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Jules Bacon, former Mr. America, diesDate: 15.01.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
YORK, Pa. - Jules S. Bacon, who won the Mr. America bodybuilding competition in 1943, has died.
Bacon died Saturday at his home in York. He was 89.
When Bacon won the Amateur Athletic Union Mr. America title, he worked for York Barbell Co., which employed many bodybuilders. He was featured on the covers of several magazines in the 1940s and 1950s and regularly wrote for the magazine Strength & Health.
He later worked at York International, a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration units, and gyms called the Jules Bacon Health Clubs.
He was inducted into the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness Hall of Fame last year.
Born in Philadelphia in 1917, Bacon began weight training at the age of 20 and placed second in the 1941 Mr. America contest.
"This was an exciting time," he wrote in the forward to "Strongman: Vintage Photos of a Masculine Icon," a book by Robert Mainardi. "I spent most of 1942 visiting Philadelphia schools with Jesse Owens, the Olympic champion."
Bacon's son Jules E. Bacon was born more than 15 years after his father's Mr. America fame. "To me, he was just a regular person. He was always taking care of me," Jules E. Bacon said.
Bacon's daughter, Marian Painter, said he was a fun and caring father who was always bringing animals home to become family pets.
"I knew he was a body builder and had been Mr. America ... It was just separate from our lives."
Bacon is survived by another son, Robert K. Bacon, three grandchildren and a brother. |
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