JACK O'BLENESS

Inducted 2010

Jack O’Bleness was born on April 22, 1927 in Bristow, Oklahoma. He started training at age 16 and married his wife Tressa when he was 17. They recently celebrated 65 years together.

Jack and Tressa began an auto-racing career in 1945 and raced stock cars, sprint cars, and micro-minis for more than 20 years until injuries from different accidents eventually led to their retirement.

Bodybuilding was always a favorite pastime for Jack, and he started seriously training people in 1949 at the age of 22. He ultimately trained hundreds of people from all over the world through his Monstermaker Gym and Equipment Company, first in Redondo Beach and later in Inglewood and Apple Valley, California. A man of formidable size and strength himself – usually fluctuating between 200-240 lbs in bodyweight – Jack could clean and push-press 315 lbs and bench press 415 lbs.

 One of the earliest pioneers in natural bodybuilding, Jack founded the American Bodybuilding Coordinating Committee (ABCC) in 1979 in California to advance drug-free competition. At the same time, he was also named Southern Pacific Chairman of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Physique Committee. Within months of his first ABCC contest, Jack had eight separate lawsuits filed against him by athletes whom he refused entry but claimed to be natural. He ultimately prevailed and offered them – or anyone whom he had refused entry - to take a polygraph to corroborate that they were “clean,” but no one ever accepted. By then he was receiving anonymous death threats, his truck was bombed, his dog was blinded, and he was forced to attend his contests accompanied by an attorney and several biker friends as bodyguards. Even some of his assistants were obliged to hire escorts for protection.

ABCC shows were conducted in Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington in the early 1990’s, but the majority of ABCC events took place in California. The organization operated under a one-year drug-free policy until late 1989 when they became an amateur affiliate of the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF). From that time forward they operated under a five year drug-free policy. The ABCC remained a WNBF amateur affiliate through 1994 but continued to operate independently under Jack’s leadership through the mid-2000s.

Jack is now 83-years-old in a wheelchair recovering from a head-on auto collision a few years ago that left him unconscious for four days with both legs broken and nine broken ribs. Despite his physical limitations, he is back training athletes again and promoting “drug-free.”

Natural bodybuilding is still very important to Jack, yet he has a genuine compassion for those athletes who used steroids and experienced health problems. He urges others to help them and to encourage them to convince others to remain drug-free. He believes natural athletes can do just as well as those who use steroids – and do it longer.