powerful look. And that just is not him. Opinions differ on what is the best look.

 

[alfresco]

Ron did you know Clancy or ever take photos of him?

Sadly no, I never met him. I knew he was in the East Bay somewhere at a rest home from the interview but he passed before I got around to hunting him down.

I think he was pretty bitter at the end from what I remember, thinking he never garnered the respect he deserved and for not having parlayed his muscles into millions $$.

Very cool you got to meet him. I am envious. These guys from that era were a different breed of cat. There was no room for doubt or wonder how they built there physique when compared to todays physiques with the endless speculation and scrutiny of each and every variable that contributed to their success.

The ‘oldest’ person off the top of my head that even came close to that era was probably Vince Gironda. Another one of the million regrets I have in life is having met Vince too late in his life (and mine) and missing out on meeting Larry Scott, Don Howarth, etc.

Bill Pearl I met at his gym in Pasadena and who I ran into a few times at a few shows in LA. Interesting fact about Bill. He had a brother who made Bill look small. Sergio
too had a brother who bigger than him. Funny how so many guys or should I say so few guys with tremendous potential show zero interest in bodybuilding. I can only speculate on what they thought . . . probably that the juice was not worth squeeze.

It takes a certain type of person to pursue bodybuilding nowadays. About month ago at my gym I met a young who without a doubt had the greatest untapped bodybuilding potential of any living human being I have ever seen or met. Won’t go into greater detail because it is so off topic and deserving of a separate thread. Suffice to say, he must be seen to to believed, perfect in every way, head to toe.

Let’s get back to Steve. I have veered way to far off topic, too many times. Apologies.

 

[alfresco]

Regarding the measurements, maybe the picture is just there to accompany the stats and those numbers were at his best, but indeed looking around the net, his legs don´t seem to be that big. We have to think Reeves was most likely taking only test prop if anything at all (Dianabol started selling in the US around 1958) and only competed for four years, retiring in 1950.

I have a profound admiration for the man´s physique, especially as shown in the iconic Tony Lanza photographs, but I will let others illustrate it for me:

https://starkcenter.org/igh/igh-v6/igh-v6-n4/igh0604n.pdf

The greatest compliment I could ever pay any man is the way Steve made me feel the first time I ever met him; I could not stand being in the same room with him! He made me feel totally inadequate as a bodybuilder . . . Steve was Michelangelo’s concept of the perfectly formed man! —Vince Gironda

We used to wonder what it would be like to be like Reeves— the best looking, best built man God has ever created. —Larry Scott

I can remember the first time I saw Steve. It was 1952 at Leo Stern’s Gym. I was never so impressed with a male in my life. —Bill Pearl

It was the Reeves movies more than anything else that inspired my training in the late 50s and early 60s. His films also marked the beginning of the public accepetance of bodybuilding —Frank Zane

Steve Reeves was the first man that was responsible for getting bodybuilding to the general public through his films. He did a hell of a job with it and was a good actor and should get a lot of credit for putting bodybuilding where it is today. —Arnold Schwarzenegger

A bit of history and an entertaining read:

1996 | mysite-1

www.stevereeves.com

Great post!

 

[Wonton]

When i view his pics from the side or rear. He had hardly any hamstrings or glutes. No disrespect to Reeves but his physique looks more athletic then like a bodybuilder to me. I like the strong powerful look. And that just is not him. Opinions differ on what is the best look.

Im with you - I think his name is bigger then he was - but back then - Maybe he was the cats meow as they use to say

 

[NeveReveN]

Wow, dude had a crazy perfect physique.
does everyone agree he was nattie?
the weight lifting part pretty cheesy, but his posing was spot on!

Steve Reeves was definitely NOT natural. I think it was Rick Wayne who pointed out how Reeves would travel to Europe and spend 3 months there and come back 25 pounds heavier and even leaner than when he left the US. If you search pictures of him you can see that great, classic physique he had for years and then, bam, he’s Hercules.

My guess is he took small doses of basic stuff for the first several years but later on he upped the dosages and added in some of the new products.

 

[Hammer4]

99.9% of men's dream physique and pretty impressive considering they didn't really know shit about shit back in the 40s.
I think he obviously he had a lil help in the later days. I'd imagine 200-300 test would be considered a hefty dose back then but just a wild ass guess. I'm ignorant.

 

[pickapeck]

Steve Reeves was definitely NOT natural. I think it was Rick Wayne who pointed out how Reeves would travel to Europe and spend 3 months there and come back 25 pounds heavier and even leaner than when he left the US. If you search pictures of him you can see that great, classic physique he had for years and then, bam, he’s Hercules.

My guess is he took small doses of basic stuff for the first several years but later on he upped the dosages and added in some of the new products.

Back then all there was is testosterone. His physique peaked around 1950 when he won the Mr. Universe. Rick Wayne was 12 years old when Reeves won the Universe. His record

• 1946: Mr. Pacific Coast
• 1947: Mr. Pacific Coast
• 1947: Mr. America
• 1948: Mr. USA (2nd place)
• 1948: Mr. World
• 1948: Mr. Universe (2nd place)
• 1949: Mr. USA (3rd place)
• 1950: Mr. Universe

 

[totalrecomp]

Thank god we discovered steroids.

One of the funniest posts I have EVER read on here. Thank you good Sir!

 

[alfresco]

Steve Reeves was definitely NOT natural. I think it was Rick Wayne who pointed out how Reeves would travel to Europe and spend 3 months there and come back 25 pounds heavier and even leaner than when he left the US. If you search pictures of him you can see that great, classic physique he had for years and then, bam, he’s Hercules.

My guess is he took small doses of basic stuff for the first several years but later on he upped the dosages and added in some of the new products.

You could pay me enough to believe anything Rick Wayne ever wrote.

 

[silversurfer1962]

Wow, dude had a crazy perfect physique.
does everyone agree he was nattie?
the weight lifting part pretty cheesy, but his posing was spot on!

Nobody will ever know the actual facts, the history in his pictures tell a story of someone who had superior genetics and looks for his time, I don't think anyone could argue that. Certainly inspired me when I first saw him in the movies during the 60's, to think I wanted to aspire to have a similar physique. If you look at the comments from his peers, that tells the true story of the impact he had during those times, IMO.

As far as intelligence or anything else, again, I can only go by what his peers said, and what motivations they may have had in saying them. I have my own idols from the era, as Bio said, Clancy Ross, certainly would never disclude Reg Park, Leroy Colbert, Marvin Elder, Vince Gironda, John Grimek, etc. (My memory is failing me, forgive me if I'm forgetting someone)

I literally grew up on and lifted through my teens on Reg Parks 5 x 5, in my families barn, with weights put together from farm equipment, lol.

 

[pickapeck]

Weird times we live in. I grew up in the 60s and 70s. There were always boys and men that were superior in muscle and physique. Steroids were not pervasive at all other than west coast and spotty on the East coast. Yet, there were muscular kids dominating in sports at every school around. Today everyone has access to AAS and it's hard to nail down who might possibly be natural. The facts remain that some men have superior genetics for gaining muscle mass and having that aesthetic structure in the absence of PEDs. That's just nature and how it works. The creation made a great diversity in us and every species such that we can survive as a species under most any condition put before us. That includes every possible talent you can imagine regardless of AAS or PEDs existence. If anything these drugs enhance some of those traits and can bring them out somewhat in otherwise the less superior and magnify it in those that are superior like putting a magnifier glass so it becomes massive. Was Reeves natural? Well, testosterone esters were in existence so there is a remote possibility. Did he use it? Not really that likely that he built that physique using testosterone in 1945-1947 to win the Mr. America contest having grown up in Glasgow, Montana, U.S.

 

[Drax]

He was magnificent! Unparalleled for that time period. And still excellent as an everyday walking around physique even by today's standards. Always been a fan of Steve Reeves \m/

 

[alfresco]

Weird times we live in. I grew up in the 60s and 70s. There were always boys and men that were superior in muscle and physique. Steroids were not pervasive at all other than west coast and spotty on the East coast. Yet, there were muscular kids dominating in sports at every school around. Today everyone has access to AAS and it's hard to nail down who might possibly be natural. The facts remain that some men have superior genetics for gaining muscle mass and having that aesthetic structure in the absence of PEDs. That's just nature and how it works. The creation made a great diversity in us and every species such that we can survive as a species under most any condition put before us. That includes every possible talent you can imagine regardless of AAS or PEDs existence. If anything these drugs enhance some of those traits and can bring them out somewhat in otherwise the less superior and magnify it in those that are superior like putting a magnifier glass so it becomes massive. Was Reeves natural? Well, testosterone esters were in existence so there is a remote possibility. Did he use it? Not really that likely that he built that physique using testosterone in 1945-1947 to win the Mr. America contest having grown up in Glasgow, Montana, U.S.

Agree with all

Nobody will ever know what Steve was ‘on’ (my opinion FWIW, nada). Many who care about this (why?) will say yes he was (the availability of such I have no idea) and to what others may say I can only respond to this by saying is are you sure? Are you ABSOLUTELY sure? To that I would say no.

And to be transparent for a second time I am not implying that anybody here is absolutely sure.