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Dave Draper Gallery

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

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nautilus

March 28, 2023 Yegor Khzokhlachev Lee Haney 0

Transcript Casey Viator, Mike Mentzer, Ray Mentzer, and Boyer Coe are the bodybuilders most people associate with Arthur Jones and Nautilus but, in the early 1970s, Bodybuilders such as John Grimek, Milo Steinborn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, […]

Frank Zane 300 Pound Morph

March 19, 2023 Yegor Khzokhlachev Lee Haney 0

Transcript What would Frank Zane look like at if he were somehow able to weigh up to 300 pounds while still maintaining the aesthetics and proportions he was known for? Big Ramy’s contest weight has […]

Steve Reeves versus Dave Palumbo

March 13, 2023 Yegor Khzokhlachev Lee Haney 0

Transcript Before analyzing our animated morph between Steve Reeves and Dave Palumbo, we should mention that Palumbo’s feet and ankles were composited from another photo of Palumbo which was a different pose but included his […]

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.