“Body Building With Bar Bells and Dumbbells” by Richard Kline, listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $29.99.

Long before the advent of personal trainers, workout gyms, weight lifting and cross-training, some movie stars worked out to get in shape, stay slim and trim, or to be prepared for active roles. Action hero Douglas Fairbanks exercised multiple hours a day, sculpting his body into a fine physical specimen capable of handling complicated stunts. Others worked to maintain slim figures.

Richard Kline, the first physical instructor and manager of the Paramount Studios gym, in what is now the Hollywood Heritage Museum, developed exercises to focus on problem areas of the body as well as created exercise routines to “streamline the stars,” as the Los Angeles Times called it. He could in effect be called the first personal trainer for the entertainment industry.

Note: To highlight the Lasky-DeMille and “The Squaw Man” Centennial, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is hosting a celebration Tuesday, July 1 from 5 p.m. to  8 p.m. in the parking lot outside the Hollywood Heritage Museum, featuring beer and wine, ice cream photo stations, vintage cars, face painters, games, horses and a fire engine. Tickets cost $10. Parking is available entering from Odin Street. Marc Wanamaker and I will be giving a presentation in the barn on the building and filmmakers’ history.

Per Picture-Goer magazine, Kline was born in Maine in 1906, and as a young man, the strong Kline could lift any two boys his size. Lying about his age and joining the Marines at 14, he studied physical culture and calisthenics. Upon discharge, Kline joined the Chautauqua Circuit, acting as a strongman before landing in Atlantic City. In 1925, he sold city officials on teaching physical exercises to giant classes on Atlantic City beaches. Kline was discovered by a Paramount executive acting as a strongman on the vaudeville circuit and brought him west to manage the studio gym, “the famous Lasky barn, where Jesse Lasky produced, and Cecil B. DeMille directed, “The Squaw Man.”

Continue reading →