Joe Rollino

At 103 years old, Joe Rollino is a former Coney Island strongman, Olympic athlete and professional boxer. A vegetarian all his life who never smoked or drank, he was a member of the Coney Island Iceberg cold water swim club for 50 years. He tells stories of Charles Atlas (aka Angelo Siciliano), Charles Bronson, Marlon Brando, and his mentor, strongman Warren Lincoln Travis, among others.

On January 11, 2010, Joe Rollino, then 104, was hit by a van and killed while out for his morning walk. He was the oldest person interviewed for the Coney Island History Project’s Oral History Archive.  In 2012, the corner of Bay Ridge Parkway and 14th Avenue was named “Joe ‘The Great’ Rollino Corner” in his honor.

In Memoriam: Coney Island Strongman Joe Rollino by Charles Denson (January 12, 2010) http://www.coneyislandhistory.org/blog/news-and-events/memoriam-coney-is...