Roy Hilligenn

Roy Stanley Hilligen (November 15, 1922 – August 3, 2008) was Mr. South Africa four years and the 1951 AAU Mr. America. Famous for his incredible strength, vegetarianism, and dazzling smile, Hilligen mixed body building and weight training in his fitness program.^[1] He appeared on magazine covers such as Strength & Health and Iron Man during his bodybuilding career. Standing at only 5'6, Hilligen was the shortest person to ever win the Mr. America title.^[2]

Childhood

Roy Hilligenn (whose name was commonly misspelled as Hilligen in publications) was born in California and won a trophy for being a beautiful baby at only six months old.^[2] Soon after his birth his family moved to South Africa where he grew up. When Hilligenn was 4 years old his father died and soon after his father's death his mother placed him and his four siblings in an orphanage.^[2] He lived at the orphanage until the age of 15, after which he went to school to become an electrician. He had little interest in sports until the age of 17 when he fell four stories while working as an electrician. The injury included broken fingers, ribs, and wrist, all of which occurred on his left side. After recovering from his injuries he began to weight train, weighing in at only 85 pounds,^[1] using a homemade set of weights given to him by a friend.^[3] Three years after his injury, Hilligenn began competing in novice weightlifting meets.^[1]

Training and competitions

Hilligenn won his first 1st place title in a novice weightlifting meet in 1943. He was in 148-pound weight class and performed a 160 press, 160 snatch, and 240 clean and jerk.^[1] He went on to win the Mr. South Africa title in 1943, 1944, 1946 and 1976^[3] (at age 54).

In 1951 Hilligenn began training for the Mr. America competition under Ed Yarick in Oakland, who had worked with former Mr. Americas (including Steve Reeves in 1947 and Jack Delinger in 1949).^[2] The Yarick gym included both bodybuilding training and weight lifting and Hilligenn spent two months training with Yarick as well as living in Yarick's home with him and his wife, Alice. During the months before the Mr. America competition, Hilligenn was training six days a week,^[3] with three days dedicated to bodybuilding and three days dedicated Olympic lifts and often including two training sessions a day. With the help of Yarick's training he went on to win the 1951 Mr. America competition. In the 1950s while Hilligenn was winning the most titles, his body weight fluctuated between 175-185 lb and he was a vegetarian, claiming to never have eaten meat.^[3]

List of competitions

Personal records while training^[1]

Photos exist of Hilligenn performing a 500 lb, one-armed, deadlift.^[4]

Adult life

Hilligenn got married in the early 1960s to Marilyn Hilligenn.

In 1983 Hilligenn received his massage license.

Hilligenn died at age 85 on August 3, 2008. A blood clot developed in his brain after he fell and hit his head and during surgery he went into a coma and never woke up.

References