As a companion piece to my Bill Bixby tribute, I thought it appropriate to pay homage to the other person that made The Incredible Hulk TV show one of my favorites: the man behind the beast himself, Lou Ferrigno. Notable not only for his physique, but also for his amazing ability to function so well with so little hearing, Lou has had a successful career and life.
Here is a quick clip of him working out from the famous 1977 bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron.
After the Hulk, Ferrigno tackled another mythological "superhero" in the film Hercules. I've never seen this film, but after seeing this clip, I have to. You have the son of a Greek god, outer space, lasers, giant animal robots, hot chicks, and a rainbow light saber. What more could you want from a movie?
Later on, Lou re-entered the world of bodybuilding competition, and in this interview he discusses the differences between the time he first entered the sport compared to the time of his comback.
More recently, Lou became a recurring character on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens playing--himself! Lou moves next door to the Heffernons and the daft Arthur Spooner, played hilariously by Jerry Stiller. Here, Arthur tries to persuade "Lou" to help Arthur sell his bizarre screenplay.
Finally, the reason most of us know Lou is, of course, The Incredible Hulk. I've already shown clips from the show recently, so instead of doing that again for this post, I'm including a scan of an article than ran in the Hulk full-size magazine that Marvel Comics published during the same time as the TV show. This format featured a lead Hulk story, usually with a more sophisticated tone than the all ages comic, with several other featurettes. This article appeared in issue 24 in 1980, and gives a behind-the-scenes look at Lou getting into his Hulk makeup.
And there you have it, the last of my Hulk articles; I hope you enjoyed them.
I'm going to take a break from comic book-related posts, at least for a couple of weeks anyway, until a certain Caped Crusader makes his latest appearance in the public consciousness. That may disappoint some of you, and cause others to breathe a sigh of relief. Let me know where you fall in the comments section.
I'm not taking a break from blogging, however. I have some fine non-super hero stuff on the way. Until then...peace!
4 comments:
Another link for you:
http://iwasabronzeageboy.blogspot.com/
Love all these classic Hulk clips, they're much more entertaining than the dreary new Hulk movie which I thought was a pile of baloney (though much better than the unwatchable Ang Lee turd.)
Thanks!
Todd, thanks for the link! I'm surprised that the content doesn't reflect the bronze age much though.
Kars, I'm sorry to hear of your disappointment in the new film. I haven't seen it yet, but I still hope to.
The photos from the Hulk magazine are not opening up to full size for some reason; I hope to correct that soon.
among the newer comic book films:
One to avoid, with heavy Eastern European flavors and trappings, is WANTED, unless you want a protagonist (and general viewpoint of the film) even more smug, arrogant, self-pitying and feckless than Peter Parker in the Spider-Man films (while you diagree with me there, Brian, I think still, I think you'd agree with me here). Stuff blows up real good and Jolie flashes her rump, but that is hardly enough.
Post a Comment