Dave
Draper's love of exercise and quest for a superior physique
began when he was only 7! He saw a rugged he-man with
muscles on a pamphlet for a Hercules hand gripper and the
journey began. By the time he was 10 he had graduated
to the three-spring chest expander, the five-spring super
expander and a wall-mounted bungee-pulley on the kitchen
wall. At age 12 he purchased a set of barbells and
dumbbells. Eventually, Dave joined the Elizabeth, NJ,
YMCA and therefore the community of iron-pumpers around the
country attempting to build their physiques in these
dungeons of exercise.
Dave
entered and won his first contest, the 1962 Mr. New Jersey
at 21. Soon he got a job with Joe Weider's fledgling
company and acquired the moniker the "Blond
Bomber" from Joe. A month later he was on the
cover of Mr. America magazine. When Weider
expanded his company to California, Dave went west too and
found a family of fellow iron-pumpers with whom to thrive
and grow.
The
Blond Bomber became the focus of the Weider publicity
campaign to draw the youth of North America to become
purchasers of Weider equipment and protein powders.
Dave was the center figure in the dream of a California
lifestyle of sunshine and voluptuous bikini-clad women. a
lifestyle that you too could enjoy by building a Weider body
the way Dave had. It worked! Weider became
exceedingly rich as young men sought to fulfill their
adolescent dreams of being surrounded by beaches, sunshine
and sexy beach bunnies. They could actually visualize
themselves replacing Dave in these pictures.
Dave
went on to win the Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe
titles and appeared in a number of TV shows and movies,
including Don't
Make Waves in which he co-starred with Tony Curtis,
Sharon Tate, and Claudia Cardinale.
Richard
met and interviewed Dave for Florida Bodybuilding Newsletter
(which Richard edited and published) in the 1970s on one of
Dave's visits with his brother in Tallahassee. As
usual, Dave was friendly and cooperative, couldn't have been
nicer. Diane was able to catch up with Dave on a
promotional tour for Dave's latest book (see picture
below). Keep tuned for more on Draper who has promised
us an exclusive interview.
In the meantime, check out Dave's great Web site by
clicking here.
