Finding aid to the Bruce of Los Angeles photographs, circa 1950-1974 Coll2017-011

Loni Shibuyama

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

909 West Adams Boulevard

Los Angeles, California 90007

askone@usc.edu

URL: http://one.usc.edu

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Title: Bruce of Los Angeles photographs

creator: Bruce of Los Angeles

Identifier/Call Number: Coll2017-011

Physical Description: 8 Linear Feet 7 boxes.

Date (inclusive): circa 1950-1974

Abstract: Photographic prints, slides, and stereo slides, circa 1950-1974, from photographer Bruce Bellas, better known as Bruce of Los Angeles. Bruce of Los Angeles photographed male bodybuilders beginning in the 1940s and sold his photographs (including nude images) via mail order until his death in 1974.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by model name, with unidentified images at the end.

Biography

Bruce of Los Angeles was a trading name used by photographer Bruce Bellas (b. 1909) to market his photographs of the male physique. Bellas began photographing male bodybuilders in the 1940s when he moved from Alliance, Nebraska to California. He quickly gained a reputation in the bodybuilding world and began photographing models in his home on Kensington Road in Long Beach. Until 1968 postal regulations did not allow frontal male nude pictures to be posted and so he would travel to big cities with trunks of nude pictures to sell to clients from hotel rooms. He also sold photographs by mail order and was most active in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, he published his own magazine, The Male Figure, to further promote his photography. Bellas continued to photograph the male physique up until his death in 1974. Following his death, Kurt Deitrick continued distributing Bellas' photographs under the name Kensington Road.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Date and method of acquisition unknown.

Preferred Citation

[Box/folder #, or item name] Bruce of Los Angeles Photographs, Coll2017-011, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Pat Allen, Steve Fritch, David Hensley, Christian Morales, and Robert Graves, 2017.

Scope and Contents

The collection comprises photographic prints, slides, and stereo slides, circa 1950-1974, from photographer Bruce Bellas, better known as Bruce of Los Angeles. The bulk of the collection is black and white prints from the 1950s-1960s.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Bodybuilding

Photography of men

Photography of the nude

Box 1

Al Abajian

Box 1

Al Abajian and Bob Poling

Box 1

Al Fong

Box 1

Al Hansen and Irvin "Zabo" Koszewski

Box 1

Al Herz

Box 1

Al Mervil

Box 1

Al Sanada

Box 1

Alex Aronis

Box 1

Anthony Falco

Box 1

Armand Tanny

Box 1

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Box 1

Art Ulrich

Box 1

Barney Subkoski and Gene Hilbert

Box 1

Barry Adkins

Box 1

Bart Horne

Box 1

Ben Montgomery

Box 1

Ben Oakley

Box 1

Ben Stackowski

Box 1

Bernard Gagne

Box 1

Bernie Ernst

Box 1

Bert Edwards

Box 1

Bert Elliott

Box 1

Bert Elliott and Hector Dehoyos

Box 1

Bert Elliott and John Murphy

Box 1

Bill Brinkley

Box 1

Bill Broome

Box 1

Bill Christner

Box 1

Bill Dorfman

Box 1

Bill Eld

Box 1

Bill Grant

Box 1

Bill Gregg

Box 1

Bill Lamm

Box 1

Bill Mahrer

Box 1

Bill Melby

Box 1

Bill Richey

Box 1

Bill Robb

Box 1

Bill Saban

Box 1

Bill Watts

Box 1

Bill Wilson

Box 1

Billy Cochran

Box 1

Black Hawk

Box 1

Blackie Preston

Box 1

Bo Lindstrum

Box 1

Bob Collier

Box 1

Bob Diehl

Box 1

Bob Forbes

Box 1

Bob Foss

Box 1

Bob Gentry

Box 1

Bob Kappel

Box 1

Bob Kendall

Box 1

Bob Koklick

Box 1

Bob McCune

Box 1

Bob Poling

Box 1

Bob Poling and Al Abajian

Box 1

Bob Poling and Marve McPike

Box 1

Bob Silva

Box 1

Bob Starr

Box 1

Bob Storm

Box 1

Bobby Clark

Box 1

Bobby Kennedy

Box 1

Bobby Kennedy

Box 1

Bobcat

Box 1

Boots Murphy

Box 1

Bradford

Box 1

Brian Idol

Box 1

Bruce Kitrell

Box 1

Bruce Schorb

Box 1

Bud Counts

Box 1

Bud Mucci

Box 1

Bud Taylor

Box 2

Carl McKinney

Box 2

Carrol Cuomo

Box 2

Charles Foster

Box 2

Charles Zumwalt

Box 2

Charlie Ram

Box 2

Cherokee

Box 2

Chester Brown

Box 2

Chipper Cunningham

Box 2

Chuck Hall

Box 2

Chuck Hall

Box 2

Chuck Larson aka Lassen

Box 2

Chuck Rankin

Box 2

Chuck Shields

Box 2

Chuck Steury

Box 2

Chuck Wood

Box 2

Claude

Box 2

Craig Holt

Box 2

Dale Counce

Box 2

Dale Gilbert

Box 2

Dale Mack

Box 2

Dale Newberger

Box 2

Danny DeWhig

Box 2

Danny Hyde

Box 2

Danny Lewitt

Box 2

David Allen

Box 2

David Anderson

Box 2

David Fitzen

Box 2

David George

Box 2

David Gregory

Box 2

David Walsh

Box 2

David Zurborg

Box 2

David Zurborg and Phil Knight

Box 2

Del Roberts

Box 2

Dennis Christensen

Box 2

Dennis Shreefer

Box 2

Denny Reese

Box 2

Dick Dene

Box 2

Dick Fowler

Box 2

Dick Knight

Box 2

Dick Knight and Bill Grant

Box 2

Dick Pardee

Box 2

Dick Saley

Box 2

Dick Saley and Steve Lewis

Box 2

Dick Spero

Box 2

Dick Spero and Huge Pendleton

Box 2

Dino

Box 2

Don Carter

Box 2

Don Fuller

Box 2

Don Hawksley

Box 2

Don Myers

Box 2

Drew Burton

Box 2

Drew Burton and Paul Strand

Box 3

Ed Forsythe

Box 3

Ed Fury

Box 3

Ed Fury and Paul Moffitt

Box 3

Ed Johnson

Box 3

Ed Lincoln

Box 3

Ed Lincoln and Jim Drinkward

Box 3

Eddie Padilla

Box 3

Edgar Hayes

Box 3

Edhart Weikert

Box 3

Elias Rodriguez

Box 3

Emil Swoboda

Box 3

Eugene McGlothean

Box 3

Eugene Soinski

Box 3

Ford McLaine

Box 3

Frank Halford

Box 3

Fred Demus

Box 3

Fred Lehrer

Box 3

Fred Orlando

Box 3

Fred Sanchez

Box 3

Gar Nansen

Box 3

Garry Bradley

Box 3

Gary Bonaparte

Box 3

Gary Carmody

Box 3

Gary Frost

Box 3

Gavin Burke

Box 3

George Bryant

Box 3

George Eifferman

Box 3

George Rugg

Box 3

George Towers

Box 3

Gerry Bradley

Box 3

Glen Mills

Box 3

Glen Porter

Box 3

Gordon Hansen

Box 3

Gordon Hansen and Robert Schwartz

Box 3

Gunnar Wilde

Box 3

Hank Evans

Box 3

Hans Latschkowski

Box 3

Harry Domec

Box 3

Harry Miller

Box 3

Hector de Hoyos

Box 3

Henry Fong

Box 3

Henry Jones

Box 3

Herb Bridgeford

Box 3

Howard Hillman

Box 3

Howard Richards

Box 3

Hugh Pendleton

Box 3

Hugh Pendleton and Kim Fox

Box 3

Ivan Davis

Box 3

Jack Dellinger

Box 3

Jack Harte

Box 3

Jack Reno

Box 3

Jack West

Box 3

James Galbraith

Box 3

James Galbraith

Box 3

James Hart

Box 3

Jasper Cummings

Box 3

Jerome Bruns

Box 3

Jerry DeBry

Box 3

Jerry Sullivan

Box 3

Jim Adams

Box 3

Jim Burbon

Box 3

Jim Collette

Box 3

Jim Conrey

Box 3

Jim Dillon

Box 3

Jim Guissi

Box 3

Jim Gussi and Joe Napoli

Box 3

Jim Manning

Box 3

Jim Nero

Box 3

Jim Smith

Box 3

Jimmy Gillis

Box 4

Joe Dallesandro

Box 4

Joe Fierro and Al Morrow

Box 4

Joe Ford

Box 4

Joe Grimaldi

Box 4

Joe Lietel

Box 4

Joe Lietel and Don Fuller

Box 4

Joe Napolie

Box 4

Joe Tiffenbach

Box 4

Joe Williams

Box 4

Joe Wing

Box 4

Joey Gaussoin

Box 4

John Borzacas

Box 4

John Brophy

Box 4

John Burke

Box 4

John Hackett

Box 4

John Huffer

Box 4

John Knight

Box 4

John Leist

Box 4

John Manning

Box 4

John Manning and Oz Word

Box 4

John Miller

Box 4

John Podrebarac

Box 4

John Skaggs

Box 4

John Stumps

Box 4

John Weidemann

Box 4

Johnny Felix

Box 4

Johnny Mango

Box 4

Johnny Nogan

Box 4

Jon Barrie

Box 4

Jon Nero

Box 4

Jon Sommers

Box 6

Jon Sommers and Terry Sommers

Box 4

Julian Dante

Box 4

Karl Thompson

Box 4

Keith Stephans

Box 4

Kim Dennis

Box 4

Kim Fox and Hugh Pendleton

Box 4

Kim Larue

Box 4

Kip Behar

Box 4

Kirk Bond

Box 4

Kurt Freeman

Box 4

Lance Arlen

Box 4

Larry Eix

Box 4

Larry Meadows

Box 4

Larry Palmer and Ted Cvek

Box 4

Larry Scott

Box 4

Larry Stroder

Box 4

Larry Werner

Box 4

Leal Scott

Box 4

Lee Nirka

Box 4

Leroy Williams

Box 4

Lew Fajaro

Box 4

Lew Marshall

Box 4

Lewis Williams

Box 4

Lionel Duffield

Box 4

Lou Degni

Box 4

Louis Phillips

Box 4

Lynn Lyman

Box 4

Manuel Drown

Box 4

Mark Edwards

Box 4

Mark Nixon

Box 4

Martin Adams

Box 4

Marty Pelser

Box 4

Marv McPike

Box 4

Matt Ramsey

Box 4

Mel Bates

Box 4

Mel Waskey

Box 4

Mike Anderson

Box 4

Mike Kevin

Box 4

Mike Norlan

Box 4

Mike Sill

Box 4

Mike Sterus

Box 4

Mike Williams

Box 4

Miles Conley

Box 4

Monroe Huel

Box 4

Monty Wolford

Box 5

Neil Gautier

Box 5

Norman Baker

Box 5

Oscar Lukini

Box 5

Pat Coffey

Box 5

Pat O'Hara

Box 5

Pat Paterson

Box 5

Paul Como

Box 5

Paul Krise

Box 5

Paul Naylon

Box 5

Paul Rehus

Box 5

Paul Rowland

Box 5

Paul Strand

Box 5

Pepper Gomez

Box 5

Perry Peters

Box 5

Peter Vail

Box 5

Phil Knight

Box 5

Phil Knight and David Zurborg

Box 5

Phil Knight and Dick Pardu

Box 5

Ralph Aspenleider

Box 5

Ralph Burkey

Box 5

Ralph Burkey and Bill Richey

Box 5

Ralph Kleiner

Box 5

Randy Randall

Box 5

Randy Smith

Box 5

Ray Piel

Box 5

Ray Robirds

Box 5

Richard Conrey

Box 5

Richard Heys

Box 5

Richard Saley

Box 5

Rick Hanson

Box 5

Rick Sack

Box 5

Rlee Brewer

Box 5

Robert Butler

Box 5

Robert Challacombe

Box 5

Robert Collier

Box 5

Robert Deckard

Box 5

Robert Fedell

Box 5

Robert Kendall

Box 5

Robert McKim

Box 5

Robert Schwartz

Box 5

Robert Shealy

Box 5

Robert Watts

Box 5

Robert Weitknecht

Box 5

Robin Perma

Box 5

Roger Cook

Box 5

Ron Crow

Box 5

Ron Fortner

Box 5

Ron Wallace

Box 5

Rory and Gunnar Wilde

Box 5

Rory Wilde

Box 5

Roy Hilligenn

Box 5

Roy Skold

Box 5

Roy Woodward

Box 6

Sam Pierre

Box 6

Sam Stall

Box 6

Scotty Cunningham

Box 6

Scotty Cunningham and Chipper Cunningham

Box 6

Sig Latschkowsky

Box 6

Steve Espie

Box 6

Steve Frome

Box 6

Steve Lewis

Box 6

Steve Lewis and Dick Saley

Box 6

Steve Spurgeon

Box 6

Steve Wengryn

Box 6

Tabby Anderson

Box 6

Ted Cvek

Box 6

Terrell Brunet

Box 6

Terry Frost

Box 6

Terry Persons

Box 6

Terry Sommers

Box 6

Thomas Ramey

Box 6

Tico Patterson

Box 6

Tim Sweeney

Box 6

Tim Young

Box 6

Toby Cunningham

Box 6

Tom Matthews

Box 6

Tom Matthews and Louis Tarr

Box 6

Tom Wayne

Box 6

Tommy Lee

Box 6

Tony Evans

Box 6

Tony Melia

Box 6

Tony Rogers

Box 6

Tony Segal

Box 6

Tony Wilson

Box 6

Vern Bickel

Box 6

Walt Needham

Box 6

Warren McCloud

Box 6

Wayne Kane

Box 6

Wesley Smith

Box 6

Whip Master

Box 6

Wilber Counte

Box 6

Wilde Brothers, Gunnar and Rory

Box 6

Willard Anderson

Box 6

2 Models - not named

Box 6

Body Builders

Box 6

Color Photographes

Box 6

Cowboys

Box 6

Maudi Gras, New Orleans

Box 6

Models Inside - not named

Box 6

Models Outside - not named

Box 7

Naked Heartland

Box 7

Possibly Photographs by Bruce of LA