In Remembrance: Reg Park

     Reg Park, the three-time Mr. Universe contest winner who starred in five Italian sword-and-sandal movies in the 1960s, has passed away on November 22, 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was 79.

     Born June 7, 1928 in Yorkshire, England, Park started bodybuilding in 1946 after a stint playing soccer for Leeds United. He won the Mr. Britain title in 1949 and finished second to American Steve Reeves for the 1950 Mr. Universe title. Park would go on to win the title in 1951, 1958 and 1965.

     Never setting out to be an actor, Park was operating a fitness club in Johannesburg when he was approached by producer Achille Piazzi to appear in his ongoing series of Hercules films. At first skeptical, Park eventually agreed and soon found himself in Italy film first Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961, aka Hercules And The Captive Women) and Hercules In The Haunted World (1962, Hercules In The Center Of The Earth). Both films are considered to be among the finest of the sword-and-sandals genre. He also starred in Samson In King Solomon’s Mines (1964), Hercules, Prisoner Of Evil (1964) and Hercules The Avenger (1965), which made liberal use of footage from Park’s first two Hercules films.

     In addition to his own career competing in bodybuilding contests and working as a personal fitness trainer, Park served as a mentor to a young Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fledgling bodybuilding career.