Bodybuilders - Part 13

Ray Routledge

Ray Routledge (1931-2008) won the Mr. America title in 1961.  He was actually in the Air Force at the time, doing bodybuilder competitions while on leave.  He flew in from an air base in Germany to win Mr. America in 1961.

Earlier, he supplemented his income by posing nude for physique photographers such as Dave Martin.  Above, Ray Routledge by Dave Martin, 1951.

Ray Routledge by photographer Russ Warner, 1951.

Ray Routledge by Russ Warner, 1953.  Note that in these early photos, his arms are not very muscular.

This is said to be a 1952 photo by Russ Warner.  The comment "art class" is problematic.  Either Ray was posing nude for an art class, which is possible, and some amateur took this photo, or Russ Warner took the photo in his studio.  Warner was a professional photographer and would not be taking photos in an art class.

Also, there are problems with the dates that I have found for many of these photos.  Note that Ray has more muscles in this supposed 1952 photo than he does in the previous supposed 1953 photo.  Ray was gradually getting more muscular during those years, not less muscular.  I have arranged these photos more or less in order by how muscular he is, not the dates that I have found on Internet sites.  It just goes to show you can't always trust everything that someone posted on some Internet site.

Ray Routledge by Russ Warner, supposedly 1951, but he has more muscles than the other 1951 shots.

Ray Routledge by Russ Warner, supposedly 1953, with more muscles than the fourth photo in this post, which was also supposedly 1953.

Ray Routledge by Russ Warner.  This was a perfect example of why not to trust the dates.  One site said it was from 1951; another site said it was from 1957.

Ray Routledge by Russ Warner, undated, but it looks like it was taken in the same session as the previous photo.

We end with Ray Routledge supposedly photographed by Dave Martin, undated, but it also looks like it's from the same session with Russ Warner (note the mat that he's lying on).  Conclusion?  Don't trust everything that you see on the Internet.

Ray Routledge stopped posing nude when he started winning major bodybuilding competitions in 1957.  His tattoo was a disadvantage in these competitions – judges deducted points for having a tattoo.  Nevertheless, in 1961 he won both Mr. America and Mr. Universe.

I got many of these photos from Vintage Muscle Men (but not the questionable dates – those were on other sites).  Thanks, Jerry!