Billy Blanks
Encyclopedia
Billy Wayne Blanks is an American fitness
guru
, martial artist
, actor
, and the inventor of the Tae Bo
exercise program.
on TV, he decided he wanted to be a world martial-arts champion. The discipline of the program began to transform his body.
Blanks began his acting career in the 1980s where he starred in several unsuccessful action-adventure feature films. He was hired to act as a bodyguard for lead actress Catherine Bach
during the filming of Driving Force, due to the political unrest present in Manila
at the time; he impressed the producers so much, they wrote him into the script.
In the late 1980s, Blanks invented the Tae Bo
workout, while running a karate studio in Quincy, Massachusetts
. He used components of his martial arts and boxing
training. The name is a portmanteau of tae kwon do and boxing. Blanks opened a fitness center in Los Angeles
to teach his new workout. He later attracted some celebrity clients such as Paula Abdul
and the popularity of the workout quickly grew, becoming a pop culture phenomenon after Blanks began releasing mass-marketed videos. The popularity of the workout later waned, but Blanks still attracts many celebrity clients and Tae Bo
videos and DVDs have continued to sell well.
Most of Billy Blank's products are licensed to DRTV, as can be seen by the copyright info in the footer of www.billyblanks.com. DRTV is an infomercial product company included under the umbrella of Gaiam
, a lifestyle brand
media company with offices in Broomfield, CO and New York, NY.
, the fourth of fifteen children. As a child he suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia
. Blanks is a Christian
and released a special line of Tae Bo workouts called the "Believer's" series that includes motivational prayer
s and other Christian components. He has appeared on Christian television network TBN
.
He married Gayle H. Godfrey, whom he met in karate class. Gayle's daughter, Shellie, born on June 28, 1974, was adopted shortly after they married. Shellie Blanks Cimarosti is now an accomplished martial artist, is prominently featured in almost all of Billy's Tae Bo videos and has recently produced her own video (Tae Bo Postnatal Power),
as well as hosted her father's new infomercial Tae Bo T3 (Total Transformation Training). Gayle and Billy also have a son, Billy Jr., who has acted in a touring production of Fame
and, separate from his father's endeavors, has started his own fitness video line called CARDIOKE.
Billy and Gayle were divorced in 2008 after 33 years of marriage. According to the Petition for Legal Separation filed by his wife Gayle on April 22, 2008 in Los Angeles Superior Court, she and Billy had been separated since September 25, 2007. The reason given in the petition for the separation is "irreconcilable differences."
In November 2008, Blanks became the father of a new daughter named Angelika. The mother was his Japanese interpreter Tomoko whom he had known since 2007. Billy and Tomoko's marriage was formally registered in January 2009 and their wedding ceremony was held on June 20, 2009. He has also adopted his new wife's two daughters, Marriett and Erika Peterson. He is currently living with them in Osaka
, Japan.
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
, martial artist
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and the inventor of the Tae Bo
Tae Bo
Tae Bo is an aerobic exercise routine that became popular in the 1990s. It was developed by taekwondo practitioner Billy Blanks and was one of the first "cardio-boxing" programs to enjoy commercial success. Such programs use the motions of martial arts at a rapid pace designed to promote fitness...
exercise program.
Career
Blanks began his study of the martial arts at the age of eleven and practices Karate and Taekwondo. He was born with an anomaly in his hip joints that impaired his movement, and a clumsiness that earned him the taunts of his siblings and caused his coaches to believe he’d never accomplish much. Billy found the answer to these challenges in karate. When he saw martial arts great Bruce LeeBruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
on TV, he decided he wanted to be a world martial-arts champion. The discipline of the program began to transform his body.
Blanks began his acting career in the 1980s where he starred in several unsuccessful action-adventure feature films. He was hired to act as a bodyguard for lead actress Catherine Bach
Catherine Bach
Catherine Bach is an American actress. She is known for playing Daisy Duke in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard and Margo Dutton in African Skies.-Career:...
during the filming of Driving Force, due to the political unrest present in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
at the time; he impressed the producers so much, they wrote him into the script.
In the late 1980s, Blanks invented the Tae Bo
Tae Bo
Tae Bo is an aerobic exercise routine that became popular in the 1990s. It was developed by taekwondo practitioner Billy Blanks and was one of the first "cardio-boxing" programs to enjoy commercial success. Such programs use the motions of martial arts at a rapid pace designed to promote fitness...
workout, while running a karate studio in Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
. He used components of his martial arts and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
training. The name is a portmanteau of tae kwon do and boxing. Blanks opened a fitness center in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to teach his new workout. He later attracted some celebrity clients such as Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
and the popularity of the workout quickly grew, becoming a pop culture phenomenon after Blanks began releasing mass-marketed videos. The popularity of the workout later waned, but Blanks still attracts many celebrity clients and Tae Bo
Tae Bo
Tae Bo is an aerobic exercise routine that became popular in the 1990s. It was developed by taekwondo practitioner Billy Blanks and was one of the first "cardio-boxing" programs to enjoy commercial success. Such programs use the motions of martial arts at a rapid pace designed to promote fitness...
videos and DVDs have continued to sell well.
Most of Billy Blank's products are licensed to DRTV, as can be seen by the copyright info in the footer of www.billyblanks.com. DRTV is an infomercial product company included under the umbrella of Gaiam
Gaiam
Gaiam is a "lifestyle company" that sells products catered toward healthy and sustainable living.Gaiam is probably best known for fitness media, such as its award-winning yoga routine videos taught by well-known instructors such as Rodney Yee....
, a lifestyle brand
Lifestyle brand
A lifestyle brand is a brand that attempts to embody the values and aspirations of a group or culture for purposes of marketing.Each individual has an identity based on their choices, experiences, and background...
media company with offices in Broomfield, CO and New York, NY.
Personal life
Blanks was born in Erie, PennsylvaniaErie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
, the fourth of fifteen children. As a child he suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
. Blanks is a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and released a special line of Tae Bo workouts called the "Believer's" series that includes motivational prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s and other Christian components. He has appeared on Christian television network TBN
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...
.
He married Gayle H. Godfrey, whom he met in karate class. Gayle's daughter, Shellie, born on June 28, 1974, was adopted shortly after they married. Shellie Blanks Cimarosti is now an accomplished martial artist, is prominently featured in almost all of Billy's Tae Bo videos and has recently produced her own video (Tae Bo Postnatal Power),
as well as hosted her father's new infomercial Tae Bo T3 (Total Transformation Training). Gayle and Billy also have a son, Billy Jr., who has acted in a touring production of Fame
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
and, separate from his father's endeavors, has started his own fitness video line called CARDIOKE.
Billy and Gayle were divorced in 2008 after 33 years of marriage. According to the Petition for Legal Separation filed by his wife Gayle on April 22, 2008 in Los Angeles Superior Court, she and Billy had been separated since September 25, 2007. The reason given in the petition for the separation is "irreconcilable differences."
In November 2008, Blanks became the father of a new daughter named Angelika. The mother was his Japanese interpreter Tomoko whom he had known since 2007. Billy and Tomoko's marriage was formally registered in January 2009 and their wedding ceremony was held on June 20, 2009. He has also adopted his new wife's two daughters, Marriett and Erika Peterson. He is currently living with them in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan.
Filmography
- Jack & JillJack & Jill (film)Jack and Jill is a 2011 comedy film starring Adam Sandler. Dennis Dugan, who has collaborated with Sandler on most of his films, served as director...
(2011) - Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
Guest star season 4 episode 7 (Prelude to a Kiss) (1999) - Virtual Kickboxing (1998)
- BattleDome (1998) (TV series)
- Kiss the GirlsKiss the Girls (film)Kiss the Girls is a 1997 American thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes and Ashley Judd. The screenplay by David Klass is based on the best-selling novel Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.-Plot:Washington, D.C...
(1997) - Balance of Power (1996)
- Expect no MercyExpect No Mercy (film)Expect No Mercy is a 1995 action/science-fiction film starring Billy Blanks, Jalal Merhi, Wolf Larson, Laurie Holden, Anthony De Longis, and Michael Blanks. The soundtrack was composed by Varouje. The film was written by Stephen J...
(1995) - Back in Action (1994)
- Tough and Deadly (1994)
- Showdown (1993)
- TC 2000TC 2000 (film)TC 2000 is a 1993 action/science-fiction film starring Bolo Yeung, Jalal Merhi, Billy Blanks, Bobbie Phillips, Matthias Hues, Harry Mok, and Kelly Gallant. The film was written by T.J. Scott from a story by J. Stephen Maunder and Richard M. Samuels, produced by Jalal Merhi and directed by T.J. Scott...
(1993) - Talons of the EagleTalons of the EagleTalons Of The Eagle is a 1992 American martial arts action film starring Billy Blanks, Jalal Merhi, Matthias Hues and James Hong and directed by Michael Kennedy. It received a limited release on November 6, 1992, and was released on video on December 23, 1992....
(1992) - Zhan long zai ye (1992)
- The Last Boy ScoutThe Last Boy ScoutThe Last Boy Scout is a 1991 action film starring Bruce Willis as a former Secret Service agent, now working as a private detective, and Damon Wayans as a retired professional football player. The two join forces to solve the murder of Wayans' character’s girlfriend . The movie was produced by...
(1991) - Timebomb (1991)
- The King of the KickboxersThe King of the KickboxersThe King of the Kickboxers is a 1991 film directed by Lucas Lowe and starring Loren Avedon as Jake Donahue and Billy Blanks as Khan.-Plot:...
(1991) - BloodfistBloodfistBloodfist is a 1989 martial arts film starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson. Wilson plays a dojo sensei in California who travels to Manila to avenge his professional kickboxer brother, who was murdered after a fight.-Plot:...
(1989) - Low Blow (1986)