Joe Weider

Edwin Joseph "Joe" Weider ( born November 29, 1919 in Montreal, Canada, † March 23, 2013 in Los Angeles, USA ) was a Canadian businessman, bodybuilder and pioneer of the motor sport.

Career

Weider's parents came from Poland and were of the Jewish faith. He grew up in Québec, Canada and was interested in a very early stage of motor sports, he ran to the top with the help of self-made dumbbells from car tires. At 14, he finally published the first edition of the now internationally known journal Muscle & Fitness.

In 1946, Weider and his brother Ben Weider the current International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness ( IFBB ) and called the prestigious Mr. Olympia contest to life. In the 1950s, he met his future wife Betty Brosmer know who was known as a highly doped pin-up girl and married him in 1961. His financial breakthrough had Weider as a pioneer of professional bodybuilding with the organization of international competitions and the publication of numerous professional journals as well as training programs. He also established the first mail-order business of dietary supplements for bodybuilders. From the 1970s he worked further as a promoter of Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he had invited in 1968 to the United States for training. The legendary filmmaker James Bidgood published many photographs during his time as a photographer in the magazines of Weider.

Weider died 2013 in Los Angeles, California from heart failure.