Larry Scott, nicknamed "the Legend" and "The Golden Boy" (born on October 12, 1938, in Blackfoot, Idaho, died on March 8, 2014, in Salt Lake City, Utah), was anAmerican IFBB professional bodybuilder. He won the inaugural 1965 Mr. Olympiacompetition and defended the crown at the 1966 Mr. Olympia contest, making him the only undefeated Mr. Olympia in the title's history.

Background

Scott began training at age 16 and, by age 20, won the Mr. Idaho competition in 1959. After moving to California, he promptly won Mr. California (1960), Mr. Pacific Coast (1961), Mr. America (1962), and Mr. Universe (1964). When Joe Weider created the IFBB's Mr. Olympia title, Scott won the first two contests in 1965 and 1966. Although Scott retired after his 1966 Olympia win, he staged a brief comeback in 1979 before retiring from competition for good in 1980. He studied electronics at the California Air College, and was known to be a devout Mormon.

He was married to Rachel Ichikawa.

History

Prior to claiming his back-to-back Olympia titles, Scott took Mr. America in 1962 and Mr. Universe in 1964. He also had a minor role in the 1964 movie Muscle Beach Party. However, Scott is said to have possessed little apparent genetic potential when he started training with weights in 1956, his narrow shoulders having been a particular weak spot. He trained with Vince Gironda, another well-known bodybuilder of the time, and became best known for his arm development, particularly his impressive and unusually long biceps, which allowed for good development and shape. He attributed his football-shaped biceps to an exercise called the "Preacher Curl," invented by Gironda, which became part of the standard repertoire among many bodybuilders. The Preacher Curl is often called the Scott Curl, due to its association with Scott.

Scott was also a popular physique model during the early to mid-1960s, working for such famous photographers as Bruce of LA and Don Whitman (of the Western Photography Guild). His "posing strap" material for Pat Milo is considered fine art. It was Milo who introduced Scott to a wide, appreciative audience and helped him hone his posing and photographic persona: that of the "boy next door." Larry regularly appeared in all of Joe Weider's bodybuilding magazines, including Mr. America and Muscle Builder, and he also figured prominently in Demi Gods, Muscleboy, and The Young Physique.

From 1960 until his first retirement from competition in 1966, Scott was bodybuilding's top superstar. Bodybuilding magazines soon began capitalizing on his image, but Larry -- an IFBB athlete -- wrote exclusively for Joe Weider's publications. Larry's popularity completely eclipsed all other bodybuilders of his time, including such famous personalities as Freddy Ortiz, Chuck Sipes, Dave Draper, Leo Robert, Harold Poole, and Sergio Oliva. The phenomenon has since become known as "Larry Fever" and reached its apex at the 1966 Mr. Olympia competition, where Scott defended his title and once again took home the crown (literally, since the prize was $1,000 and an actual crown).

Scott's first retirement at the age of 28 sent shock waves throughout the sport. But Scott had other priorities (a second marriage), and after two Olympia wins, he felt he had done all he could do in competitive bodybuilding.

Rod Labbe, (a freelance writer and fan of Scott's) collaborated with Scott on four articles (a two-part interview in Flex magazine, two articles in Ironman, and an article in MuscleMag International). According to Labbe, "Larry [was] my childhood hero, a true American success story. It's an honor for me to work with him." Their last interview, entitled "The Golden Man," appeared in two consecutive issues of Ironman magazine in 2006. According to Labbe, the two had been collaborating on a new article for Fangoria magazine about American International's Muscle Beach Party (released in 1964), in which Scott played the role of "Rock," a bodybuilder who was part of "Jack Fanny's" (Don Rickles) exercise group (Scott's character name is listed incorrectly on the Internet Movie Databaseas "Riff" -- the shirts he wears in the film all read "Rock").

Scott lived his latter years in Salt Lake City, Utah where he ran his personal training company, and manufactured and sold eponymous custom-made gym equipment and health supplements. He was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 1999.

Declining health and death

Scott was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2010, and succumbed to complications from the disease on March 8, 2014.

Distinctions

• The first bodybuilder to win the Mr. Olympia competition.
• The only undefeated Mr. Olympia
• One of the first bodybuilders to have 20 in. upper arms

Bodybuilding titles

• 1959 Mr. Idaho, 1st
• 1960 Mr. California - AAU, Winner
• 1960 Mr. California - AAU, Most Muscular, 1st
• 1960 Mr. Los Angeles - AAU, Most Muscular, 3rd
• 1960 Mr. Los Angeles - AAU, 3rd
• 1961 Mr. Pacific Coast - AAU, Most Muscular, 1st
• 1961 Mr. Pacific Coast - AAU, Winner
• 1962 Mr. America, Medium, 2 and Overall
• 1963 Mr. Universe, Medium, 1st
• 1964 Mr. Universe, Medium, 1st and Overall
• 1965 Mr. Olympia, 1st
• 1966 Mr. Olympia, 1st
• 1979 Canada Diamond Pro Cup, 9th
• 1979 Grand Prix Vancouver, Did not place