William Arnold "Bill" Pearl is an American retired professional bodybuilder and athlete. During the 1950s and 60s, he won many titles and awards, including winning the Mr. Universe contest five times, and was named "World's Best-Built Man of the Century." He later became an expert trainer and author on bodybuilding.
Biography
Pearl was born in Prineville, Oregon. His first major victory was in the 1953 Amateur Mr Universe contest, in which he beat out a then 23-year-old Sean Connery. He actively competed until his retirement in 1971, when he won the Mr. Universe title one last time, beating Frank Zane, Reg Park and Sergio Oliva. In all, he won the professional Mr Universe 4 times in an 18-year span, which was unprecedented at the time. He was the first professional bodybuilder to author bodybuilding training courses and booklets. He is also the first to pose to music, and was especially noted in performing exhibitions doing an entire posing routine of Eugen Sandow. Ever the showman, Pearl would wear a fake mustache, leotards, a fig leaf, and a late-19th century backdrop, all for providing the exact effect of the Sandow era. Pearl was equally as famous for performing his strongman routine, which included tearing of license plates, bending penny spike nails, and blowing up a hot water bottle as well as his ability on the bench press exercise using up to 500 lbs. He is the author of the popular exercise book, Getting Stronger: Weight Training for Men and Women, which has sold over 350,000 copies in the United States and has been translated into four other languages, including Chinese. His book, Keys To The INNER Universe, is to this day considered a "must read" for bodybuilders. It contains 1,500 weight-training exercises, weighs five pounds, and has sold over 60,000 copies. Pearl had his own monthly question-and-answer column called "Pearl of the Universe" in the bodybuilding magazine MuscleMag International as well as one in Muscle Builder magazine, titled "Wisdom of Pearl" in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2003 with co-author Kim Shott, Pearl published his autobiography, Beyond the Universe: The Bill Pearl Story. During the 1980s, Pearl served as a mentor, trainer, and training partner to many of the top professionals that were still competing. One such individual was Mr. Olympia, Chris Dickerson. In 2004, Pearl was awarded the Arnold Schwarzenegger ClassicLifetime Achievement Award for significantly impacting the world of bodybuilding. In November 2004, Bill Pearl acted as Master of Ceremonies for Sri Chinmoy's Weightlifting celebration, in New York. In 2011 Pearl appeared in the documentary Challenging Impossibility describing when he hosted the 2004 strength exhibition by spiritual teacher and peace advocate Sri Chinmoy. The film was an Official Selection of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. Pearl currently lives in Phoenix, Oregon.
Vegetarianism
Pearl became a vegetarian at age 39 and is the best-known vegetarian bodybuilder. Bill's diet is lacto-ovo vegetarian, which means he eats eggs and dairy products. Pearls mentions the benefits of vegetarian bodybuilding in his book Getting Stronger: Weight Training for Sports, published in 2005.
Family
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Bodybuilding titles and awards
1952 Mr. San Diego, 3rd place
1952 Mr. Oceanside
1953 Mr. Southern California
1953 Mr. California
1953 A.A.U., Mr. America
1953 N.A.B.B.A., Mr. Universe Amateur
1956 Mr. U.S.A., Professional
1956 N.A.B.B.A., Mr. Universe, Professional, Tall Man's Class
1961 N.A.B.B.A., Mr. Universe, Professional
1967 N.A.B.B.A., Mr. Universe, Professional
1971 N.A.B.B.A., Mr. Universe, Professional
1974 W.B.B.A., World's Best-Built Man of the Century
