Lou Ferrigno

"Ferrigno" redirects here. For the Italian wine grape also known as Ferrigno, see Cesanese Comune.

Lou Ferrigno
Ferrigno at the New York Comic Convention in Manhattan, October 10, 2010.
Born	Louis Jude Ferrigno (1951-11-09) November 9, 1951 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Bodybuilder, actor, personal trainer
Years active	1971–present
Spouse(s)	Susan Groff (1978-1979) Carla Green (1980-present)

Louis Jude "Lou" Ferrigno (born November 9, 1951) is an American actor, fitness trainer/consultant, and retired professional bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, Ferrigno won an IFBB Mr. America title and two consecutive IFBB Mr. Universe titles, and appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron. As an actor, he is best known for portraying the title role in the CBS television series The Incredible Hulk. He has also appeared in European-produced fantasy-adventures such as Sinbad of the Seven Seas and Hercules, and as himself in the sitcom The King of Queens and the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man.

Early life

Ferrigno was born in Brooklyn, New York to Matt Ferrigno, an Italian American New York City Police Department Lieutenant, and his mother Victoria. As an infant, he suffered an ear infection and lost some of his hearing. Ferrigno started weight training at age 13, citing body builder and Hercules star Steve Reeves as one of his role models.

Ferrigno's personal heroes as a child were Spider-Man and the Hulk. Appropriately, he would later play the role of the Hulk himself in the Incredible Hulk television series and related TV movies. He was also a fan of the Hercules films that starred Steve Reeves. Ferrigno frequently points to Reeves as one of his primary role models and would later play Hercules just as Reeves had.

Career

File:Ferrigno as Hulk.jpg

Lou Ferrigno in the 1978 The Incredible Hulk episode "Married".

After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1969, Ferrigno won his first major titles, IFBB Mr. America and IFBB Mr. Universe, four years later. Early in his career he lived in Columbus and trained with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1974, he came in second on his first attempt at the Mr. Olympia competition. He then came third the following year, and his attempt to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger was the subject of the 1975 documentary Pumping Iron. Following this, Ferrigno left the competition circuit for many years, a period that included a stint as a defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.

Ferrigno competed in the first World's Strongest Man competition in 1977, where he finished fourth in a field of eight competitors. While competing, Ferrigno regularly went to see a physician who checked up on whether he was doing damage to his body.

Ferrigno signed up with Universal Studios in 1977, and beat out both Arnold Schwarzenegger (although both Ferrigno and Schwarzenegger himself have gone on record saying Arnold was not in the running) and Richard Kiel for the title role opposite Bill Bixby as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk. Richard Kiel was hired for the series first, and scenes were filmed. It was quickly determined he was not muscular enough, and Ferrigno was signed. One brief shot of Kiel remains in the pilot movie. Although Ferrigno and Bixby did not share lines on camera (except for one episode, "King of the Beach"), the two were friends. Ferrigno continued playing the Hulk role until 1981, although the last two episodes were not broadcast until May 1982. Later, he and Bixby co-starred in three The Incredible Hulk TV movies. There were major talks of another movie, The Rebirth of The Incredible Hulk, but due to Bixby's illness, the project never went beyond the earliest stages of development. Ferrigno continued to keep in touch with Bixby until his death on November 21, 1993. Ferrigno attended Bixby's funeral in California.

During competition, Lou Ferrigno weighed 285 lb (130 kg) in 1975, and 316 lb (143 kg) in 1992; at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) he was one of the tallest professional bodybuilders at that time.

In the early 1990s, Ferrigno returned to bodybuilding, competing for the 1992 and 1993 Mr. Olympia titles. Finishing 12th and 10th, respectively, he then turned to the Masters Olympia, coming second in 1994 to Robby Robinson. After this, he retired from competition.

2000s work

Ferrigno at the 2007 Scream Awards.

Ferrigno played himself during intermittent guest appearances on the CBS sitcom, The King of Queens, beginning in 2000 and continuing until the program's conclusion in 2007. He and his wife Carla were depicted as the main characters' next-door neighbors. Because of his role as the title character on The Incredible Hulk, he is often the target of Hulk jokes by Doug and his friends.

He made cameo appearances as a security guard in both the 2003 film Hulk and the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, in which he also voiced the Hulk.

Ferrigno appeared as himself in the 2009 feature film comedy I Love You, Man.

Carla Ferrigno told Reuters that her husband had been helping Michael Jackson train in advance of his 2009-2010 concerts at the time of his death. Jackson and Ferrigno have worked together in the past.

Ferrigno took part in a Smosh video in which he is tracked down by one of Smosh's members, Anthony, in Hollywood. The skit ends with Ferrigno knocking Anthony unconscious, in response to Ian's claim that Anthony stole Ferrigno's Butterfinger.

Ferrigno stated in an interview that he would be involved in the 2012 The Avengers movie.

In February 2006 Ferrigno was sworn in as a Los Angeles County, California reserve sheriff's deputy.

Ferrigno sells his own line of fitness equipment through his company, Ferrigno Fitness. In a January 2009 taping, Ferrigno Fitness provided equipment to The Price Is Right, hosted by Drew Carey for use as a One Bid prize, and demonstrated the equipment himself.

In 2010, Ferrigno appeared in "My Two Chads", an episode of Sonny with a Chance, appearing as himself in an episode of the fictional series McKenzie Falls.

In November 2010, Ferrigno was sworn in as a member of a Maricopa County, Arizona volunteer sheriff posse, which also includes actors Steven Seagal and Peter Lupus, in order to help control illegal immigration in the Phoenix Valley area.

Personal life

Ferrigno sees his loss of hearing as influential towards bodybuilding and his life: "...if I hadn't lost some of my hearing, I wouldn't be where I am now. It forced me to maximize my own potential. I had to be better than the average person to succeed."

Ferrigno married Susan Groff in 1978, divorcing a year later. On May 3, 1980, he married psychotherapist Carla Green, who then also began serving as his manager and later became a personal trainer. They have three children, Shanna, born 1981; Louis, Jr., born 1984; and Brent, born 1990. Shanna has a recurring role as Nurse Janice in Days of our Lives, and appeared in the NBC series Windfall, as well as the television movie Within, and in 2005 she appeared in the E! reality television series, Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive. Louis, Jr. was a linebacker for the University of Southern California Trojans football team.

Contests

Lou Ferrigno
Bodybuilder
Personal info
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	316 lb (143 kg)
Professional career
Pro-debut	NABBA Mr. Universe 1972
Best win	IFBB Mr. Universe 1973-1974, two years consecutively
Active	Retired 1995

• 1971 Pro Mr. America — WBBG, Teen 1st
• 1971 Teen Mr. America — AAU, 4th, Most Muscular 5th
• 1972 Pro Mr. America — WBBG, 2nd
• 1972 NABBA Mr. Universe, Tall 2nd
• 1973 IFBB Mr. America, Overall Winner
• 1973 IFBB Mr. Universe, Tall 1st, Overall Winner
• 1974 IFBB Mr. International
• 1974 IFBB Mr. Universe, Tall 1st, Overall Winner
• 1974 Mr. Olympia, Heavyweight 2nd
• 1975 Mr. Olympia, Tall class, 3rd place
• 1992 Mr. Olympia, 12th
• 1993 Mr. Olympia, 10th
• 1994 Olympia Masters, 2nd

Magazine covers

Total: 37

• 10 Muscle & Fitness ('82, '83, '86, '87, '88, '89, '93, '94)
• 8 Flex ('83, '85, '89, '92, '93, '94)
• 7 Muscle Builder ('74, '77, '79, '80)
• 4 Iron Man ('73, '88, '92, '94)
• 2 Bodybuilding Lifestyle ('91, '92)
• 2 Muscle Mag International ('83, '94)
• 2 Muscular Development ('81, '09)
• 1 Muscle Training Illustrated ('72)
• 1 Natural Bodybuilding ('83)
• 1 Strength & Health ('83)

Filmography

File:Lou.JPG

Ferrigno's handprints at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

• Pumping Iron (1977)
• The Incredible Hulk (1977 TV movie – series pilot) (as The Hulk)
• The Incredible Hulk (1978-1982 TV series) (as The Hulk)
• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (self appearances, 1980)
• Hercules (1983)
• Trauma Center (1983 TV series) (as paramedic John Six)
• The Fall Guy (guest, 1982, 1983, 1984)
• Hercules II a.k.a. The Adventures of Hercules (1984)
• Seven Magnificent Gladiators (1985, but filmed simultaneously with Hercules)
• Desert Warrior (1987)
• Family Double Dare (celebrity contestant, 1988)
• The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988) (as The Hulk)
• Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989)
• The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989) (as The Hulk)
• Cage (1989)
• Liberty & Bash (1989)
• The Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990) (as The Hulk)
• Cage II (1994)
• The Incredible Hulk (voice, 1996 animated series)
• Home Improvement (1997)
• The King of Queens (recurring, 2000–2007) (as himself)
• Raw Iron: The Making of 'Pumping Iron' (2002) (as himself)
• Hulk (cameo, 2003) (as a security guard)
• My Wife and Kids (guest, 2004) (as a gay convict)
• Reno 911! (guest, 2004)
• The Incredible Hulk (voice, cameo, 2008) (as The Hulk's voice and a security guard)
• I Love You, Man (2009) (as himself)
• Chuck (guest, 2010) (as a Volkoff bodyguard in "Chuck Versus the Suitcase")
• Sonny with a Chance (2010)

External links

• Official website
• Official FaceBook Fan page
• Official YouTube channel
• Lou Ferrigno at IMDb