George Tyssen Butler, a documentary filmmaker best known for co-directing the 1977 feature “Pumping Iron,” died on Oct. 21 of pneumonia at his home in New Hampshire. He was 78 years old…
Butler’s death was confirmed to Butler was born in England in 1943 and grew up in Somalia and Jamaica. He graduated from the Groton School in Massachusetts before earning a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of North Carolina and a master’s in creative writing from Hollins College. Butler became involved in the world of bodybuilding in the early 1970s by photographing competitions for Life magazine and The Village Voice.
Collaborating with author Charles Gaines, the pair penned a book about the culture of bodybuilding. The success of “Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding” led to the making of the documentary “Pumping Iron,” for which Butler and Gaines wrote the script. Butler also co-directed the film with Robert Fiore.
Centering on the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition, “Pumping Iron” was a landmark look into the world of bodybuilding and launched the film career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, helping make the five-time Mr. Universe winner a household name. “The Incredible Hulk” star Lou Ferrigno is also a subject in the documentary. Butler helmed “Pumping Iron II: The Women,” a follow-up focusing on female bodybuilding, in 1985.
“‘Pumping Iron,’ the book and the movie, drew the general public in to our strange little niche sport and brought fitness – and this Austrian with an unpronounceable name and a funny accent – to the masses,” Schwarzenegger wrote in a statement . “I was saddened to hear of George’s passing. He was such a talent, he had a fantastic eye and he was a force for the sport of bodybuilding and the fitness crusade.”
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