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Dave Draper Gallery

January 23, 2016 Yegor Khzokhlachev Articles, Dave Draper, Galleries 0

Rare Arnold Schwarzenegger Photos Part 2

September 20, 2023 Yegor Khzokhlachev Lee Haney 0

Chet Yorton on Arnold: I beat this young kid in the NABBA Mr. Universe contest in ‘66. He was very subdued. He needed an interpreter because he spoke very little English. He followed me around […]

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Jack Neary on Gunnar Rosbo, from Muscle and Fitness The party had been under way only an hour or so and already chatter was circulating that the guest of honor bore a striking resemblance to […]

Rare Arnold Schwarzenegger Photos Part 1

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Rick Drasin on Arnold: A lot of bodybuilders are short. Arnold was like 6’2”. He had amazing shoulders and arms that were big and very much defined tapering down to a 32-inch waist, which was […]

Built Report Dave Draper — Bodybuilder Dave Draper with his arms around Joe Weider's wife, Betty Weider.

Jurassic Gorilla https://jurassicgorilla.com

In researching Dave Draper’s contest record I realized that he made a big impact from only competing in seven bodybuilding contests. Albert Beckles competed in over 100 bodybuilding competitions and is probably less known to the general public. The Blond Bomber, as Draper was called, was on 26 Weider magazine covers compared to Albert Beckles with two Flex magazine covers. Draper also acted in movies and was featured in some hit television shows. In the 1960s there were three or four television channels. You had your NBC, your CBS, and your ABC. Sometimes there was a UHF(ultra high frequency) channel in your area as well. The “alphabet” channels were VHF(very high frequency). Televisions were more expensive back then and many times there was just one television set in the home and that was in the living room. So, if someone was watching television during the time slot that Dave Draper was a guest star on, say, Gilligan’s Island, there was at least a one in four chance they would catch Draper’s performance. That is very unlike today when there are over one hundred cable channels, Netflix, video games, etc… Not only that, but with a limited amount of syndicated shows in the 1960s and 70s, you’d be able to catch Draper on TV shows like Gilligan’s Island and The Monkees over and over again for years.

Dave the Gladiator — Dave Draper as Dave The Gladiator

Draper’s image was that of a Californian but he was actually born in Secaucus, New Jersey and moved to Santa Monica, California at age 21. He supported himself working for Joe Weider and appearing in movies and television. One of his TV gigs was Dave the Gladiator, a local television show on Los Angeles Channel 9 KHJ, where he hosted “sword and sandal” movies made in the late 1950s and early 1960s such as Italian Hercules films. The show aired from 8-10 on Saturday nights. If you see photos of Dave Draper dressed in gladiator garb, their origin is likely publicity stills from that very show.

Dave Draper’s contest history is here and his filmography is here.