The Golden Era Legends of Venice Beach: Who Trained There

The Golden Era bodybuilders most closely tied to Venice Beach are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Dave Draper, Frank Zane, Robby Robinson, Lou Ferrigno and Ken Waller. Between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s they trained at Joe Gold's original Gold's Gym in Venice, and later some of them trained at his World Gym too. Together they made a small beach neighborhood in Los Angeles the center of world bodybuilding.

This guide to the famous bodybuilders of Venice Beach covers each legend in turn: who they were, what they won, and what actually connects them to Venice. Where a detail can't be checked against a reliable source, we've left it out.

Why did Golden Era bodybuilders gather in Venice?

The short answer is one gym. Joe Gold, a machinist and former Muscle Beach regular, opened the first Gold's Gym in August 1965 at 1006 Pacific Avenue in Venice. He built much of the equipment himself by hand, including welded barbells and cable pulley machines. Serious lifters quickly called it "the Mecca of bodybuilding."

The location helped too. The sun and the ocean were right there, rent was cheap, and the outdoor lifting tradition of Muscle Beach and the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica was close by. Joe Weider's magazine and barbell business was in neighboring Santa Monica, and he brought several top physiques to Southern California. Most of them ended up training in Venice. (For the bigger picture, see why California became the bodybuilding capital.)

Dave Draper, who was there from 1966 or 1967, described a floor of about 2,000 square feet given over to "benches and platforms, pulleys and racks, iron and bars." There was no radio. The only sounds came from bodies moving, benches shuffling and weights clanking.

Which famous bodybuilders trained in Venice Beach?

Seven names define the Venice story, plus a supporting cast of regulars who trained beside them at Gold's.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: the Austrian Oak

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the name everyone connects with Venice. He moved to the United States in October 1968, aged 21 and speaking little English, and trained at Gold's Gym in Venice under Joe Weider's guidance. Draper remembers Arnold arriving at Joe's original Gold's in 1968.

In Venice, Arnold turned a big European physique into the most successful career of the era. He won Mr. Olympia seven times, from 1970 to 1975 and again in 1980. His 1970 win made him the youngest Mr. Olympia ever, at 23. He also won five Mr. Universe titles (four NABBA, one IFBB). One of his training partners was Ric Drasin, the professional wrestler who designed the famous Gold's Gym logo in 1973.

Arnold's preparation for the 1975 Mr. Olympia, much of it filmed at Gold's Gym in Venice, became the core of Pumping Iron, the documentary that made him famous. For the places linked to his career, see where Arnold and the Golden Era legends trained.

Franco Columbu: the Sardinian strongman

Franco Columbu was born on August 7, 1941, in Ollolai, Sardinia. He met Arnold in 1965 in Stuttgart, Germany, and the two stayed close for the rest of their lives. Columbu followed him to Southern California, arriving in Santa Monica in June 1969 to train under the Weider banner. He and Arnold became the best-known training partners in Venice. Draper remembered them as "a pair, two restless race horses in the starting block."

Columbu was short and enormously strong. He won the 1970 IFBB Mr. Universe, took the lightweight class at Mr. Olympia in 1974 and 1975, and won the overall Mr. Olympia title in 1976 and again in 1981. In 1969 he and Arnold co-founded a bricklaying business, European Brick Works, to supplement their income. He appeared in Pumping Iron, earned a chiropractic degree from Cleveland Chiropractic College in 1977, and lived in Los Angeles for decades. He died on August 30, 2019, in San Teodoro, Sardinia. After his death Arnold wrote that Columbu "was my favourite training partner four decades ago and he is my favourite training partner today."

Dave Draper: the Blond Bomber

Dave Draper was in Southern California before most of the names on this list. Born on April 16, 1942, in Secaucus, New Jersey, he won Mr. New Jersey in 1962 and took a job with the Weider Barbell Company in Santa Monica. He trained at Muscle Beach, then joined Joe Gold's gym in Venice in 1966 or 1967. He gave both years in different essays: "joined Joe Gold's gym in Venice in 1966" in one, and "sometime in 1967 -- spring, I think" in another.

Draper won the IFBB Mr. America in 1965, the IFBB Mr. Universe in 1966 and the IFBB Mr. World in 1970. Weider's magazines named him "the Blond Bomber" and made him the face of the California beach-and-muscle lifestyle. He acted on screen too, most famously opposite Sharon Tate in Don't Make Waves (1967).

His influence reached all the way to Austria. Arnold later said he kept a Draper magazine cover above his bed as a teenager, called Draper "one of my idols," and said seeing him in Don't Make Waves made him think "my dreams are possible." Draper died on November 30, 2021, aged 79. His essays about the old gym are some of the best first-hand accounts of Golden Era Venice.

Frank Zane: the Chemist

Frank Zane was born on June 28, 1942, in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He was nicknamed "the Chemist," a reference to his science degree and his careful approach to training. He stood for proportion and detail rather than sheer size. Draper recalls that Zane "made his home in Venice" in the late 1960s, slipping into Gold's at daybreak to train.

Zane won the 1968 IFBB Mr. Universe and is one of only three men, along with Sergio Oliva and Chet Yorton, to have beaten Arnold Schwarzenegger in a bodybuilding contest. His biggest wins came at the end of the decade: Mr. Olympia three years in a row, 1977, 1978 and 1979. In 1985 he and his wife Christine opened Zane Haven, a training retreat in Palm Springs, and they later moved to San Diego. He stayed in California, but his competitive peak belongs to the Venice years.

Robby Robinson: the Black Prince

Robby Robinson was born Robert Lee Robinson on May 24, 1946, in Damascus, Georgia. His breakthrough came in 1975, when he won the IFBB Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe in a single year. Accounts of how he came to the Venice scene vary. Profiles commonly credit an invitation from Joe Weider, and Iron Man Magazine describes a 1975 visit to Arnold in Alabama, on the set of Stay Hungry, where Arnold encouraged him to keep competing.

Nicknamed "the Black Prince," Robinson was known for remarkable arms and a long career. He appeared in Pumping Iron and won the IFBB Night of Champions in 1979. In 1994 he was the overall champion at the first Masters Olympia, and he later filmed his "Master Class" instructional video in Venice. His 2013 memoir, The Black Prince, tells his side of the era.

Lou Ferrigno: from Brooklyn to the Hulk

Lou Ferrigno was born on November 9, 1951, in Brooklyn, New York. He won the IFBB Mr. Universe in 1973 and 1974, then placed second in the heavyweight class at the 1974 Mr. Olympia and third in the same class in 1975. That 1975 rivalry with Arnold is the dramatic spine of Pumping Iron.

Ferrigno is also part of the Venice story: Los Angeles Magazine names him among the athletes who used Gold's Gym in the 1970s. In 1977 he was cast as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk TV series, which made him one of the most recognizable bodybuilders in the world.

Ken Waller and the rest of the Gold's crowd

Ken Waller won the IFBB Mr. World in 1972 and the IFBB Mr. Universe in 1975 in Pretoria, South Africa. He took the heavyweight class at the 1976 Mr. Olympia, the year Columbu won overall. In Pumping Iron he plays the swaggering rival to Mike Katz. The film's famous scene of Waller taking Katz's shirt was filmed after the fact to fill a gap in the story. Draper recalled that Waller "joined the group" at Gold's around the same time as Arnold and Franco.

The scene was bigger than its stars. Draper's recollections also name Zabo Koszewski, who "ran the place and became known as the Chief," along with Mike Katz, Bill Grant, Chet Yorton and Wayne Coleman. To learn more about the contests these athletes fought over, read our guide to Mr. Olympia in the Golden Era.

What happened to the Golden Era scene in Venice?

In Draper's words, the original group "dispersed" as the gym changed hands and the crowds grew. Joe Gold sold Gold's Gym around 1970, and in 1976–77 he founded World Gym in Santa Monica (it later moved to Venice and then Marina del Rey), which drew several of the same names. Pumping Iron came out in 1977 and turned a small subculture into a global industry. It also turned Gold's Gym Venice into a place people travel from around the world to see.

Can you still visit where they trained?

Yes. The places the Golden Era legends trained at are still in Venice and Santa Monica. Gold's Gym still operates in Venice, on Hampton Drive rather than in the original 1006 Pacific Avenue building. The outdoor weight pen at Muscle Beach Venice sits on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. A few miles north, the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica marks where outdoor training in Los Angeles began. For a full list, see Los Angeles bodybuilding landmarks.

Tour the legends' Venice with a guide

If you'd like to see these places in person and hear the stories on site, The Golden Era LA Tour is a roughly 6-hour guided tour led by a working LA strength coach. It stops outside Gold's Gym Venice and visits Muscle Beach Venice, the Venice Beach Boardwalk and the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica. Van transport, lunch and a t-shirt are included. It is a history tour, not a workout, and gym entry isn't part of it.

Coming with friends or family? A Private Tour books the day for your group alone. Know a Golden Era fan? A gift card never expires.