A few notes on Rheo Blair and Roy Hilligenn

Irvin Johnson and Roy Hilligenn at a party ca. 1953

Roy Hilligenn, much loved and a bit of a character in his own right, is but a footnote in the life of Rheo Blair. But between these two fascinating men both a certain contrast and a few parallels are worthy of at least brief mention. We begin with the latter.

We touched on Rheo's public singing performances at Health Conventions in a recent post. More than a decade earlier at a party we find him teaming up with Roy Hilligenn to sing a duet. The two of them can be seen in the upper left portion of the image to the left in which Rheo (in his Irvin Johnson days) has his hand around Hilligenn. You can tell he is not shy about opening his mouth to sing. Both gentlemen can be seen in all three photos within this image which was published in Tomorrow's Man in 1953 (click on the image for bigger view). The caption reads "Open house at the home of Philadelphia specialist, Dr. T. Ealy, drew a happy crowd of celebrities in the bodybuilding field. TOP LEFT: Irvin Johnson and Roy Hilligenn join in a duet while Jack Delinger prefers to "sit this one out."

Both have been called "entertainers" and "charismatic." Roy was the "smiling superman" and Rheo the great singing imitator of Nelson Eddy. In earlier days Rheo was also known as the "singing milkman of Sommerville" (NJ). Both succeeded in no small part because of an unusually positive attitude, a pleasing personality, and a huge amount of determination. 

Housekeeping Updates

This post is to bring you up to date on a few items of a practical nature.

First you will notice the site has been re-designed and re-built. It has a much cleaner look and more closely resembles the "Rheo Blair" "clean" look with of lots of white and red. Those of you who had the privilege of visiting any of his homes in Los Angeles or Chicago know what I mean.  But the change was necessitated by my desire to display short snippets of many stories on the front page with a "continue reading" link to the full post. This was technologically impossible with the old design.

Rheo Blair and Lawrence Welk: The Singing Nutritionist

After having wondered, hoped and searched for a very long time, I am thrilled to announce that recordings DO exist of Rheo Blair singing. I have heard them just this past week and they include a wide range of events. Whenever he attended health conventions he stood out. Singing at these conventions was one reaso and was something he did frequently. The picture you see here is one such example On another occasion he teamed up with famed singer Marni Nixon and sang a duet to rousing applause. And, yes, there is a recording of this duet and it was remarkable to hear. It is well known that Rheo had a particular affinity for the voice of Nelson Eddy and sang many of the songs he was famous for.  People remarked just how similar the two voices were. You will find more about Rheo Blair and Nelson Eddy in the article below this one, Hooray for Rheo Blair's Hollywood.

The caption to this photo, which was published in Iron Man Magazine back in the day, reads as follows:

Hooray for Rheo Blair's Hollywood!

This is a repost of an article I wrote back in 2008. It provides context and background for Rheo's presence in Hollywood and, since there are many new readers of this blog I felt it is time to publish it once more. It is also compliments nicely the post above about Rheo singing with the Lawrence Welk orchestra, above. I hope you enjoy it!

My lovely wife, Lorraine, and I spent this last weekend in Hollywood. She performed as part of the Pacific Chorale at the Hollywood Bowl in the Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame) production of Not the Messiah -- an "oratorio" (spoof of an oratorio, that is) based on the Python film, The Life of Brian. We stayed at a hotel just adjacent to Hollywood and Highland, a huge outdoor shopping/entertainment/restaurant/hotel complex built to resemble a movie set (more info here). It was a convenient place to stay, since the Bowl is just a 15 minute walk up Highland Avenue. "Up" is meant literally, not figuratively, since Highland slopes up into the Hollywood Hills. FYI, for those of you unfamiliar with the area, Hollywood is a district of Los Angeles, not a separate city.

Our tour today begins today with with dinner and the concert; we will then progress to the Rheo Blair-related pics. 

Rheo Blair Supplements: Nathan's Notes On Rheo Blair's Secrets

Following our conversation with Nathan, we now share detailed information he has from extensive notes he took during the hours spent with Rheo on the phone in the early 1970's. We have here his complete program consisting of "secrets" Rheo shared only with his advanced clients.

This will entail two posts describing first the quantity of supplements he used and and a description of each; and, second, the dietary and lifestyle regimen he got from Rheo. There will be more on what Rheo liked to call his "secrets" in the second post, putting it all together to achieve the big results.

So we begin with Nathan's Rheo Blair conversation notes on the quantities he used and his descriptions of many of the supplements.

A Conversation about Rheo Blair, Part II -- Nathan's Experience

In Part I of our conversation about his experience with Rheo Blair, we met Nathan, a "distance" student of Rheo Blair's back in the 60's 70's and 80's.

We learned how he heard about Rheo and of his initial, modest Blair program.He had tried other lines, Weider, Hoffman, etc but eventually chose Blair's. We learn why.

And we learn of his second, more intense Blair program, including his views on some of Blair's products.

 Charles: Let's clarify what the issues were in your mind at that time regarding the choice between the Weider products and the Blair products. You say that Weider claimed superiority for his products?

Nathan: Yes. Certain non-Blair products were so highly touted in the magazines of protein manufacturers, not only in ads, but in text, that an impressionable kid had to believe they were the best. By them being touted in text, what I mean is that most articles about a successful bodybuilder of the time would often include that bodybuilder testifying that he owed much of his success to, for example, Weider products. Initially they tasted awful but as time went on, with more sugar added, they tasted better.  But at what cost to nutritional quality?

Joe Weider or Rheo Blair -- Whose Protein Mix? Nathan's Story

Rheo Blair's ability to produce "before and afters" was legendary. But there were far more Blair students behind the scenes whose pictures were never taken. Today we meet one of the most dedicated of these Blair students.

Nathan first used Joe Weider's products but claims he got superior results with Blairs.  We will learn of his experience.

Of great benefit to us all, Nathan  remembers in detail the nutritional knowledge he gained from Rheo Blair.

Meet Nathan, 61, long time Rheo Blair student dating back to the 1960's. Nathan talks about his discovery of Rheo Blair in the original Iron Man Magazine, his experiences as a Blair student and why, having used the Weider products he switched to Blair's protein and supplements never looking back. We also chat about the Blair diet and how Nathan used it to maximize his gains. And we will find out what Rheo suggested Nathan do for exercise. In all, Nathan paints a detailed picture of his experience working with Rheo Blair.

Raw Milk: Legalize, Don't Pasteurize!

Raw milk. Rheo Blair's favorite food and the one that changed his life and the lives of countless others for the better. At one time, everyone drank raw milk. But with the invention of pasteurization and its alleged safety benefits, consumption of raw milk in this country almost completely disappeared. In fact, in some states it is illegal to sell raw milk. But a growing segment of the population is clamoring for increased access to raw milk, citing its nutritional benefits and recently discovered inbuilt safety mechanisms. Opponents are skeptical of such nutritional claims and believe the safety risks of unpasteurized milk are simply too high. Now comes a debate on the matter:

Rheo Blair: Raw Milk Is A Healing Food

What is raw milk? To Rheo Blair,  known as the Nutritionist to the Hollywood Stars, it was "the world's greatest health drink." In his later years he became increasingly enamored of raw, free range eggs, specifically the yolks -- not, the whites -- but that is another subject for another time. Rheo Blair found raw milk and its therapeutic, healing benefits at an early age when it saved his life and set him off an astounding career as a pioneering nutritional scientist. And he never forgot raw milk even though he spoke far more about his protein powders and other supplements which, after all, he produced and marketed, And that is what most people remember him for.  But there is a whole other story about Rheo and raw milk that has been forgotten or perhaps was never known by most. Indeed, when I lived at his home for several months in 1978, the two side by side refrigerators were always full of gallons of "Alta Dena Certified Raw Milk." (And to be sure, raw butter, cream and cheese.) But raw milk was paramount. Being aware of this aspect of his personal background -- how it healed him and altered the direction of his life -- is critical to understanding the theories, programs and products he began to develop a few years later. In the 1960's he wrote the following: "For many years, despite conscientious effort with many health and diet systems, I suffered from almost crippling poor health. It was not until I learned of the health-promoting qualities of raw milk that my life actually changed for the better. For the past 25 years raw milk has constituted the major portion of my diet."

Randy Roach Part III: A Blind Man WIth NO Limits

Randy Roach in his office, January 2012

With this post, we conclude what has become a truly fascinating conversation with Randy Roach. The entire interview, all three parts totaling nearly 15,000 words, may be read start to finish on its own page, here; Part III begins directly below.

But I first want to express my profound gratitude to Randy for being receptive to actually putting all this information about him, much of it never before published, out there for all of us to enjoy and learn from. Knowing something of the author makes his work all the more meaningful and fulfilling to read. Randy has also supplied several brand new photos including the beautiful pic you see of him in his office on the left as well as others, seen below. I have had nothing but fun throughout the whole process of back and forth with someone I am privileged to call a friend. Randy, for all of us, thank you.

At the end of Part II, Randy was telling us about some of the fine people who had been very helpful to him in making Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors possible. He concluded with the words "So, a lot of good people were involved in this project." We pick up that conversation now with Part III.

Randy Roach Part II: A Sparkling and Splendid Masterpiece of Iron History

Randy Roach sports his "Arnold" A-shirt in this January, 2012 photo.

We begin with the eloquent words of Joe Roark to whom I express my profound  gratitude for allowing me to include them here: "There are authors who can write contest reports, others who handle facts well, others who write good fiction (even though they think they are writing facts). But there is not another Randy Roach. Fielding statements from literally dozens of major and minor sources, he appraises them by what must have been a tremendous task of study and comparison, places them in logical order and importance, weaves all that into an interesting, well-written, readable storyline. The grunt work of reverse-blending all that information is horrendous in its difficulty, but Roach makes it appear as though he is chatting with a single source, who had done all this before- but NO ONE had!

Several key players in iron history, each standing with a cog-wheel of information are orderly interlocked so that the whole seems to become more than the sum of its parts, as though there is bonus knowledge when the tale is so well formatted and revealed. An avalanche of information awaits the careful reader of this sparkling and splendid masterpiece of ironhistory. Anyone not reading this book must consider himself minus some very skeleton-key ingredients in the overall scenario in the topics it covers from Arnold to Arthur Jones and the machinations of the exercise machine wars." -- Joe Roark

Rheo Blair Is Now On Facebook!

If you are on Facebook and wish to keep up with the latest Rheo Blair posts from this blog, you are invited to "like" our Rheo Blair, Nutritionist Facebook page.

The Rheo Blair Facebook page may be found at: http://www.facebook.com/RheoBlair

With Facebook being by far the single most popular social media site in the world, it is easy for many people to simply find updates about Rheo Blair in their daily wall feed. Also,

Randy Roach: The World's Best Fitness Author

Today, we begin a three-part conversation with Randy Roach, about Randy Roach. The Bodybuilding historian tells us about his life, his health and how a blind man came to write the most detailed single history of any sport. Part two will be published January 18-19.

There surely is no shortage of books within the genre of sports history. This is great news for football and baseball fans, among others. But for the enthusiasts of professional bodybuilding, the question persists as to whether it even IS a sport, making it perhaps the Rodney Dangerfield of athletic pursuits in that it gets "no respect." Though it traces its roots back for over a century, few outside the small world of iron pumping know much more about it other than that its biggest success story became a movie star and then the Governor of California. Beyond that most people draw a blank. That is all changing with the publication of "Muscle Smoke and Mirrors" by Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) historian and author Randy Roach who has published two volumes of what is to be a three volume complete history of "the game" as it is affectionately known by its devotees. It is probably no stretch to say that Randy has written the most complete history of any sport and, thanks to both his writing ability and story-telling gifts,  one which is universally proclaimed a "page-turner."

While Randy is providing us with some of the best reading material in all of sports history, we know little about the story of Randy himself. We mean to change that here so you feel you "know" Randy a little and are reading the work of a friend. I am privileged to know this good man as a friend and I want to help you become better acquainted with him yourself. With that as our goal, we present here and now the first installment of a three part conversation with Randy.

What About Those Unusual Rheo Blair Supplements?

UPDATED 1/15/2012.

Today we have uploaded to this site on a static page the second primary document in our series of original Rheo Blair documents; printed items he produced for his business and which shed light on his work.

Today's document, entitled "WHAT IS UNUSUAL ABOUT BLAIR SUPPLEMENTS" is a supplement brochure Rheo Blair  used from the late 70's/early 80's and contains listings and descriptions of the following items: B-Complex, Choline Plus, Liver Extract, Peptain HCL, Iron Plus, Iocen, Lecithin, Calcium P-F, Calcium Plus, Soybro, Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Cod Liver Oil, Vitamin C, Bio Pus, and Vitamin E.

Access the document by clicking here: Rheo Blair Supplement Brochure. An introduction to the brochure as well as relevant information on what the brochure does not contain is included. The product descriptions are of interest to anyone wishing to learn more about the man and what he did. They offer the most specific information about Rheo Blair's individual products available anywhere online -- and were written by the man himself!

Happy New Year! New Year's Eve at the Rheo Blair House

Note: This is a re-post from 2008 but it's time to share it again. Thank you for your continued enthusiastic support. I wish each and every one of you the happiest and most prosperous 2011!

Rheo Blair loved people and parties, and everyone looked forward to the annual New Years Eve celebration at his home. People began arriving in the early evening bringing (healthy) dishes. Rheo usually supplied two of his favorite foods: roast turkey and his special deviled eggs. Later in the evening, as the house was filled with friends, the entertainment began, usually including many of his famous and accomplished musical friends. One of these was concert pianist Mario Feninger (at whose home Lorraine and I will be enjoying a New Year's Day party tomorrow). As midnight approached at Blair House, Rheo Blair himself, a terrific showman with a very fine voice, took the microphone and was accompanied by Bob Ralston, the famous and brilliant organist/pianist from the Lawrence Welk television show. Bob, the master of ceremonies for the evening, would also give us a number of fine solos on Rheo's black Baldwin piano. Rheo and Bob were a fabulous combination.