Northern FanCon has announced its latest celebrity guest. It'll make fans happy and he'll love you if you're happy.
It's Lou Ferrigno, the original Incredible Hulk, the first television superhero star of the modern age, and the first prime-time body builder not called Schwartzenneger to become a household name.
Ferrigno told The Citizen he had heard about Northern FanCon - it is established enough now to have a reputation - and he did some research.
"Prince George sounds like a great town," he said. "I've been all over Canada, I do a lot of cons, but I hadn't done Prince George. The word is it's a beautiful city, the people are fantastic, and they'd be friendly for The Incredible Hulk."
Ferrigno was already a star on the body building stage. He was expected to succeed Arnold Schwartzenegger as the Mr. Olympia titleholder, and he was featured along with Schwartzenegger in the acclaimed 1977 documentary Pumping Iron.
As massive as Schwartzenegger would become in Hollywood, and even then he was getting small roles in TV and movies, he didn't convert his physique cache until the 1982 movie Conan The Barbarian.
By then, Ferrigno had already been on weekly visits for five years into the homes of America as the green god of the Marvel universe. It was an unprecedented five-year run on prime time television for a comic book character.
"I knew at the time of the audition that the Spider-Man and Captain America series had both failed, so I felt I had to give 100 per cent," said Ferrigno, describing the show's expectations. "I knew the public would embrace the character, but then when it hit the air, it went like wildfire. It was much bigger than I expected."
Adam West had succeeded as Batman. George Reeves had succeeded as Superman. The shows, though, were family melodramas, not placed like The Incredible Hulk was in prized network real estate going head to head with other networks. According to Ferrigno, it was the best result ever for a superhero on TV.
He became an instant household name, alongside actor Bill Bixby who portrayed Dr. David Banner, the human form of the Hulk's persona. The dramatic transformation from Banner to Hulk, like a comic book Jekyll and Hyde scenario, only happened when Banner was overcome by rage and the angry emotions triggered the bulging muscles and rancorous roars of his green alter-ego.
Ferrigno has never tired of his connection to the character. He considers himself lucky to embody this kind of hero and he still remembers how, as a child, he yearned for personal power to defeat all the bullying and other obstacles in his own life.
That childhood sadness and injustice played a role in how he got the part, he believes. There were a lot of musclemen on the option block (Schwartzenegger was considered, as was James Bond villain actor Richard Kiel), but something about Ferrigno stood out to the casting directors.
"I acted like The Hulk," Ferrigno said, meaning the subtle sides of the creature's personality. "I was able to be flexible, I was able to show the sensitivity, the vulnerability, that he was a sensitive creature, not just a monster."
It came natural, Ferrigno said, because he had severe hearing impairment as a child that translated into a speech impediment that shows traces to this day.
"It was very easy for me to pantomime - act without speaking - that sensitivity, because I had a very tough life overcoming adversity."
He was able to find personal power within himself and channel that into becoming a person of strength via body and character. He lived a profound metamorphosis of his own, and it dates back to the same world of superheroes he entered each week on television.
It was while reading comic books that he spotted an ad for a body building program. He ordered it and he stuck with it.
Pumping iron became his hobby, then his career.
He has been fortunate, but he has also been the architect of his own good luck by applying dedication and tenacity to his many pursuits in life, starting with body building, then as an actor (he has played many other characters besides the Hulk), and then in business.
He is also a certified badge-carrying peace officer with a number of law enforcement departments.
"When I travel I like to visit different departments to show my support," he said. "It is a great career and it changed my life because my father was an NYPD lieutenant. It has always been a part of my life."
Ferrigno gives back with volunteerism and financial aid to other causes dear to his heart, chief among them hearing impairment advocacy, muscular dystrophy and ALS charities, and the health benefits of physical fitness.
He also tips his hat to all the fans of The Incredible Hulk and he likes to do that in person.
That's something the latest movie version of the Hulk cannot do, because the massively successful Avengers movies don't use an actor for the green creature. Banner is played by Mark Ruffalo, but the Hulk is portrayed by computer animation.
"I think it's great (that the Hulk is so popular again) but everybody knows I'm the original Hulk and everybody knows CGI can't sign autographs, but I can," Ferrigno laughed.
He will be easy to spot at Northern FanCon all three days from May 3-5. Don't miss it or you'll make him angry and you won't like him when he's angry.
