Serge Nubret
Encyclopedia
Serge Nubret was a French professional bodybuilder, bodybuilding
federation leader, movie actor
and author. Serge was awarded many bodybuilding titles, including Mr. Europe (1966), Mr. Universe
(1976) and WBBG Pro. Mr. World
(1977). Serge Nubret's nicknames were "The Black Panther" and "The Nubret Lion".
, Guadeloupe
, in a community of 7,000 people. He moved with his parents to the Paris, France area in 1950, settling in the community of Joinville-le-Pont
, and completing his secondary studies before choosing a business program.
During his adolescence and young adulthood, he quickly became aware of his exceptional potential for athletics and recalls this reflection in his book I Am…Me and God; in his own words, dedicating himself to bodybuilding
was to become his "reason for being
." He explains in his book his destiny of a fixed champion assigned to him by God ["I Am"]. He returned in Guadeloupe in 1958 in order to escape the draft for the Algerian War. It was during this period of his life he discovered bodybuilding, which he practiced simultaneously while pursuing business accounting. Bodybuilding was not encouraged by his father at the time who was concerned that it did not have as much potential for financial income as an accounting career.
Three months after entering the world of bodybuilding, Serge won the title of Mr. Guadeloupe, which he won again the following year. He was sent in 1960 to Montreal
to show the flag of Guadeloupe
in support for his country at the time of the World Championship organized by the International Federation of Bodybuilders. It was there Nubret was named "Most Muscular Man of the World." Returning next to Paris without going to Guadeloupe, he was contacted by the Films Ariane for a role alongside Giuliano Gemma
in a Duccio Tessari Italian sword-and-sandal film called The Titans
which was released in 1961 and was prelude to a rich career of 25 films.
Nubret is best known in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron
where he competed as a last-minute entry against (eventual seven time winner) Arnold Schwarzenegger
for the title of Mr. Olympia
in 1975. While he looked fantastic, Serge finished second in the Tall Man category to Schwarzenegger, while Lou Ferrigno
finished third. He was known for his excellent chest development, which would scare off fellow contestants.
The documentary film Pumping Iron, alongside Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger, follows the events occurring before the Mr. Olympia 1975—the preparation for the competition as well as its final phase. For contract reasons, his part is comparatively brief; and, apparently, certain scenes containing him could not be put in the movie. These episodes are discussed further in his book, I am…Me and God.
In the 1980s, Serge appeared regularly in 60 episodes of the television series Breakfast Included, with Pierre Mondy
and Marie-Christine Barrault
, in which he played a role that mirrored his real life as a bodybuilder/gym owner in Paris.
During the 1970s, Nubret finished third in the 1973 Mr. Olympia and second in 1975. Vice President of the IFBB Europe from 1970-1975, Nubret then founded the WABBA in 1976. He competed until 1984, when he won his last title of WABBA Champion of the World. In Gravelines
in 2003, Nubret guest-posed at the WABBA World Championship at the impressive age of 65.
In 2006, 68-year-old Serge Nubret penned the book I am…Me and God in collaboration with Louis-Xavier Babin-Lachaud. The book is not only autobiographical in nature, but it also includes his personal reflections on his Christian faith and mysticism. Through his life narrative, it adopts a definite position on the role of God in this world, on the conflict between destiny and free will, and on the illusion of this world. The book indicates the will to succeed and to follow the way traced by God, love of the author's "reason for being"..
In March 2009, Nubret fell into a coma, and remained in a persistent vegetative state
until his death on 19 April 2011 of natural causes at the age of 72.
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...
federation leader, movie actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and author. Serge was awarded many bodybuilding titles, including Mr. Europe (1966), Mr. Universe
Universe Championships
The Universe Championships are an annual bodybuilding event organised by the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association . It has a number of competitions: NABBA Amateur Mr. Universe, Miss Figure, and Miss Toned Figure....
(1976) and WBBG Pro. Mr. World
WBBG Pro. Mr. World
Pro. Mr. World was a bodybuilding competition held between 1971 and 1980 and was sponsored by the World Bodybuilding Guild .- List of Overall Winners :...
(1977). Serge Nubret's nicknames were "The Black Panther" and "The Nubret Lion".
Biography
Serge Nubret spent his first years in Anse-BertrandAnse-Bertrand
Anse-Bertrand is a commune in Guadeloupe, an overseas region and department of France in the Lesser Antilles.The inhabitants in Anse-Bertrand are called Ansois.-Geography:...
, Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, in a community of 7,000 people. He moved with his parents to the Paris, France area in 1950, settling in the community of Joinville-le-Pont
Joinville-le-Pont
Joinville-le-Pont is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:The commune was created in 1791 under the name La Branche-du-Pont-de-Saint-Maur by detaching its territory from the commune of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés...
, and completing his secondary studies before choosing a business program.
During his adolescence and young adulthood, he quickly became aware of his exceptional potential for athletics and recalls this reflection in his book I Am…Me and God; in his own words, dedicating himself to bodybuilding
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...
was to become his "reason for being
Raison d'être
Raison d'être is a French phrase meaning "reason for existence." It may also refer to:* Raison d'être , a Swedish dark-ambient-industrial-drone music project* Raison D'être , an album by Australian jazz fusion guitarist Frank Gambale...
." He explains in his book his destiny of a fixed champion assigned to him by God ["I Am"]. He returned in Guadeloupe in 1958 in order to escape the draft for the Algerian War. It was during this period of his life he discovered bodybuilding, which he practiced simultaneously while pursuing business accounting. Bodybuilding was not encouraged by his father at the time who was concerned that it did not have as much potential for financial income as an accounting career.
Three months after entering the world of bodybuilding, Serge won the title of Mr. Guadeloupe, which he won again the following year. He was sent in 1960 to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
to show the flag of Guadeloupe
Flag of Guadeloupe
The flag of the Region of Guadeloupe, a région and overseas département of France located in the Caribbean, is a white field on which is placed a logo showing a stylized sun and bird on a green and blue square...
in support for his country at the time of the World Championship organized by the International Federation of Bodybuilders. It was there Nubret was named "Most Muscular Man of the World." Returning next to Paris without going to Guadeloupe, he was contacted by the Films Ariane for a role alongside Giuliano Gemma
Giuliano Gemma
-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
in a Duccio Tessari Italian sword-and-sandal film called The Titans
The Titans
The Titans may refer to:*Titan – the Titans of Greek myth*The Titans – a comic book published by DC Comics featuring an incarnation of the superhero Teen Titans team....
which was released in 1961 and was prelude to a rich career of 25 films.
Nubret is best known in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron
Pumping Iron
Pumping Iron is a 1977 docudrama about the world of bodybuilding, focusing on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia competitions and the 100 days leading up to them. The film was inspired by a book of the same name, written by Charles Gaines and George Butler...
where he competed as a last-minute entry against (eventual seven time winner) Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
for the title of Mr. Olympia
Mr. Olympia
Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Weekend - an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness . Joe Weider created the contest to enable the...
in 1975. While he looked fantastic, Serge finished second in the Tall Man category to Schwarzenegger, while Lou Ferrigno
Lou Ferrigno
Louis Jude "Lou" Ferrigno is an American actor, fitness trainer/consultant, and retired professional bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, Ferrigno won an IFBB Mr. America title and two consecutive IFBB Mr. Universe titles, and appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron...
finished third. He was known for his excellent chest development, which would scare off fellow contestants.
The documentary film Pumping Iron, alongside Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger, follows the events occurring before the Mr. Olympia 1975—the preparation for the competition as well as its final phase. For contract reasons, his part is comparatively brief; and, apparently, certain scenes containing him could not be put in the movie. These episodes are discussed further in his book, I am…Me and God.
In the 1980s, Serge appeared regularly in 60 episodes of the television series Breakfast Included, with Pierre Mondy
Pierre Mondy
Pierre Mondy, whose real name was Pierre Cuq, born 10 February 1925 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, is a French actor and director.He began his film career in 1949 and has appeared in over 140 films. In 1960, he received international revcognition for the role of Napoléon Bonaparte in the film Austerlitz...
and Marie-Christine Barrault
Marie-Christine Barrault
Marie-Christine Barrault is a French actress, who has appeared in 45 films and numerous television productions.Born in Paris, she got her start on television, in L'Œuvre, in 1967 and in the series Que ferait donc Faber? Her film debut was in 1969 in My Night at Maud's in 1969.In 1970 Barrault...
, in which he played a role that mirrored his real life as a bodybuilder/gym owner in Paris.
During the 1970s, Nubret finished third in the 1973 Mr. Olympia and second in 1975. Vice President of the IFBB Europe from 1970-1975, Nubret then founded the WABBA in 1976. He competed until 1984, when he won his last title of WABBA Champion of the World. In Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....
in 2003, Nubret guest-posed at the WABBA World Championship at the impressive age of 65.
In 2006, 68-year-old Serge Nubret penned the book I am…Me and God in collaboration with Louis-Xavier Babin-Lachaud. The book is not only autobiographical in nature, but it also includes his personal reflections on his Christian faith and mysticism. Through his life narrative, it adopts a definite position on the role of God in this world, on the conflict between destiny and free will, and on the illusion of this world. The book indicates the will to succeed and to follow the way traced by God, love of the author's "reason for being"..
Illness and death
A second work is a 400+ page autobiography entitled Seventy Years Young. At the time of release (April 2009), it was learned that Serge Nubret suffered a stroke in Paris, France. There are conspiracies circling around the internet, which have been supported by Serge's old friends, that he was poisoned by his own children in an attempt to take his money.In March 2009, Nubret fell into a coma, and remained in a persistent vegetative state
Persistent vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...
until his death on 19 April 2011 of natural causes at the age of 72.
List of bodybuilding awards
- 1958: Mr. Guadeloupe
- 1960: IFBB World Most Muscular Man
- 1970: NABBA Mister Universe 2nd
- 1970: IFBB Mr. Europe (Tall)
- 1972: IFBB Mr. Olympia (3rd place)
- 1973: IFBB Mr. Olympia (2nd)
- 1974: IFBB Mr. Olympia (Heavy Weight, 3rd place)
- 1975: IFBB Mr. Olympia (Heavy Weight, 2nd) (Ben Weider, the president of IFBB, told Nubret that he could not compete because he was apparently "overweight", according to Nubret himself on the bodybuilding forums on bodyspace.com. This was 12 days before the IFBB Mr. Olympia event and for those 12 days, Nubret did not train and instead dieted and lost weight to be qualified for the IFBB event. He had lost 12 pounds in that period of time.) Ben Weider's account of this in the book Brothers in Iron gives the reason for Serge Nubret first being disqualified for the competition due to being in pornographic films. And in doing so had shamed the IFBB.
- 1976: Pro NABBA Mr. Universe
- 1976: WBBGWBBGWBBG is a commercial FM radio station in Youngstown, Ohio market broadcasting at 106.1 MHz with an oldies format. The station is licensed to Niles, Ohio, with programming similar to fellow Clear Channel stations WWSW-FM in Pittsburgh and WMJI in Cleveland....
Mr. World (2nd) - 1977: WBBG Mr. World
- 1977: WBBG Mr. Olympus
- 1981: Pro WABBA World Championships
- 1982: Pro WABBA World Championships
Filmography
- My Son the Hero/Arrivano i titani (1962)
- The Red Berets/Sette baschi rossiSette baschi rossiSette baschi rossi also known as The Red Berets, Seven Red Berets and Congo Hell is a 1969 Italian West German co-production about a fictional group of mercenaries filmed in Ethiopia produced and directed by screenwriter Mario Siciliano in his debut as a director...
(1969) - Le condé, (a.k.a. The Cop) (1970)
- Caesar and Rosalie, co-starring Yves MontandYves Montand-Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...
(1972) - Pumping Iron, (1977)
- The Professional, co-starring Jean-Paul BelmondoJean-Paul BelmondoJean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.-Career:Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football."Did you box professionally very long?" "Not very long...
(1981)
See also
- List of female professional bodybuilders
- List of male professional bodybuilders
- Pumping IronPumping IronPumping Iron is a 1977 docudrama about the world of bodybuilding, focusing on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia competitions and the 100 days leading up to them. The film was inspired by a book of the same name, written by Charles Gaines and George Butler...