Jack LaLanne

Francois Henri LaLanne (September 26, 1914 – January 23, 2011), the "Godfather of Fitness", was an American fitness and nutrition guru and motivational speaker. He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was 15 years old. He also had behavioral problems but "turned his life around" after listening to a public lecture about the benefits of good nutrition by health food pioneer Paul Bragg. During his career, he came to believe that the country's overall health depended on the health of its population, and he referred to physical culture and nutrition as "the salvation of America". LaLanne hosted the first and longest-running nationally syndicated fitness television program, The Jack LaLanne Show, from 1951 to 1985. He published numerous books on fitness and was widely recognized for publicly preaching the health benefits of regular exercise and a good diet. He started working out with weights when they were an oddity. As early as 1936, at the age of 21, he opened the nation's first modern health club in Oakland, California, which became a prototype for dozens of similar gyms bearing his name, later licensing them to Bally. One of LaLanne's 1950s television exercise programs was aimed toward women, whom he also encouraged to join his health c... ()