Lou Ferrigno

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lou Ferrigno, Hollywood, California on December 12, 2018
Lou Ferrigno at Comic Con Germany 2019

Louis Jude "Lou" Ferrigno (born November 9, 1951 in Brooklyn , New York ) is an American actor and bodybuilder of Italian descent. He became known in the title role of the series The Incredible Hulk (1978-1982).

Childhood and school

At the age of three, Ferrigno was diagnosed with an otitis media, as a result of which he lost 80% of his hearing. The loss of his hearing is also reflected in his poor pronunciation, for which he was often teased as a child. In his teens, he started bodybuilding because of these teasing, trying to cover up this flaw with big muscles. At that time, Ferrigno was bad at school, whereupon his father gave him an ultimatum: he had to improve in school or he was not allowed to continue training. In 1969 Ferrigno graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and then focused on his bodybuilding career.

family

He has been married to his wife Carla since May 3, 1980. Their daughter Shanna was born on June 13, 1981 . In 1984 their son Louis Jr. and in 1990 their son Brent were born.

Bodybuilding competitions

Ferrigno began bodybuilding competitions in the early 1970s. He won the Pro Mr. America (WBBG) in the teen category in 1971 and shortly afterwards moved to the IFBB , where he was overall winner of the IFBB Mr. America in 1973. In 1975 Ferrigno was third at the IFBB Mr. Olympia behind Arnold Schwarzenegger (in his last competition for the time being) and Serge Nubret . This defeat prompted Ferrigno to retire from competitive bodybuilding and pursue a career in film.

Overview of competition successes

  • 1971 WBBG Pro Mr. America - Teen, 1st place
  • 1971 AAU Teen Mr. America - 4th place, Most Muscular, 5th place
  • 1972 WBBG Pro Mr. America - 2nd place
  • 1972 NABBA Mr. Universe - Large (over 1.74 m height), 2nd place
  • 1973 IFBB Mr. America - Overall Winner
  • 1973 IFBB Mr. Universe - overall winner
  • 1974 IFBB Mr. International - overall winner
  • 1974 IFBB Mr. Universe - overall winner
  • 1974 Mr. Olympia - Heavyweight, 2nd place
  • 1975 Mr. Olympia - Heavyweight, 3rd place
  • 1992 Mr. Olympia - 12th place
  • 1993 Mr. Olympia - 10th place

Film career

Ferrigno first achieved cinematic fame as Arnold Schwarzenegger's adversary in the 1975 film Pumping Iron , which was released in 1977 . The film accompanies the participants in the Mr. Olympia competition in South Africa in 1975. Ferrigno is stylized in the documentary as Schwarzenegger's greatest competitor and is filmed during training sessions with his trainer, his father.

Following his bodybuilding career, he starred in 82 episodes of the television series The Incredible Hulk from 1978 to 1982 .

Due to his external appearance and his height of 1.96 m, Ferrigno played in films such as Hercules (1983), Desert Warrior (1988) and Sindbad (1989). In 1983 he received the Golden Raspberry for Hercules as the worst newcomer. He also appeared sporadically in various television series.

In 2003, Hulk was remade by director Ang Lee ; Lou Ferrigno made a minor cameo in this film. In 2008 Ferrigno repeated this appearance in the movie The Incredible Hulk by Louis Leterrier . He also gives the voice of the Hulk characters, which is mixed together with the original actor's voice and other sound effects.

He made a comeback when he played himself on the hit sitcom King of Queens with his wife and manager Carla.

He also played the role of an imprisoned convict on the sitcom What's Up, Dad? and in 2009 a role in the film Best Man Wanted! by screenwriters John Hamburg ( Zoolander ) and Larry Levin ( Doctor Dolittle ) .

Ferrigno was Michael Jackson's last personal fitness trainer before his death in 2009 and was supposed to prepare him physically for his planned farewell concerts. In this position he can also be seen in the movie Michael Jackson's This Is It . He also starred in Jackson's 1989 music video Liberian Girl with numerous other guests.

In 2017 he was accepted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which awards the Oscars every year.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Lou Ferrigno  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reuters Fan Fare: Hulk trains Michael Jackson ahead of London concerts ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 19, 2009 (accessed July 11, 2009) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blogs.reuters.com
  2. ↑ Class of 2017. Accessed June 30, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Ferrigno, Lou
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ferrigno, Louis Jude
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and bodybuilder
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York , United States