| Jack La Lanne  AKA François Henri La Lanne
Born: 26-Sep-1914
Birthplace: San Francisco, CA
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Fitness Guru Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Fitness guru Jack La Lanne was a juvenile delinquent, once attacking his brother with an axe, and setting his family's house on fire. In adulthood, he blamed his youthful misbehavior on being fed too many high-sugar foods. At 15, his mother dragged him to hear a speech by nutritionist Paul Bragg. Inspired, La Lanne reformed his eating habits, eliminating everything made with white flour or white sugar, and instead ate almost nothing but fruits, vegetables, and fish for the rest of his life. Healthy foods were hard to find, so La Lanne concocted his own recipes, and by the age of 18 he owned a health-food bakery.
At 21, he opened his first gym in Oakland, California. It was 1936, and most doctors at the time warned against working out with weights, believing it could cause a heart attack or ruin a man's sex drive. Considered a crackpot at the time, La Lanne eventually became America's foremost authority on fitness. His gym grew into a chain of fitness clubs, with no reports of members dying or losing interest in sex. To add variety to his customers' workouts, he devised such now-standard equipment as leg-extension machines and weights on pulleys for lifting. Over subsequent years, La Lanne was among the first to produce protein supplements and nutrition bars.
Beginning in 1951, La Lanne hosted and produced The Jack La Lanne Show, TV's first workout program. On his show, he performed calisthenics, usually with only a chair or table ledge as 'equipment', while cheerfully pointing at the camera and urging his audience to "Get up, work out, and feel better". At first, the show aired only in San Francisco, and La Lanne had to buy the air time, as TV executives were sure nobody would want to watch him do exercises. Within a few years, the program was nationally syndicated on ABC, where millions watched La Lanne do exercises until 1985.
After his TV show ended, La Lanne remained in the public eye with a series of fitness stunts, usually performed on his birthday. In 1955, he swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco, while wearing handcuffs. In 1991, for his 70th birthday, he swam a mile while shackled to 70 boats carrying 70 people. Now in his 90s, La Lanne is still in excellent health, and works out two hours every day -- an hour in the gym, and an hour in the pool. He says he has not missed a day of workouts -- or had a sugary dessert -- since 1930. He still appears on television, selling his Jack La Lanne Power Juicers. "I don't care how old I live", he says, "I just want to be living while I am living!" In a 2004 interview, at the age of 90, he said he has "an active sex life".
Wife: Irma La Lanne (nurse, one daughter)
Daughter: Yvonne La Lanne (b. 1944, chiropracter)
Wife: Elaine La Lanne (3 sons)
Son: Daniel La Lanne (Elaine La Lanne's son, adopted by Jack La Lanne)
Daughter: Janet La Lanne (Elaine La Lanne's daughter, adopted by Jack La Lanne)
Son: Jon La Lanne (musician, plays guitar for Blowgun Band)
Young Men's Christian Association Berkeley, CA (teen years)
Hollywood Walk of Fame 26-Sep-2002
Endorsement of Target 2008
Driving While Intoxicated arrested 9-Jun-1991
Risk Factors: Vegetarian, Bulimia
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Beefcake (Sep-1998) Himself
Repossessed (14-Sep-1990) Himself
Official Website:
http://www.jacklalanne.com/
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