Public Health and Physical Fitness Pioneer. He became one of the first and best-known advocates of public fitness and health and gained fame through his personal appearances and his long running fitness and exercise television program "The Jack LaLanne Show," which ran from 1951 to 1986. Born Francois Henri LaLanne, the youngest of three children, his parents emigrated from France with their families when they were children. He grew up in Bakersfield, California and around 1928, he moved with his family to Berkeley, California. As a young teen, he was addicted to sugar and junk food, had violent episodes against himself and others, suffered from headaches and bulimia, and temporarily dropped out of high school at the age of 14. When he was 15, he heard health food pioneer Paul C. Bragg give a talk on health and nutrition, and it changed his life forever. He began eating raw fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods, started an exercise regimen, and trained with weights. He returned to high school where he made the football team, and later attended Marymount College in San Francisco, California where he earned a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. In 1936, he opened what is considered the nation's first health and fitness club in Oakland, California and it led to a brief professional wrestling career in 1938. In September 1953, he began broadcasting the "Jack LaLanne Show" which started as a 15-minute local morning program (sandwiched between the morning news and a cooking show) on San Francisco's ABC television station, KGO-TV, with him paying for the airtime himself as a way to promote his gym and related health products. In 1959, the ABC television network picked up the show for nationwide broadcast, which continued until 1985, and became the longest running television exercise program. In 1963, he was the founding member of President's Council on Physical Fitness under President John F. Kennedy. He invented a number of exercise machines, including leg-extension and pulley devices that are now standard in the fitness industry, and invented the original model of what became the Smith machine. By the 1980s, his European Health Spas numbered more than 200. He eventually licensed all his health clubs to the Bally company, now known as Bally Total Fitness. He accomplished numerous physical feats during his life, including twice swimming from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. He played himself the films "Repossessed" (1990), "Amazing Discoveries" (1991), "Beefcake" (1999), and on such television shows as "You Bet Your Life," "Peter Gunn," "The Addams Family," and "The Simpsons." He also authored a number of health and fitness books, including "Jack LaLanne's Slim and Trim Diet and Exercise Guide" (1969), "Revitalize Your Life After 50" (1995), "Jack LaLanne's Way to Vibrant Good Health" (2000), and "Live Young Forever" (2009). In 2007, he was awarded The President's Council's Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the advancement or promotion of physical activity, fitness, or sports nationwide and the following year in 2008, he was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to television located at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.