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Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Bill Melby Day


Bill Melby has appeared here on the blog as recently as a few weeks ago, and I've decided he needs his own series.  Today's posts are roughly in chronological order.  The early pictures are by Bruce of LA and show Bill during his successful days as a competitive bodybuilder.  Sadly, he seems to have removed his chest hair like a lot of his peers did, but it will show up later.  Mr. Melby grew up in the Salt Lake City area, having attended nearby Granite High School, and several of Bruce's photos (including this one) look like they were made at Great Salt Lake.  That leaves me wondering if Bruce made these during the memorable trip to Salt Lake City in which he photographed Mike Sill, Walt Needham, Dennis Christenson, and Reed Phippen.  Bill was already competing at the Mr. America level by that time, so he may not have entered the Mr. Utah competition that the others did.  The above is one of only two known frontal nude shots of this amazing man.

 

6 comments:

  1. Man, his arms are fantastic! He seems relaxed, but can you imagine how cool this shot would be had he smiled? No waves in the water. I'd say it's the Great Salt Lake for sure.

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  2. Wow. A perfect physique. And for me, so good to see a competitive body builder nude. No trunks spoiling the body line.

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  3. And I have the other nude one from this set. It is hands down my favorite photo of this guy. I always wondered where these were taken. Salt Lake City, huh? Cool.

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    1. I've been astounded by the number of first rate models who came out of the 1950s Salt Lake City bodybuilding scene.

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