Tony Pearson

Tony Pearson, born on January 11, 1957, is an American bodybuilding champion whose championships include individual and couples competitions. He was born the second youngest of eight children and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, during the civil rights era of the early 1960s, and in 1970 the family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended Normandy Junior and Normandy High School. In 1973 the State of Missouri took custody of him from his aunt and placed him in a group home. As a member of his school's wrestling team he suffered a knee injury and started weight training to rehabilitate it, was surprised at how quickly his body responded and decided to become a bodybuilder, and his coach took him to George Turner's gym in Clayton, Missouri, home to some of the professional elite of the time.