Jimmy Caruso checks Arnold’s lighting in 1975.
Update: Jimmy Caruso died on July 18, 2021 at age 95.
Last weekend, we published a story on the 1969 Mr. Olympia. The photographer who shot that contest was Jimmy Caruso. The Montreal gym owner, who captured studio and contest photos for Weider muscle magazines from the mid-’50s to the late ’70s, was, in 1968, the first lensman to shoot Arnold Schwarzenegger in America; and he took some of the most iconic images of the Austrian Oak in his prime. Additionally, the bodybuilding (and boxing) trainer and gym owner taught Arnold much about posing.
Well into his 80s, Caruso was still working as a personal trainer in Montreal. On the morning of November 13, 2019, at Goldโs Gym Venice, the 94-year-old Caruso reunited with Arnold for a filmed interview. We have TMZ-style video captures of the two legends before the interviewโand before the sneaky videographer was told to get lost. Weโll let you know when you can see this reunion of two bodybuilding legendsโthe photographer and his greatest subject.
Below are four examples of Caruso’s Arnold photography from 1968-75.
