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Bill Pearl, a 5-time Mr. Universe, will become Mr. Yakima nextDate: 13.05.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
It is unquestionably noble to be considered the best at something in one's hometown.
The best baseball player, perhaps, or the best doctor or the best auto mechanic.
To be the best at something -- anything -- in one's state is even more admirable, and being best at something in an entire nation dignifies the stature that much further.
Consider, then, what Bill Pearl has done.
The 1950 Yakima High School graduate has been the best at what he's done -- which is to build his body through weightlifting -- in the whole wide world.
Hence his status as a five-time Mr. Universe.
"I remember my first Mr. Universe title, which I won in 1953 in London," Pearl said in a telephone interview last week. "I remember standing with a group of people from several different countries, and I was holding an American flag. It was very inspiring because I was, obviously, very proud of my country."
He still is, obviously, and is similarly pleased to have grown up in Yakima. Though born in Prineville, Ore., Pearl considers Yakima his hometown.
Accordingly, he will serve as honorary chairman for the Parker Youth & Sports Foundation's High Hopes activities scheduled to run Wednesday through Saturday.
Pearl was 23 when he first became Mr. Universe, defeating among others a young Scottish milkman named Tom Connery. Tom Connery would become Sean Connery, who would of course become James Bond among a long list of major movie personalities.
"He was delivering (milk) door to door then," Pearl said. "We've kept in touch over the years and have had some laughs."
Pearl's triumph, however, was not a humorous matter. It was a substantial accomplishment, especially for a young man who had sought to overcome youthful insecurities.
As Shaquille O'Neal's mother once said of the NBA behemoth, "Even when he was little he was big." And so it was with Pearl, who weighed 123/4 pounds at birth.
By age 10, Pearl had disproportionately large feet and hands. His head was oversized, too, and the combination prompted some back then to make unflattering comments within Pearl's earshot.
Plus, according to Pearl's comments in the book "Beyond the Universe, the Bill Pearl Story," it inspired him to build a body that would match his head.
He did that, and then some.
Said to be the best known vegetarian bodybuilder, Pearl claimed his most recent Mr. Universe title in 1971 when, at age 41, he stood 5-foot-10, weighed 242 pounds and sported arms that measured 21 inches. In addition, he has reportedly coached more major contest winners than anyone.
Over the years, however, Pearl also developed a brain to go with his brawn.
He has written more than 27 books on body building and fitness, has owned and operated numerous gyms and body building facilities and presently, at age 76, operates Bill Pearl Enterprises with his wife, Judy, in the small Oregon community of Talent, a few miles south of Medford.
"We live in a ranch-style home with five acres," Pearl said, "and we're involved in real estate. I work only because I want to. I'm financially stable, but if I retired completely and didn't do anything, I'd be an unbearable person to live around."
There seems plenty, however, to keep Pearl occupied.
He typically begins his day at 3 a.m., getting up to train on state-of-the-art equipment in his barn. In addition to his business there is a collection of 32 antique cars, including the 1929 Model A pickup he drove as a Yakima High student.
"I have a lot of pre-1910 cars and it goes up the line from there," he said. "They're just a hobby. I don't take them to shows or drive them much."
Pearl has driven himself plenty, though, and makes clear that nothing in the bodybuilding realm substitutes for hard work -- especially steroids.
"I've seen people who have actually died from using them," he said. "I've seen people in rages as the result of anabolic steroids and growth hormones.
"It bothers me when some young kid wants to play football in high school and his dad calls me and asks what type of steroid or growth hormone he should use. Why doesn't he just advocate using cocaine? Some parents want to live their lives through their children, and are willing to tolerate or even advocate some very destructive things in the process."
There were no such shortcuts available to Pearl back in the day, when he excelled on the Yakima High football and wrestling squads and was a regular visitor to the YMCA.
There were people who helped his development along the way, however, and Pearl remains grateful.
"Pete Rademacher and I used to spar at the Y, and I admired him for his tenacity," he said. "My high school wrestling coach, a guy named Norm Burke, was an inspiration to me.
"And the people at the Yakima YMCA were very good to me. My family didn't have much money, but the people there understood that and always let me in. If I had no place else to go, I could always go to the Y."
And Pearl can still come back to Yakima. He has a sister and brother-in-law -- Fontelle and Phil Salzman -- in Union Gap, for example, and he has many memories of the community and people.
Another celebrity Pearl has crossed paths with is Arnold Schwarzenegger, formerly a bodybuilder and actor and, currently, governor of California.
"I've known Arnold for 35 or 40 years," he said. "I can't classify us as real good friends. I admire him more as businessman than a bodybuilder."
Bill Pearl, after all, is someone to admire as a bodybuilder.
And he's been not just the best from Yakima, from Washington or even from the United States, but the best in the whole wide world.
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