[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
José Luis Ayestarán was born on April 11, 1945 in Alcubilla de
Avellaneda, a small village in Soria Castilla y León, Spain. He began to train,
in the early years of the 1960s, in the Madrid Gymnasium of the Salesian school
in the Atocha area. There, he met several pioneers of Spanish bodybuilding,
including Eduardo Franco, writer and current director of Muscle & Fitness
magazine, Adolfo Robles, cartoonist and sculptor and Fernando Delgado. In 1965,
being already a student of Dino Camerlengo in the gymnasium, Heracles
participated in the first edition of Mr. Heracles and the first Mr. Madrid, finishing
third.
In 1967 he achieved his first triumph in the Mr. Heracles. In 1968 he brilliantly won the championship in Madrid. In 1969 he was a finalist in the first edition of the Spanish bodybuilding championship, held at the Maddox nightclub in Playa D'Aro (Girona), under the watchful eye of the great international champion Rick Wayne.
Without a doubt, one of his greatest triumphs was the Spanish championship of 1972, in the sports center of the Atlas Gymnasium in Seville, a competition of a high level. In the short size won a great Pedro Conrado, in the medium size a magnificent Baldo Lois who would win the absolute and in the high size the aforementioned Ayestarán. In 1975 he was crowned champion of Spain again in the tall size, beating Baldo Lois, he was only surpassed by the magnificent Salvador Ruiz who began to mark the path that would lead him to proclaim himself world champion.
Known artistically as Richard Yestaran began working in the cinema in the19 60s, sometimes as an extra, other times as a secondary actor, others as a specialist and others as a main actor. He worked in films as relevant as “The Fall of the Roman Empire” with Sophia Loren and James Mason, “55 Days in Beijing” with Ava Gardner, David Niven and Charlton Heston, “Camelot” with Richard Harris, “The Brigade of the Damned”, dubbing Jack Palance, etc. But, without a doubt, his great leap was made in the 1970s starring in several installments of Tarzan of the Apes, including “Tarzan and the Mystery of the Jungle” and “Tarzan and the Treasure of Kawana”. In 1979 he starred in “Supersonic Man”, a B-movie science fiction film. In 1981 he was Arnold Schwarzenegger's double in “Conan, The Barbarian” and, in addition, participated in several scenes.
In 2015 the Febus Agency presented, in Madrid, at the AC Coslada Aeropuerto hotel, a tribute to José Luis Ayestarán. Baldo Lois, another illustrious pioneer of Spanish bodybuilding was in charge of giving him the plaque in recognition of all his contribution to the history of Spanish physical culture since he was one of the greatest bodybuilders of the 1970s.
AYESTARAN,
José Luis (aka José L. Ayestarán, Richard Yestarán) (José Luis Ayestarán) [4/11/1945, Alcubilla de
Avellaneda, Soria, Castilla y León, Spain -
] – stuntman, film actor.
Whisky and
Ghosts – 1974 (Pecos Bill)
Al este del
Oeste – 1983
Recompensa –
2022
Jose Avesteran is responsible for playing the role of "Pecos Bill" in the 1974 Spaghetti Western "Whiskey And Ghosts". Dennis Quaid would play the role twenty years later in the 1994 Disney family Western "Tall Tale" which also included the characters of Calamity Jane, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan along with his blue ox, Babe. Pecos Bill himself was considered a tall tale and there are many stories about him including him shooting off a bad guy's trigger fingers, riding a cyclone, and having died from literally laughing too hard. He truly IS a tall tale and has become legendary. Who da thunk it?
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