Joe Gold opened the first Gold's Gym in August 1965, in Venice Beach, California, long before the modern day health club existed. Featuring homemade equipment and dubbed "the Mecca of bodybuilding", it was frequented by Arnold Schwarzenegger[6] and Dave Draper and featured in the docudrama Pumping Iron (1977), which brought attention not only to the gym itself but also to bodybuilding and physique in general. To this day, Gold's Gym is considered a landmark in bodybuilding culture and has achieved cult status.
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In 1970, Gold sold the at-the-time failing gym to Bud Danits, an antique dealer, and Dave Saxe, a jeweler. They ran the gym for almost two years, and when they realized it was not feasible for them, they were going to close it and reopen the premises as an antiques shop. They offered it to a gym member, Ken Sprague, who purchased it in late 1971, and Gold's was saved as a gym. Sprague was the first owner of Gold's to actually sponsor and hold bodybuilding competitions, and his promotional skills and film industry contacts helped build the establishment's profile.
According to wikipedia
