“They call him the Freckled Heckler, a misnomer for one of the friendliest guys in bodybuilding” stated Rick Wayne in his classic, out of print, and highly sought after book “The Bodymen”. A book that incidentally resides in Ken Waller’s kitchen cabinet, a handy reference for a quick trip down memory lane!
Bill Grant echoed Rick’s sentiments in the live chat we had with him here on Ironage in April of this year, “I remember when I first walked in the doors in 1972. I was immediately met by Ken Waller. We shook hands and Waller proceeded to welcome me. Waller is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He told me not to worry about anything. He would help me out and tell me where to go and get all the things that I needed such as getting my car fixed, where to eat, where to look for an apartment. He was very helpful so whatever you saw of him in Pumping Iron it was only an act that was setup for the movie. At that time I knew I had arrived at Gold’s Gym and Waller made me feel like I was one of the gang.” Waller did that for everybody.
The Holy Grail of bodybuilding movies “Pumping Iron” portrayed Ken Waller as “The Villian”, an evil prankster who stole loveable Mike Katz’s t-shirt at the 1975 Mr. Universe competition. Weider’s Muscle Builder capitalized on that persona and featured Waller as a sunglass clad “Mr. Billy Badass” on an ongoing basis. That only served as fuel on an already burning fire of discontent among the impressionable fans of bodybuilding. With the release of the 25th Anniversary edition of Pumping Iron, a whole new generation might believe that skewed impression of Ken Waller. Let’s set the record straight once and for all and carve it in stone, Ken Waller is one of the good guys!
Yet at the 1977 Mr Olympia he was booed! Colorful metaphors spewed forth in an anger filled wave that flooded the stage. When the news hit that Waller had been recieved this way I was furious! In August of 1977 I made that fabled trek to California for the sole purpose of training at Gold’s Gym for two weeks. Ken Waller greeted this wide-eyed, slack jawed, awe struck hillbilly with a smile and a warm greeting. Of all the paper hero’s, Waller was the one I identified with the most, same strengths and weaknesses and we both spoke the southern tongue. How dare these knuckle dragging, torch-bearing villagers treat Ken Waller that way! The same man that only a few months before had welcomed me with such warmth…I was ready to hunt them down one by one with the fury of a starved Tennessee bloodhound! As I regained my composure Muscle Builder went about the task of damage control and reinventing the Waller image. Stories of Ken taking newly arrived Danny Padilla under his wing, showing him the ropes..and all the pie houses… turned the tide of discontent.
All was well once again.
Did anyone take a young Ken Waller under their wing in the formitive years of his climb to the top? Ironically another sunglass clad bodybuilder did, Zabo Koszewski!
“The first time I saw Gold’s gym I had driven out in 66. I wasn’t really into
bodybuilding yet, We just drove out to California. The guy I was with wanted to
see Gold’s Gym. At the time I was really strong and I was picking up 275 pounds and doing presses with it. Zabo Kowsewski looks at me and asks “Do you ever bodybuild?”
Back in Kentucky at that time nobody knew anything about bodybuilding. I gave Zabo my address and he sent me a program back. I followed that and it was the very first bodybuilding program I ever had. And I tell you one thing…he had me on that damned Roman chair…45 Minutes of Roman Chair stuff a day! I did that exercise, because I like to eat so much, for about 6 or 7 years until I realized I could do about 5 minutes of stomach work, diet and get the same results! Zabo was always doing doing those things and when I moved out to California to manage Gold’s for Ken Sprague there he was still doing em’!”
Probably still on the same set!
Managing Gold’s Gym… so that’s what brought Waller out to the west coast!
“When I purchased Gold’s in the early 70’s, I would not have done so unless Ken agreed to manage the facility. [Remember that I wasn’t looking for $ out of the gym.] Had Gold’s closed, I’m sure the guys (Arnold, Ken, Franco, Zane, etc) would have gravitated to other gyms such as Vince’s, Pearl’s, or the Muscle Beach Club—all of which had an equivalent or greater public reputation than Gold’s at that time. Gold’s would have closed, become a real property asset, and never have been heard of again. Ken Waller is responsible that Gold’s Gym became a household word!”- Ken Sprague.
“I met Ken Sprague on a trip up to Cincinnati for the Mr. Ohio Valley contest and went in a YMCA up there and saw this guy working out and we got to talking, we were the only two in the weight room”, recalled Waller.
Thus began a friendship and shortly after a new life in California.
“You know when I got out there we didn’t even have a t-shirt. I went up to the bay area, watched a band one night and there was this bald headed guy that looked like Mr. Clean. I had a friend (Ric Drasin,) and told him what I wanted. We bought a bottle of Mr. Clean I told Ric make him look like that and we’ll make a t-shirt out of it. That’s how the first little Gold’s Gym man got started.”
Back to reminisces with Ken Sprague and the 1977 AAU Mr. America parade…
“We had a big parade one year and that fool had me ridin’ an elephant! I burnt the shit out of my legs on that elephant! That skin is like a porcupine. I used a ladder to get up there which was fine but then I decided to just jump off the side and it was like sliding down on a piece of sandpaper.”
Tales of Waller’s eating habits have become part of bodybuilding lore. Bill Grant spoke of the time after a contest in New York they all went out to eat. The restaurant had two floors and the “gang” took up both. The guys on the second floor were growing anxious and angry that their meal was taking so long to arrive. Post contest bodybuilders want food.. NOW! It turned out when the plate full of steaks would come by Ken was grabbing them.
Was he always this way or did he have a mentor? In the 60’s Ken competed in a YMCA Mr. America contest of sorts put on by Bob Gajda in Chicago. Sergio Oliva was the guest poser. Bodybuilding was an isolated activity back in Kentucky and world class “Myths” were almost make believe. So Ken had never seen anybody like Sergio before… “freaked me out!” “He actually took me under his wing and we went to a McDonald’s or a Burger King or something. The guy ate I don’t know how many hamburgers and had a whole thing full of coke-colas! He kept drinking these coke-cola’s…
He said I have to have the energy to pose!”
Recalling that golden moment in the Ironage Ken continued, “At that time I didn’t know a lot about bodybuilding. Bob Gajda, who was the head judge and putting the show on, asked if I had my posing routine set up. I say yep, I have my 4 poses. I’ve got my front… my side… my back… and my optional. He started laughing, “is that your routine?”
I said, “Yeah”
“I think we ‘d better work on it a little bit.” To make a long story short I won the contest and all the best body parts. except best poser.”
Most already know, some may not, that Ken Waller was a star football player in college, having played for the Western Kentucky University Hill toppers from 1962-65 which included the undefeated 1963 Tangerine Bowl team where Ken was the smallest on the line… Ken Waller small? At 215 Ken’s fellow linemen were hitting the scales at 275 plus! “WKU benefited from a mass exodus of SEC players that year so they got players from Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, we got all these transfers in.” Ken played both ways, a receiver in the position of tight end for the offense and defensive end on the defense. It was during those years that Ken started lifting. Back then weight training was yet the staple that it is now for sports so if you did train you were pretty much on your own. But Ken did have a training partner in his line coach Joe Bugel, who went on to a long distinguished career coaching in the NFL and is now the assistant head coach for the Washington Redskins. As a side note Coach Bugel nicknamed that 1963 offensive line at WKU “The Hogs” because they were so big. A name he also later applied to the O line during his first tenure at Washington… a little football trivia to astound your friends with!
I remember an old Dick Tyler article in Muscle Builder entitled “You Could Get Thirsty Walking Around Ken Waller’s Enormous Chest” where Doc Tyler prefaced the article with Ken in marine boot camp. Dick was such a tease, I wanted more information! Through the college’s marine ROTC camp Ken went to Quanico during his sophomore year , stayed down there , really liked it , came back and the ROTC officer said he would have to do another camp. “If I didn’t go to the camp I would be honorably dismissed, but with football coming up wouldn’t be able to. When I went to boot camp I couldn’t do a chin up. Anything they had, obstacle course, rope climbing, name it, I won. But as far as a straight pull up I couldn’t do it! But when I left in 6 weeks I could do 50 of em’.”
One thing that I have always wondered about was what happened to the footage that Ken took during the 1975 IFBB Universe/Olympia in Pretoria, South Africa? After all in the magazine coverage and in Pumping Iron we always saw that camera in Ken’s hand. “About three years ago, something was going on with Arnold, and a friend had mentioned that it would be worth some money if it was any good. And somebody did call me up and offered a bunch of money. So I sent it off and it took about 6 months to get back. It was that old 8mm and you can’t even get that film anymore. I ended up sending it to a lab in Colorado. the whole thing was spoiled. I had just had it setting in the camera for 26 years, plus I had it out in the garage to start with. I had all kind of footage from backstage, the Kruger National Park with Louie and Danny Padilla and all these guys, and all kinds of stuff. You see I had went to South Africa a week early and they had got mad about that.”
What?
“Well… here’s the story” exclaimed Ken. I could almost see a mischievous glint in his eye over the phone! “In 75 Serge Nubret had something to do with putting on the contest. To help pay expenses Joe Weider, he was always into something, had us flying to France to give an exhibition then over to someplace else for another exhibition then to Africa. I got my ticket and had it changed. Danny and I went down a week early and stayed with Reg Park. We were already in South Africa laying out, resting and having fun and all the rest of the guys were flying all over doing exhibitions. When they got there they were really mad at us. Serge tried to get me kicked out of the show for that but we ended up being good friends.”
Reliving the old days it is a given that the subject of Arnold will come up. After all he was the King of the era, plus he was Waller’s friend.
“From the first time I met Arnold, and I met him my first day out to California we went out to dinner, in fact the girl I married Arnold was with me when I met her. She was a waitress… marriage lasted about two years. I knew he would have a lot of property and I knew he would have a lot of money. Everything Arnold did was geared towards success, he had a plan, he had his life planned out 10 years in advance. He was always about investing and making money, he was a very smart businessman regardless of what anybody says. He always had this goal to get ahead. People like myself I’m just happy and content working hard and making a living rather than trying to be the boss and having all the praise. I don’t mind just being down here and enjoying myself.”
“When he started campaigning for Bush Sr. he really wasn’t promoting Bush as much as he was getting himself out there. Even after that little bit of campaigning he went off and did some things on his own. This was all about people seeing him. The problem though with him going through a long campaign like everybody else is I can just imagine the smear stuff that would come out. The California race was short. But you know there’s only a small amount of the public that knows what bodybuilding is and could even care about it. If you’re involved in bodybuilding you think everybody in the world knows about it. There’s only a small percentage that cares one way or another.
Every time something comes up with Arnold I get calls all over the place. I had a writer call me up and I told him I have positive things to say but if you’re looking for negative things you’re asking the wrong person. I had this one guy that came down was going to send a limo and take me out to eat at this restaurant. I said I’ll meet you at the restaurant but I’ll drive my own car. Anything I’ve ever been involved in with Arnold has never hurt me in fact it’s helped me. Maybe not made me a lot of money but that’s up to me to do whatever I can do with it.”
Needless to say Ken Waller is his own man. Even though he truly is one of the friendliest guys around and would do anything for you you don’t want to cross him. Dan Lurie found that out!
Another Bill Grant recollection, “I forgot one more story that I think everyone will love. I remember when Ken Waller grabbed Dan Lurie by the throat because Dan did not pay him the money he was supposed to get. Waller took the money out of his hand, counted what he was owed and gave Dan Lurie the change. Guys you just had to see it to believe it. Waller just took no crap from anybody.”
Mentioning Bill’s story brought a hearty laugh out of Ken and he added, “You know what he did, he had invited me and Boyer Coe out for a contest. Boyer was going to enter his Mr. World and I was going to enter his Mr. America. I had just won Weider’s Mr. America so they said I needed to enter the Mr. World. I said Boyer’s here to win one I’m here to win the other. We got in an argument and I said it’s not big deal to me, fine I’ll go enter it. Lurie got mad at me because I wouldn’t go take some pictures. I’ll do the contest but I’m not going to take pictures with those little crushers and springs he was always advertising. So Boyer went and took all the pictures and made him happy. When the show came up and they started to announce the winners they had Boyer in second and me in first. Lurie came running up and said, NO Boyer’s first and Ken’s second. And that pissed me off. Then he said he’s not going to give me my money, he owed me money for return travel. He stood there and I grabbed him and took the money out of his hand. Sergio was going Ken, Ken you can’t do that! I just said…. get away! I counted out what he owed me and gave him the change back.
“You’ll hear from me you can’t do this!” screamed Lurie! I said…. “I just did it!”
So the big question, is Ken Waller still training? In reality he hasn’t trained in the past 10 years. Burnout, turning his back on the sport, or perhaps just grew weary of it? No there is another reason, one of nobility and honor. Ken has sole custody of his now 14 years old son. Since Ron Waller was 4 1/2 it’s been just him and his Dad. Every spare minute Ken has had has been devoted to his son, sacrificing his own interests so as to make a better life for him. He sold a small gym he owned and went to work for Xtreme Activewear in 1996 where the boss arranged a schedule that Ken could take Ron to school, then go to work and pick his son back up in the afternoon. “There’s so many kids out there that don’t get the opportunity to go to the park everyday like they want to, their parents don’t have the time or just not able to take them.” said this proud father. Has this undying dedication paid off? Ron Waller is a nationally recognized athlete! CaliforniaPreps.com has compared him to the Chicago Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich who was drafted 6th last year in the NBA. Ron is still a freshman. Did Ken’s genetics get passed on to his son? Not really, at 14 Ken was 120 pounds at about 5’6″. Ron Waller at 14 is a little over 6’1″ 190 pounds “no fat” with a size 15 shoe! The kid is still growing! Only in the past three months has he lifted any weights, only through school and what little Ken has shown him in the garage. Talk about genetic potential! Mr. Universe, Mr. World, Mr. America… all great titles to have but pale in comparison to the title of “Dad” that Ken Waller wears so proudly and deservedly so. We should all take a lesson by his example. In the pages of bodybuilding magazines he showed us how to train, in real life he has showed us how to be a father.
Lou Ferrigno said, “Kenny was a fun guy to be around… he made the gym fun and he still has that energy.”
Even over the phone, that much is still evident!
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