Bernarr Macfadden
Bernarr Macfadden was an influential exponent of physical culture, a combination of
bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded Physical Culture magazine in 1899, and later parlayed it into a publishing empire, including
True Story,
True Romances, the once-familiar movie magazine
Photoplay, and a trashy tabloid newspaper,
The New York Evening Graphic. He was a celebrity who was an acquaintance of
Shirley Temple,
Clark Gable,
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Will Rogers, and
Rudolph Valentino. At the peak of his career he owned several hotels and a major building in New York.
Encyclopedia
Bernarr Macfadden was an influential exponent of physical culture, a combination of
bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded
Physical Culture magazine in 1899, and later parlayed it into a publishing empire, including
True Story,
True Romances, the once-familiar movie magazine
Photoplay, and a trashy tabloid newspaper,
The New York Evening Graphic. He was a celebrity who was an acquaintance of
Shirley Temple,
Clark Gable,
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Will Rogers, and
Rudolph Valentino. At the peak of his career he owned several hotels and a major building in New York. He made an unsuccessful attempt to found a religion, "cosmotarianism," based on physical culture.
He claimed that his regimen would enable him to reach the age of 150.
Nicknamed "Body Love" Macfadden by
Time is a weekly American [i] newsmagazine [i], similar to
Newsweek [i] and U.S. News & World Report [i] ...
, he was a flamboyant personality who inspired millions of people around the world to live healthful and vigorous lives. He was branded a "kook" and a charlatan by many, was arrested on obscenity charges, denounced by the medical establishment, and campaigned tirelessly against "pill-pushers," processed foods, and prudery.
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