Hope and Belief Define Bodybuilder Tony Pearson

BY DEBBIE HALL

Tony Pearson faced unbelievable odds in transcending his childhood and succeeding in the highly competitive field of bodybuilding and other endeavors. His story encompasses incredible highs and deep lows, yet Pearson has always maintained his faith. As a bodybuilder, he won numerous championships worldwide and appeared on magazine covers, talk shows, television shows and movies. Today, Pearson lives in Las Vegas, works as a personal trainer and maintains his fantastic physique in his 60s.

Pearson overcame challenges and obstacles to enjoy the fruits of his efforts and labor. “I feel like an old soul. When I was 10 years old, I shouted to God and asked, why must I live through this? It took Him 40 years to answer. I have always believed in God, and I still do because so many things have happened in my life. It had to be the grace of God that I survived.”

Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Pearson’s parents divorced when he was a toddler. “It’s the deep South in the 1960s, and my mom ran away to escape from my dad. He made a good living as a coal and ice delivery man; we had a big house and a couple of nice cars. But when my mom left, he lost everything. My dad couldn’t work because he had to stay home to raise four kids. Unfortunately for me, I was taken to live with my great auntie, who lived in abject poverty with no indoor plumbing or electricity.”

When Pearson was around eight years old, he was taken out of school and put to work. He worked 10-hour days, chopping down trees, cutting them into blocks and bringing in the water from an outdoor pump. Circumstances changed when he moved to St. Louis, Missouri. In high school, he made the wrestling team but injured his knee. “When I couldn’t wrestle anymore, my coach asked if I wanted to attend a bodybuilding gym, so he took me to George Turner’s gym.”

Turner, an ex-Marine, watched people from his office and escorted out those who didn’t fit the gym. “I stood there, wide-eyed, and he says, ‘I’m going to train you.’ He told me to be there the next day and don’t be late. He saw something in me that I never saw in myself. I didn’t see what I had throughout my career because I never thought I was good enough.”

After nine months of training, Pearson gained 25 pounds of muscle. With a new goal and physique at 19, he moved to California. “I wanted to be a bodybuilder, and I heard California was the place to follow that dream. On the radio, the Mamas & the Papas singing ‘California Dreaming’ was a sign that I was ready to move there and become a bodybuilder,” said Pearson.

While Turner was initially against it, he told Pearson to go to Gold’s Gym in Muscle Beach in Venice, California, and look up Ken Waller, an award-winning bodybuilder who could help him. “When I first arrived, I was afraid to approach this great legend,” he said. “Ken was very supportive, helping me fine-tune my posing routine. He’s one of the original greats in bodybuilding.”

Pearson bought a $75 one-way bus ticket and vowed never to return to St. Louis. In the late 1970s, he needed persistence, fortitude and unwavering faith to navigate California. Pearson was down to his last dollar and took the next bus from downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills. As faith would have it, a young man sitting on a bench approached him and gave him directions to the beach. Once he arrived at what he thought would be the promised land, Pearson continued his hand-to-mouth existence, working out at the famed Weight Pen, hoping to meet his idol, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“One day, I turned around and saw Arnold standing there. Tanned, big, ripped. He just retired and was still in phenomenal shape. He told me that he was watching me for months, seeing how hard I was training and offered to take me through a workout,” explained Pearson. “He wrote down Joe Weider’s phone number and address and told me to contact him.”

Weider, a Canadian bodybuilder and entrepreneur, co-founded the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB) alongside his brother, Ben Weider, representing some of the world’s best bodybuilders, including Schwarzenegger, as well as Frank Zane and Dave Draper. He was also the creator of the Mr. Olympia, Ms. Olympia and Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests. Additionally, he published various bodybuilding and fitness-related magazines, including Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Men’s Fitness and Shape. He also manufactured a line of fitness equipment and fitness supplements.

Pearson again credits God for His perfect planning, stating that it’s all about timing. “When I first met Joe, I knew from the first moment forward that he wasn’t interested. He looked me up and down and perhaps thought that I could never be a bodybuilder. Still, Joe had one of his staff members write an article on me when I first met him. However, I had to wait two years before it was published, soon after winning the Mr. America title in 1978.”

Pearson would learn the difference between being represented by the best and competing alone. He would not become a favorite or choice of decision-makers. The term used today is “industry plant,” which refers to someone presented as independent and self-made but alleged to have their public images manufactured for them. This has become part of the fabric of performance sports such as bodybuilding.

“Growing up, I didn’t know anything about politics. I was taught hard work; I wasn’t going to quit. If I didn’t win Mr. America that day, I knew I would never get another opportunity,” said Pearson. The man who won the year before was Dave Johns, who was also African American. Very few blacks competed in bodybuilding in the 1970s and 1980s. Ron Teufel won Mr. California and Mr. USA in 1978, and it was planned that Teufel would win Mr. America. Teufel was featured on every cover of every fitness magazine in the industry.

“I realized if I was going to win, I had to outwork my opponents, and the judges would have to award the title to me. I was still finishing my posing routine when the curtains were closed and reopened. The crowd went ballistic,” remembered Pearson. “I won, but then I went homeless again. I didn’t get any endorsement deals or guest appearances from the Weiders, which was usually customary because whoever won the Mr. America title always got a contract and endorsements. I ended up sleeping on my friend’s mama’s sofa.”

With no money coming in, Pearson received a call from a promoter based in Belize who offered to pay him an appearance fee. Even though the event was not an IFBB-sanctioned competition, Pearson agreed to pose. While in Belize, the IFBB contacted Pearson and informed him that if he participated in the event, he would be suspended for life and could not compete in any IFBB-sanctioned events. Pearson kept his agreement, performed at the event and was subsequently suspended for life in 1979.

“Once again, God is working in my life. I then got a call from a guy in Rhode Island who invited me to perform at his bodybuilding show. After the show, someone came backstage telling me I was in phenomenal shape and that there was a Mr. World contest next week in New York. I won the show in 1979 and won a ticket to London to compete for Mr. Universe. I’ve never been out of the country before. I came in second in Mr. Universe in the amateur division. The following year, I went back and won the pro division,” explained Pearson.

Pearson’s friend Kent Kuehn, the manager of Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica at the time, urged Pearson to write a letter of apology to Ben Weider so that he could be reinstated, but at a high price. Someone in the know told Pearson that while he would always be in the top five and earn money, he would never win championships.

This would make him try even harder. Pearson’s glory days came after a trip to Australia at Schwarzenegger’s encouragement. “I could work and make enough money to pay the bills, but I never got rich or had the publicity in the United States. I was on every magazine cover in Europe, Japan and Argentina.”

Spending time in Germany, after 20 years of a productive bodybuilding profession, Pearson’s career was winding down. At that time, wrestling promoter Vince McMahon created the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF). Pearson returned to the United States and competed in the WBF for three years, pitching products in GNC stores.

At 40, he lost his motivation and retired from bodybuilding in 1994. However, he continued working out and was hired as a personal trainer. In 2007, Pearson was inducted into the Muscle Beach Bodybuilding Hall of Fame. In 2008, the real estate market crashed, causing Pearson to lose everything. He left the United States and moved back to Germany.

“I trained for 18 straight years and never missed a workout, so I decided to make a comeback.” His last bodybuilding achievement was his victory at the Amateur Athletic Union’s (AAU) Mr. Universe Masters in 2020, where he finished his career in Las Vegas.

His journey has been documented, starting with his memoir “Driven: My Secret Untold Story,” published in March 2021, with the audio version released later in the year. Pearson published his children’s book “The Story of Baby Herc” the following year and released his song “Driven” on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music in August.

Pearson’s life story was immortalized in a documentary, “Driven: The Tony Pearson Story,” which details Pearson’s life and career. Produced by Tequila Mockingbird Productions, the documentary premiered on Apple, Amazon, Google Play and VUDU on Oct. 6, 2023, and won the grand prize for best documentary feature at the 2023 Golden State Film Festival.

His philosophy is, “Life has its ups and downs. Hope and faith are what keep you going. Never stop believing.”