Steve Reeves

About Steve Reeves

Who is it?: Actor, Writer
Birth Day: January 21, 1926
Birth Place:  Glasgow, Montana, United States
Died On: May 1, 2000(2000-05-01) (aged 74)\nEscondido, California, United States
Birth Sign: Aquarius
Occupation: Bodybuilder, actor, philanthropist
Spouse(s): Sandra Smith (m. 1955; div. 1956) Aline Czartjarwicz (m. 1963; d. 1989) Deborah Ann Engelhorn (m. 1994; his death 2000)

Steve Reeves Net Worth

Steve Reeves was born on January 21, 1926 in  Glasgow, Montana, United States, is Actor, Writer. Though he did not possess a Herculean acting talent by any stretch, handsome bodybuilder Steve Reeves certainly had an enviable Herculean physique, and made plenty good use of it in Europe during the late 1950s and early 1960s portraying some of filmdom's most famous bronzed gods. Reeves was originally a Montana boy born on a cattle ranch in 1926. His destiny was revealed early in the game when, at the age of six months, he won his first fitness title as "Healthiest Baby of Valley County." His father Lester died in a farming accident when Steve was just a boy, and his family moved to Oakland (California). He first developed an interest in bodybuilding while in high school.Steve joined the Army in his late teens where his job was loading boxcars and trucks. He also worked out loyally at the gym during his free time and the combination helped develop his body quite rapidly. Following Army service (he served for a time in the Pacific), he decided to pursue bodybuilding professionally. In 1946, at the age of 20, he won "Mr. Pacific Coast" in Oregon, which led to his titles of "Mr. Western America" (1947), Mr. America" (1947), "Mr. World" (1948) and, ultimately, "Mr. Universe" (1950).With all the body-worshiping publicity he garnered, he decided to travel to New York to study and pursue acting. He subsequently returned to California...and Hollywood. There were not huge opportunities for a muscleman in Tinseltown other than providing pectoral background. Steve was, however, considered for the lead role in Cecil B. DeMille's biblical costumer Samson and Delilah (1949), but refused when told by the legendary director he would have to lose some of his musculature (about 15 lbs.). The part instead went to Victor Mature. Steve did manage to snag the role of a detective in infamous director Edward D. Wood Jr.'s Jail Bait (1954). Small parts on TV also came his way, but they too were mostly posing bits or walk-ons. To the Hollywood power players, Steve was just a body. Whether he could act or not was not a concern or selling point. Fans just wanted to see him take his shirt off.Down on his luck, Steve's fortunes change when Italian film director Pietro Francisci saw him play Jane Powell's boyfriend in the feature film Athena (1954) and persuaded him to go overseas to star in Le fatiche di Ercole (1958) (US title: "Hercules"). Though critics dismissed the film as "muddled mythology" while denigrating its cheapjack production values (including a poorly-dubbed sound track), the public went crazy over the sword-and-sandal epic and, in particular, Steve's marvelous beefcake heroics. He became an "overnight" star. Sequels followed, none any better or worse, with him going through the paces as a number absurdly-muscled biblical and mythological figures. An able horseman, he also performed many of his own stunts. Moreover, he paved the way for other pumped-up acting hopefuls (Ed Fury, Mark Forest, Reg Park) to seek their fame and fortune in Italy as a feature-length Samson, Ursus or Colossus. Nobody, however, came close to topping Steve in popularity.A shoulder injury forced Steve's retirement, spending the remainder of his life promoting steroid-free bodybuilding while living on a ranch and breeding horses. The more recent bodybuilders of fame such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, both Hercules impersonators of yore, have given Steve significant credit for their respective acting successes. Married twice, Steve died in Southern California of lymphoma on May 1, 2000, at age 74.
Steve Reeves is a member of Actor

💰Steve Reeves Net worth: $1.4 Million

Some Steve Reeves images

Biography/Timeline

1926

Born in Glasgow, Montana in 1926, Reeves moved to California at age 10 with his mother Goldie Reeves after his father Lester Dell Reeves died in a farming accident. Reeves developed an interest in bodybuilding at Castlemont High School and trained at Ed Yarick's gym in Oakland, California. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, and served in the Philippines.

1947

After his military Service and winning the 1947 AAU Mr. America, Reeves became interested in pursuing an acting career. He studied acting under Stella Adler, but after arguments he was refunded his tuition. In 1948 he was selected by Cecil B. DeMille for the lead role in DeMille's Samson and Delilah, for which he received extensive training. In order to look convincing on-camera, he was told to lose 15 pounds; he subsequently turned the movie offer down because he could not compete in bodybuilding at the diminished weight.

1949

In 1949 he filmed a Tarzan-type television pilot called Kimbar of the Jungle, and in 1950 became Mr. Universe. In 1954 he had a small role in his first major motion picture, the musical Athena, playing the boyfriend of Jane Powell's character. That same year, Reeves had a small supporting role as a cop in the Ed Wood film Jail Bait. These two films are the only ones Reeves made in the United States where his actual voice was used; Reeves acted in Italian-made films for the remainder of his career, where all dialogue and sound effects were added in post-production.

1954

Reeves guest-starred on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show as the owner of a gym. On December 17, 1954, Reeves guest-starred in the ABC sitcom Where's Raymond?, starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man. Reeves played a well-built office employee whom Wallace sees in the company of Wallace's girlfriend, Susan.

1957

In 1957, Reeves went to Italy and played the lead character in Pietro Francisci's Hercules, a relatively low-budget epic based loosely on the tales of Jason and the Argonauts, though inserting Hercules into the lead role. The film was a major box-office success, grossing $5m in the United States in 1959. Its commercial success led to a 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained, with Reeves reprising his role.

1959

From 1959 through 1964, Reeves went on to appear in a string of sword and sandal movies shot on relatively small budgets and, although he is best known for his portrayal of Hercules, he played the character only twice: in the 1957 film (released in the USA in 1959) and its 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained (released in the US in 1960). By 1960, Reeves was ranked as the number-one box-office draw in twenty-five countries around the world. He played a number of other characters on-screen, including Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Glaucus of Pompeii; Goliath, the bane of the barbarians (actually called "Emiliano" in the Italian version); Avar hero Hadji Murad; Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome (opposite Gordon Scott as his twin brother Remus); Pheidippides, the famous wartime messenger of the Battle of Marathon; pirate and self-proclaimed governor of Jamaica, Captain Henry Morgan; Randus, the son of Spartacus; and Karim, the fabled Thief of Baghdad. Twice he played Aeneas of Troy and twice he played Emilio Salgari's Malaysian hero, Sandokan.

1962

Reeves turned down the James Bond role in Dr. No (1962) because of the low salary the producers offered. Reeves also turned down the role that finally went to Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars (1964) because he did not believe that "Italians could make a western".

1968

In 1968 Reeves appeared in his final film, a spaghetti Western he co-wrote, titled I Live For Your Death! (later released as A Long Ride From Hell). His last screen appearance was in 2000 when he appeared as himself in the made-for-television A&E Biography: Arnold Schwarzenegger – Flex Appeal.

1973

In the 1973 British musical stage production The Rocky Horror Show, and its 1975 film counterpart The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dr. Frank N. Furter introduces himself to Brad and Janet with the song Sweet Transvestite. The lyrics include, "Or if you want something visual / That's not too absymal / We can take in an old Steve Reeves movie".

1989

Later in his life, Reeves bred horses and promoted drug-free bodybuilding. The last two decades of his life were spent in Valley Center, California. He bought a ranch with savings from his film career and lived there with his second wife, Aline, until her death in 1989.

1993

Authorized Biographer Chris LeClaire lived and worked for Steve Reeves at his Valley Center, California horse ranch during the summers of 1993 and 1994 while writing and researching material for his book Worlds To Conquer, The Auhorized Biography Of Steve Reeves ISBN no. 09676775413, published First Edition December 1999, Second Edition 2017. LeClaire conducted taped interviews with Reeves up until the actor's death in Spring 2000. Worlds To Conquer is published in both standard book bound format, as well as electronic eBook Kindle version.

1994

In 1994, Reeves and Business partner George Helmer started the Steve Reeves International Society; in 1996, it incorporated to become Steve Reeves International, Inc.

2000

On May 1, 2000, Reeves died from a blood clot after having had surgery two days earlier. He died at Palomar Hospital in Escondido, California, where his second wife had also died.

2011

Freelance Writer Rod Labbe interviewed Reeves, and the article appeared in Films of the Golden Age magazine, summer 2011. It was conducted in 1997 and was the last extensive interview Steve Reeves did.