In 1936, 22-year-old Jack opened the country’s first health club, in Oakland, California. When the new medium of television came along, Jack saw an opportunity to spread the gospel of exercise and proper nutrition. “He had a gift for selling and presenting information,” says Yvonne. “He did it in the service of good health.”
Jack became famous for stunts demonstrating his seemingly superhuman strength. He was wed twice, to Irma Navarre (Yvonne’s mom) from 1942 to 1948 and Elaine Doyle (Dan’s mom) from 1959 until his death at 96 in 2011. Together, Jack and Elaine had a son, Jon, and as parents, they were strict — up to a point. “I had a rule as a child that I got two sweets a week,” says Yvonne, who didn’t taste Coke until she was a teenager. Confesses Dan, “He didn’t like it being flaunted in his face, but he kind of looked the other way if you wanted to have a little McDonald’s.”
Yet Jack remained committed to healthy habits until the end. “He worked out the day he died,” says Dan. ‘He was in bed, and he knew it was getting close. He goes, ‘Danny, get me a weight.’ I handed one to him, and he had it in his hand when he passed away.”
The lessons Jack taught will endure forever. “He started a movement that’s unstoppable now,” says Dan. “He changed people’s minds and the way they live.”
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