Post by Tim Wescott on Sept 24, 2004 8:55:01 GMT -5
Harold was the first Mr. California and was the inventor of the Universal machines.
Bodybuilding Pioneer Zinkin Dies at 82 in Calif.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Harold Zinkin, the inventor of the widely used Universal Gym machines and a pioneer of modern bodybuilding, has died at age 82, his friends said on Thursday.
Zinkin died on Wednesday at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, California. He never regained consciousness after he fell and hit his head on Monday.
He was a member of a group of bodybuilders that began to meet at Santa Monica's famed Muscle Beach in southern California in the 1930s and helped create the modern fitness movement.
Zinkin was often the "understander" -- the bottom man of a human pyramid.
"I have known Harold since I came to this country. Some of my fondest memories of our friendship are of the two of us doing balancing acts together on Muscle Beach," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Zinkin, dubbed the "Henry Ford of Fitness," in the 1950s developed Universal Gym equipment -- compact, weight-training machines that offered an alternative to barbells and free weights.
Another member of the Muscle Beach group, fitness guru Jack La Lanne, described Zinkin as a "tremendous influence."
"He was a hell of an athlete all around. He was a hand balancer, he was a physique-contest winner," La Lanne, 89, told Reuters. "He was the epitome of mind and body, as the Greeks used to say."
Zinkin is survived by his wife, Betty, his son, DeWayne, three grandsons and a granddaughter.
Bodybuilding Pioneer Zinkin Dies at 82 in Calif.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Harold Zinkin, the inventor of the widely used Universal Gym machines and a pioneer of modern bodybuilding, has died at age 82, his friends said on Thursday.
Zinkin died on Wednesday at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, California. He never regained consciousness after he fell and hit his head on Monday.
He was a member of a group of bodybuilders that began to meet at Santa Monica's famed Muscle Beach in southern California in the 1930s and helped create the modern fitness movement.
Zinkin was often the "understander" -- the bottom man of a human pyramid.
"I have known Harold since I came to this country. Some of my fondest memories of our friendship are of the two of us doing balancing acts together on Muscle Beach," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Zinkin, dubbed the "Henry Ford of Fitness," in the 1950s developed Universal Gym equipment -- compact, weight-training machines that offered an alternative to barbells and free weights.
Another member of the Muscle Beach group, fitness guru Jack La Lanne, described Zinkin as a "tremendous influence."
"He was a hell of an athlete all around. He was a hand balancer, he was a physique-contest winner," La Lanne, 89, told Reuters. "He was the epitome of mind and body, as the Greeks used to say."
Zinkin is survived by his wife, Betty, his son, DeWayne, three grandsons and a granddaughter.
