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Armand Tanny

Born Armondo Tannidinardo March 5 1919, died April 4, 2009

While not a frequent or well-known bodybuilding competitor having only competed in four contests between 1949-50, Armand was the cover model for at least eleven magazines, and became an all-time favorite writer of muscle builders across the decades. Prior to his bodybuilding competitions, he was a competitive weightlifter while studying pre-med.

Armand was born in Rochester, NY, in March of 1919, and moved to the sands of Muscle Beach at age twenty. He spent time in the Navy, then as a pro wrestler and as one of the members of the Mae West Revue in Las Vegas, but never strayed far from southern California, where he continues to live.

From his obituary in the LA Times we get:

In his early teens, Tanny was competing in weightlifting competitions. In 1941, he placed second in the heavyweight class in the Junior Nationals competition in Akron, Ohio. In that competition, he managed 230, 250 and 330 pounds in the three Olympic lifts (press, snatch, and clean and jerk). He was able to clean a 300-pound barbell one-handed.

Steve Reeves, George Eiferman, Armand Tanny, Clancy Ross

Joe Roark details the life and times of Armand Tanny in this 2005 Flex Hall of Fame report.

In this interview with Terry Todd, Armand talks old times and reflects on Steve Reeves.

You'll find Armand's history page here at Musclememory.com, and here is his bio page from ifbb.com.

You can pick up at poster of an old shot of Armand, $15, or a collage of Muscle Beach shots at his daughter Mandy's Muscular Gourmet site, where you'll also find her popular Muscular Gourmet cookbook.