Lou Ferrigno is always going to be one of our favorites at Muscle & Fitness. He first broke into the mainstream as a featured player in Pumping Iron as the underdog bodybuilder looking to challenge Arnold Schwarzenegger at the 1975 Mr. Olympia. For some, that would be more than enough fame to coast on, but Lou wasn’t done with his pop culture moment just yet.
In 1977, he landed the role that would define his career when he was cast as the Incredible Hulk, replacing Richard Kiel, who was originally hired to don the green body paint (Kiel also played Jaws in the James Bond films). Ferrigno wasn’t just a suitable replacement for the fired Kiel; he helped make The Incredible Hulk one of the most popular dramas of the late ’70s and early ’80s. He’s since played a vital part in the character’s legacy, having voiced the green goliath in various cartoons, movies, and video games. He’s also been a constant presence on TV (King of Queens) and on magazine covers in the decades since Hulk ended (he was on the cover of FLEX as recently as November 2017). He even made an impressive Olympia comeback in 1992 and ‘93 when he was well into his 40s, though he never brought home a Sandow.
Nowadays, Lou is up there with Arnold as an elder statesman of the bodybuilding world, acting as a link to a time when the sport was arguably at its peak. So to celebrate Ferrigno’s 67th birthday, we scoured Getty for some of our favorite old school Lou looks.
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Denie/Getty Images
With arms that big, chances are no one was making fun of those glasses.
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Fotos International/Getty Images
Well, maybe Billy Crystal did.
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Ron Galella, Ltd. / Contributor
If you weren’t around in the ’80s and want to know what it was like—this pretty much sums it up.
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Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
The Hulk’s mime career never quite took off.
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Ron Galella / Contributor
Lou looking absolutely Hulkish at the premiere of Pumping Iron. There are pictures of Arnold in a suit at the premiere, while Lou stuck with the posing trunks. Talk about dedication, eh?
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Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
Decades of bodybuilding knowledge in one picture. (By the way, the short sleeves with the necktie is a bold move.)
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Ron Galella/WireImage
Getty has a surprising amount of photos featuring Lou working his cappuccino machine.
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Donaldson Collection / Contributor
And more of Lou just hanging around his home. (The cappuccino machine even makes a cameo again.)
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GUERRINI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
It’s safe to say that Sinbad of the Seven Seas isn’t exactly the résumé centerpiece it could have been, but it does have the distinction of landing in The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of “the Best of Hollywood’s Worst.” (Though Lou certainly looks happy enough with his co-stars in this picture.)
