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The Unofficial Steve Reeves Page

NEWS FLASH!

Steve Reeves departed this life on May 1, 2000.

Thank you, Steve, on behalf of the millions whom you entertained and inspired. We will miss you.

There is no death when you live in the hearts of those who love you.
January 21, 1926-May 1, 2000

TEVE REEVES--SUPERSTAR, SUPERSTUD, SUPER MAN! In his day he was one of the most popular stars in the world ... he was one of the few athletes to successfully cross over into a career in the movies ... yet Steve Reeves is all but forgotten by most moviegoers today. He and his movies are rarely mentioned even as footnotes in movie reference works. To many he is little more than the favorite movie star of Dr. Frank-n-furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show ("Or if you want something visual that's not too abysmal, we could take in an old Steve Reeves movie"). Yet Steve is still legendary in the world of bodybuilding and to a dedicated band of afficianados to whom he will always be the one and only Hercules of the screen.

A native of Montana, Steve became interested in bodybuilding as a teenager. After a hitch in World War II, he came home to win several bodybuilding contests, including Mr. America, Mr. World, and Mr. Universe. While his strikingly handsome face and magnificent body naturally attracted the attention of Hollywood, most producers felt he was simply too bulky and muscular for leading man material. Nevertheless, the transvestite cult film director Ed Wood cast him in a role as a cop in his film Jail Bait. He then managed a small role as a muscleman in the 1954 M-G-M musical Athena. He also made several appearances on stage and television.

Some time after this, the daughter of Italian director Pietro Francisci saw Athena and suggested to her father that Steve might be a good choice for the title role in his Franco-Italian production of Hercules, which Francisci had had trouble casting. Then, Francisci saw Steve. His spectacular, beautifully proportioned physique and strong, classically handsome facial features (enhanced by a beard) perfectly suited the mythic qualities of Hercules. Hercules, released in 1959, was an enormous worldwide success, and Steve was speedily cast into several other "sword and sandal" epics. Producers who couldn't get the real thing scoured gyms and bodybuilding contests for other musclemen to do the films that Steve turned down, but none of them achieved anything like his popularity.

After almost ten years, the sword and sandal movies vanished almost overnight when an Italian-made western starring Clint Eastwood (in a role that Steve had turned down) called A Fistful of Dollars became a hit, and the same producers who had been grinding out costume epics now switched to "spaghetti westerns." Steve made just one of these, and then retired from the screen. He now lives in southern California, raising horses. Although future films seem unlikely, he still works out and has recently been an outspoken critic of the use of drugs in bodybuilding.

Today, the simplistic plots, dubbed dialogue, and crudely contrived effects of many of Steve's movies seem hokey, but they can also great fun compared to the current crop of overblown, multimillion dollar "spectaculars," with their nonstop explosions, crashemup car chases, and overpriced stars. Many famous actors and bodybuilders, among them Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, credit Steve as being an inspiration to them. Both Steve Reeves and his films deserve to be better remembered for their unique contributions to the screen and sports worlds.

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since May 19, 1997

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