The Resume

(April 2, 1867-October 14, 1925)
Born in Konigberg, Prussia (now Kalingrad, Russia)
Birth name was Friedrich Wilhelm Muller
Displayed by Florenz Ziegfeld at the World's Columbian Exposition as the 'perfect man' (1893)
Appeared in early Edison kinetoscope films
Wrote 'Strength and How to Obtain It' (1897)
Founded the Institute of Physical Culture (1897)
Considered the 'Father of Modern Bodybuilding'

Why he might be annoying:

His autobiography was described as 'a patchwork of great marketing and tall tales.'
He left Prussia to avoid military service.
He posed in the style of ancient Greek statues wearing nothing but a well-placed fig leaf.
He coated himself in white powder to look even more like a statue.
He gave private shows where patrons could pay extra to touch his muscles as he described them.
His death was announced as the result of a stroke suffered when he overexerted himself by single-handedly lifting a car from a ditch following an accident, but a later biographer suggests this was a cover story and he really died from the effects of syphilis.

Why he might not be annoying:

He organized the first bodybuilding competition and served as a judge along with Arthur Conan Doyle (1901).
He paid housing costs for many foreign athletes at the London Olympics out of his own pocket (1908).
He was named special instructor for physical culture to King George V (1911).
He was an early advocate of physical education classes in schools.
He became the sculpture he always wanted to be: a bronze statue of him is the trophy given to the winner of the Mr. Olympia contest.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Bodybuilder/Actors
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 20]
• Film Pioneers [Silent Era]
• I Am Vaudeville [M-Z]
• I Contracted Syphilis [Some Rumored]
• I Died in 1925 (Ranked: 58)
• In Town for The World's Fair at the Columbian Exposition [1893-Chicago]
• Profiles 25751-26000 (Ranked: 25891)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 37 Votes: 62.16% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 65 Votes: 67.69% Annoying