He was an amazing writer and a great family man. He couldn’t have been more welcoming, and he was a fantastic training partner who always pushed everyone around him in the gym to be better. Can you imagine meeting your idol and becoming his training partner and traveling all over the world together? I was in heaven. He even hand-built my first furniture when I moved to Santa Monica, and let me tell you, he was talented. “When I got to America and finally met Dave, I learned his heart was as big as his pecs. In Austria, I kept his cover of Muscle Builder magazine on the wall above my bed for motivation, and when I saw him starring in “Don’t Make Waves,” I thought, “My dreams are possible. “Dave Draper was an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, including me,” Schwarzenegger wrote. Olympia titles, paid tribute to Draper on his Instagram page. Schwarzenegger paid tribute to Draper on Instagram on Tuesday, hours after Draper died at the age of 79. He also appeared on “The Beverly Hillbillies” and was a guest on “Pat Boone in Hollywood” in ’67 and “The Merv Griffin Show” in ’71.ĭave Draper, left, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, were friends and training partners during bodybuilding’s golden era.
It, as his doctor told me a little while ago, was a good death.”ĭraper, born April 16, 1942, appeared on nearly a dozen TV shows and in multiple films, including “Lord Love a Duck” in ’66 and “Don’t Make Waves” in ’67. I was with him and it was calm and peaceful. “Hi, friends, as the word’s getting out, I wanted to let you know so there’s no confusion,” she wrote, “Dave died early this morning. Santa Cruz County resident Dave Draper, an iconic, former world-class bodybuilder, dies at 79