Actor and professional bodybuilder. He is known for his 1959 number-one box office role in "Hercules" (1957) and various other action-adventure 1960s films. He electrified audiences for decades and rose to stardom in two fields, being the first bodybuilder turned actor long before Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Sylvester Stallone. Born in Glasgow, Montana he came from a long lineage of ranchers and rodeo performers. His father, Lester Dell Reeves, died in a farming accident when he was eighteen months old, prior to the Great Depression, forcing his mother, Golden Viola Boyce, to place him in boarding school while she earned money. By age ten, he and his mother relocated to Oakland, California, where he began exercising and lifting weights at age 16 under the direction of gym owner and mentor Ed Yarick. He competed and won his first amateur bodybuilding contest, "Mr. Pacific Coast" (1946). He enlisted into the U.S. Army during WWII, fighting in the South Pacific with the 25th Division who took the Balete Pass. He contracted malaria and dengue fever and spent the remainder of his service in Japan until his release from the military. He then won the "Mr. Amerca" contest (1947), "Mr. World" (1948), and "Mr. Universe" (1950). At a talent agent's suggestion, he moved to New York City, enrolled in acting school, and performed in a local theatre. He was cast for Cecile B. DeMille's lead role in "Samson and Delilah" (1949) but was let go due to his refusal to lose muscle weight. He went on to professionally model and guest starred on the television programs "The Ralph Edwards Show" (1952), "Topper" (1953), "Ozzie and Harriet" (1953) and "The Burns and Allen Show" (1952). In his film debut, he co-starred in Edward D. Wood's "Jailbait" (1954). That same year, he appeared in MGM's "Athena" (1954) with Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell, which got him noticed for his first starring role in Pietro Francisci's blockbuster "Hercules" (1957). He went on to star in a total of eighteen films, including "Goliath and the Barbarians" (1959), "Morgan the Pirate" (1960), and his final film "A Long Ride from Hell" (1968), a western, something he always wanted to produce and star in before retirement at the age of 42. Along the way, he turned down several major movie roles, from "Dr. No" (1962) to "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964) which massively launched the careers of Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood. He wrote two books; "Powerwalking" in 1982 and "Building the Classic Physique" in 1995. He was married to Broadway actress Sandra Smith from 1955 to 1956. They had no children. He met his second wife, Polish princess Aline Czartjarwitz, at a Rome party at the completion of "Hercules." They married in 1963, and they also had no children. He purchased 14 acres of land in Southern California, and they raised and bred prized Morgan horses until Aline's death in 1989. He never married again. In 1999, he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and died from complications of a blood clot from surgery at age 74.