Jack LaLanne was an amazing man. Known as the “Godfather of Fitness” and “the First Fitness Superhero” This amazing paragon of fitness revolutionized the world of health and fitness and brought it to the average person at a time when doctors were telling women not to exercise and weight lifting would cause heart attack and sexual dysfunction. Jack LaLanne was truly a pinnacle of health and fitness and we are all sad to see him go.
Early years
Born Francois Henri "Jack" LaLanne on September 26, 1914 in San Francisco, CA. His parents were Jennie (née Garaig) (1884-1973) and Jean LaLanne, immigrants from Oloron-Sainte-Marie in southwest France. It was his older brother Norman (1908–2005), who nicknamed him “Jack.”
Jack was raised in Bakersfield and later Berkeley, where his father died of a heart attack at age 58, partly due to poor diet. Jack himself admitted to being addicted to junk food and sugar, something he attributes to the reasons why he had violent outbursts and headaches. Jack was "a miserable goddamn kid...it was like hell." He also became bulimic and temporarily dropped out of school at the age of 14.
At 15, Jack turned his life around after listening to a public lecture by nutrition expert Paul Bragg. Jack had a new found purpose and began improving his diet and exercising. He returned to school, joined the high school football team. He went to college in San Francisco and earned a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. He studied Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body and incorporated it into bodybuilding, making revolutionary strides in strength and weight training.
In 1936, Jack opened his first health and fitness club in Oakland, California what is considered the first in America. He offered supervised weight and exercise training and nutrition. Doctors actually advised patients to stay away from Jack LaLanne’s fitness club, claiming he was an exercise nut, and his programs would cause people to be muscle bound and lead to health problems.
Jack LaLanne’s gifts to the weight lifting community were the first leg extension machines, pulley machines using cables, and the plate style weight selectors that have become exercise machine standards. He also designed what eventually became the Smith Machine.
By the 1980’s Jack LaLanne opened more than 200 Health Clubs, and he eventually licensed his clubs to the Bally Company, which became Bally Total Fitness.
Brother LaLanne was Raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on March 17, 1949 in Chateau Thierry Lodge # 569 (which merged to become the current Corw Canyon Lodge #551 in Castro Valley, California). Brother Jack LaLanne was a member in good standing until his untimely passing.
Brother. LaLanne was also a 32° K.C.C.H. Scottish Rite Mason in the Oakland Scottish Rite Bodies and a member of Al Malaikah Shrine in Los Angeles.
The Jack LaLanne Show (1951-1985) ran for 34 years, holding the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running television exercise program. Jack paid for the airtime when it ran on San Francisco's ABC television station affiliate KGO-TV to promote his fitness clubs and products. His shows consisted of Jack in his trademark blue jumpsuit, giving basic exercises using household furniture and encouraged his viewers to get off the couch and join him in exercising. In 1959 ABC picked up the show and ran it nation-wide. He also met his wife Elaine who was working at the KGO and married her in that same year. Elaine joined Jack on the program to demonstrate the exercises to further reach his prime demographic of housewives who majorly watched his show. Jack included his dog happy to perform tricks while he exercised to attract children viewership and encouraged them to wake their mothers to join him to exercise. Later in the show he also had a dog named Walter that he said stood for We All Love To Exercise Regularly.
Jack was also an accomplished swimmer and some of his more interesting publicity stunts were swimming the San Francisco Bay, Long Beach Harbor, Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan, mostly shackled, and towing a dozen boats in his teeth.
As the accomplished marketer of health and fitness, many photographs of his bodybuilding successes are available, including Jack LaLanne in the nude.
Jack LaLanne continued to exercise two hours a day until his death, and marketing many fitness products. Most notably was Jack LaLanne’s Power Juicer:
“Juicing is a quick and easy way to get all the goodness fruits and vegetables have to offer. Deliver a tremendous amount of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and enzymes without having to digest and breakdown the food first. While It is still very important to consume whole foods as well to get the much needed fiber, this is a quick way to hydrate the body and get the natural vitamins and minerals while bathing the cells with vital nutrients and enzymes in just one glass!”
His honors include:
1963: Founding member of President’s Council on Physical Fitness under President Kennedy
1992 (age 78): The Academy of Body Building and Fitness Award
1994 (age 80): The State of California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness Lifetime Achievement Award
2002 (age 88): A star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. At his induction ceremony, LaLanne did push ups on the top of his star.
2008 (age 94): Inducted by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver into the California Hall of Fame
Jack LaLanne died on January 23, 2011 of respiratory failure caused by pneumonia in his home in Morro Bay at the age of 96. He is survived by his wife Elaine of 51, two sons, Dan and Jon, and a daughter, Yvonne. Elaine said in a statement said in a statement "I have not only lost my husband and a great American icon, but the best friend and most loving partner anyone could ever hope for."
Brother LaLanne, I didn’t know you in life, but I’m sure you are keeping the brethren in shape in the Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.
Jack LaLanne - Website
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