The Hulk Still Has
It
Ferrigno Flexes for
Reunion
By Erik Knutzen
Boston Herald,
May 21st 1988
Transcribed by Mark
Rathwell
Article provided by
Timothy Colby
When contacted to reprise
his role as the Incredible Hulk nine months ago, the 6'5" Lou Ferrigno
weighed a puny 240 pounds and felt a moral obligation to his millions
of tiny fans to get back into peak condition.
Five months later
- having pumped a few tons of iron and increased his protein intake
- he was back in fighting trim at 285 perfectly proportioned pounds.
Ferrigno, 36, was
a little nervous when he reported for work on the two-hour TV
movie "The Incredible Hulk Returns" (tomorrow at 9:00 PM on Channel
4), but his anxieties evaporated as soon as he got a whiff of
the green grease paint that covered his face and body from 1978
to 1982.
"It's a funny smell,
like a mixture of clay and chalk -- something like the odor in
the back room of a paint factory," he explains, wrinkling his
nose. "My confidence grew as the two-hour makeup process began."
"When I looked in
the mirror, I felt like the character again. I jumped into the
first scene as though six years had never passed."
The new Hulk tale
again features Bill Bixby (also executive producer) as the sensitive
research scientist -- this time known as Dr. Bannion, rather than
Banner - who hasn't Hulked out in years thanks to you steady influence
of his girlfriend, Maggie Shaw (Lee Purcell). But he is still
hounded by Jack McGee (Jack Colvin), possibly the world's dumbest
reporter, who suspects his secret but is unable to furnish proof.
Still searching for
a Hulk cure, Banion experiments with a gamma-radiation transponder
long enough to do himself harm. To make matters worse, he trips
over an old student, Dr. Donald Blake (Steve Levitt), during a
medical symposium -- only to find that Blake has a powerful alter-ego
of his own, Thor, a hammer-wielding monsters.
Thor smacks Banion
around, causing the gentle doctor to Hulk-out and beat the heck
out of Thor. Fast friends through mutual beatings, the two superheroes
team up to fight the bad guys. And so it goes.
The Incredible Hulk,
who's dialogue calls for groans, grunts and occasional roars -
was made to order for Ferrigno, who was handicapped by a severe
speech impediments as the result of losing most of his hearing
to an ear infection at age 3.
"Playing the part
was also a childhood fantasy come true," he smiles. "As a kid,
I read all the Hulk comic books and wanted to be like him, someone
who couldn't be pushed around and got lots of attention."
Shy, introverted and
ashamed of his deafness, the Brooklyn-born son of a NYPD lieutenant
tried to hide his impairment in school. As a result, he was virtually
friendless and thought of by his classmates as someone ranking
between plain stupid and retarded."
To compensate for
the lack of respect from his peers, Ferrigno turned to bodybuilding
at age 16 - with the encouragement of his 6'2", 220 pound father,
an amateur weightlifter. It worked, as he went on to become Mr.
Teenage America, Mr. America, Mr. International and Mr. Universe
- twice; the first time at 21, the youngest champion in history.
In 1975 and 1976, he came in second to Arnold Schwarzenegger in
the coveted Mr. Olympia contests.
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