Frank Leight – Mr. America 1942

Posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2015 by John Wood
Frank Leight, AAU Mr. America 1942, is shown here with some classic globe barbells and kettlebells on the cover of the July, 1942 issue of Strength and Health Magazine. Frank Leight finished 2nd in 1940 (losing to John Grimek and 3rd in 1941 (again behind Grimek, and Jules Bacon) before finally winning the Mr. America contest himself in 1942.
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Author: John Wood. All contents, including images and text, copyright © 2005-2021 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc. Not to be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved. We will most likely grant permission but please contact us if you would like to repost. IMPORTANT: Equipment and books, courses etc. pictured in blog posts are generally not available for sale unless specifically noted.

Dan Lurie

Posted on Thursday, February 6th, 2014 by John Wood

Dan Lurie

As a bodybuilder, Brooklyn-born Dan Lurie won the “Most Muscular” subdivision and finished second in the AAU Mr. America contest in 1942, 1943 and 1944.

As a strongman, Dan performed 1655 push ups in 90 minutes, a bent press of 285 pounds (at a bodyweight of 168 pounds) and backlifted 1810 pounds.

Lurie went on to become a very successful gym owner, magazine publisher and TV strongman. He also established the Dan Lurie Barbell Company which produced barbells and plates primarily on the east coast.

Bonus points if you noticed that the dumbbell that Dan is holding in this photo is from Professor Anthony Barker’s Strength Maker Bar-Bell System.