Chris Davies

Chris's great-grandfather was strongman The Great Sandow, Eugen Sandow, who was born 1867 and died 1925. He describes how many bodybuilders in the 20th century, including the Mighty Atom, modeled themselves after his great-grandfather, who at the height of his fame toured with Ziegfeld. Sandow, who grew up a natural athlete/bodybuilder in Prussia near the Russian border, took America by storm and later lent his name to many commercial products, especially those that were strength related. In his quest to trace his great-grandfather's history, Chris came to Coney Island to meet with Joe Rollino, a former strongman now 103 years old, who met Sandow in the 1920's, and has memorabilia and many stories to tell. Chris had also just come from Los Angeles where he met with Franco Columbu, Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981, who has a bronze statue of his great grandfather in his garden.