In 1997, one of the greatest American docu-dramas was released that spoke about the realities and burst the myths of the professional world of bodybuilding. It entirely focused on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and the 1975 Mr. Olympia competitions, taking the perspectives and the experiences of the most prevalent bodybuilders of those times.
Pumping Iron was a sheer face-off that featured the legendary bodybuilders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, in a no-hold-barred competition for the title of Mr. Olympia. In the 70s, Schwarzenegger and Ferrigno used to be great on-stage rivals. While the world might have seen them fight it out in the arena, the two had a lot in common. Lou Ferrigno recently shared one such bitter similarity between the two that involved their fathers.
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Lou Ferrigno had a love-hate relationship with his father
Lou Ferrigno was recently featured in The Weekly Show with David J. Maloney, where he unraveled the truths and lies that lay behind the shooting of Pumping Iron. As the video gradually proceeds, he is asked if he ever felt any similarity with any of his competitors. Mentioning Arnold Schwarzenegger, he goes about telling his story.
Ferrigno’s father was a police lieutenant, and he had to become a sheriff to follow in his footsteps. Just like Arnold Schwarzenegger and his father, Ferrigno too shared a love-hate relationship with his father. He said, “Meaning that for example when I was young, I didn’t have perfect hearing, so I had to carry my father’s pain, I wasn’t good enough. I was not the perfect son.”
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Reiterating Arnie’s story, he says that Schwarzenegger’s father too was not much of a support in his career, as he wanted him to do something that was more inclined towards education. He added, “So, we have a lot of similarities.” Despite the similar struggle between the two, they were deep into the waters of competing, and Pumping Iron projected the entire rivalry.
The rivalry between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno
The blockbuster American docudrama Pumping Iron was primarily responsible for depicting the true essence of the stark rivalry shared between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno. It was not just limited to the physical aspects of it, but psychological as well. The film even showed the very different prep styles that the two legends followed.
The maker of it, George Butler said, “Arnold worked out on the beach, outdoors in sunshine, Louie in the gym, in the shadows—which is in the film, it was so perfect—Louie was bigger, darker, he was everything opposite of Arnold.” Have you watched Pumping Iron? What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments section below!
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Abhishek Manikandan