Lou Ferrigno may be best known for the title role in the hit television series, The Incredible Hulk, but before that, he was a world-class body builder and more recently, he’s been involved with law enforcement. I had the opportunity to interview him this past weekend at the Wizard World Comic Convention in Tulsa. Ferrigno said he turned to body building as a kid to avoid being bullied.

 “When I was young, I lost a major part of my hearing and I had a speech impediment,” he said. “I would read a comic book, like Superman, and I wanted to be powerful, so that lead me to discovering body building at 15.” In 1969, Ferrigno won an IFBB Mr. America title, and won two consecutive Mr. Universe titles. He came in second at the Mr. Olympia competition in 1974, and the following year, he finished third. The winner that year was Arnold Schwarzenegger, and that competition became the subject of a documentary that actually launched his career in Hollywood.