1 career win
Ken Waller
Ken Waller is a Men's Open Bodybuilding competitor from the United States with a competitive record spanning 1971–1981.
About
Kenny Waller (born March 20, 1942) is an American former bodybuilder featured in the 1977 movie Pumping Iron, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. Waller also won the 1975 International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) Mr. Universe contest in Pretoria, South Africa. He was known for his curly red hair, freckles and his graceful, confident posing style.
Championship appearances
Counted from the same results table below: an appearance is one contest entered (in the years the Olympia also judged weight classes, one appearance can carry two placings), an Olympia title is the overall win in that division, and Top 3 counts first, second and third together. The last row is every professional contest on record for Ken Waller.
Mr. Olympia
All contests on record
Professional results
Every professional contest result on record for Ken Waller, 9 in all. Won by names the winner of the division Ken Waller competed in, and shows a dash where that winner cannot be pinned to one person in the database.
| Year | Contest | Division | Place | Won by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #16 | Franco Columbu |
| 1980 | Grand Prix California | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #7 | Chris Dickerson |
| 1980 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #16 | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| 1980 | Pittsburgh Pro Invitational | Men's Open Bodybuilding | Unplaced | Casey Viator |
| 1979 | Night of Champions | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #6 | Robby Robinson |
| 1977 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #5 | Frank Zane |
| 1977 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Bodybuilding (Heavyweight) | #2 | Robby Robinson |
| 1976 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Bodybuilding (Heavyweight) | #1 | Winner |
| 1971 | Pro Mr World | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 | Boyer Coe |
Where these results come from. Each contest in the table was recorded from a named source, and for Ken Waller that source is MuscleMemory. Open any contest above and that page names its own source and links to it where the source is still reachable. That archive no longer answers at the addresses we hold, so it is credited by name here and not offered as a link.
Every professional season
- Pro Debut
- 1971
- First Win
- 1976
- Last Contest
- 1981
Ken Waller at the Olympia, year by year
| Year | Placement | Division |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 1 | Men's Open Bodybuilding (heavyweight class) |
| 1977 | 5 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 1980 | 16 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 1981 | 16 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
Data updated
How Ken Waller measures up
Fat-free mass index turns the height and weight on this profile into one number for how much muscle a frame carries, so a shorter competitor is not flattered by a bodyweight comparison. The normalised figure adjusts it again to a standard height, which is the version worth ranking. Both assume the 6% body fat a competitor steps on stage at, because that is the only condition the recorded weight was taken in.
The closest Olympia champion on that measure is Chris Dickerson, at 29.4.
What this rank is not. This database holds a height and a weight for just 463 athletes, and they are overwhelmingly the ones somebody bothered to measure: 74 of them hold an Olympia title. Almost every competitor on record carries no measurement at all. The pool also mixes every division and era together, from the lightweight women's classes to the open heavyweights, so it ranks size and nothing else. It says where Ken Waller sits among the athletes we hold measurements for, not among competitors.
Amateur and other shows not counted above
21 results from amateur shows and other contests this archive does not class as professional. Every total on this page covers the professional career only, so these are listed here but never counted, and they have no contest page.
Show the list
| Year | Contest | Division | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Universe | Division not recorded (Tall) | #1 |
| 1974 | Universe | Division not recorded (Tall) | #2 |
| 1973 | Mr World | Division not recorded (Tall) | #1 |
| 1973 | Universe | Division not recorded (Tall) | #2 |
| 1972 | Mr International | Division not recorded (Tall) | #1 |
| 1972 | Mr World | Division not recorded (Tall) | #2 |
| 1971 | Mr America | Division not recorded (Tall) | #1 |
| 1971 | Mr International | Division not recorded (Tall) | #1 |
| 1971 | Mr Universe | Division not recorded (Tall) | #1 |
| 1970 | Junior Mr America | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 |
| 1970 | Junior Mr America | Division not recorded (Most Muscular) | #2 |
| 1970 | Mr America | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 |
| 1970 | Mr America | Division not recorded (Most Muscular) | #2 |
| 1970 | Mr World | Division not recorded (Tall) | #1 |
| 1969 | Junior Mr USA | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #1 |
| 1969 | Junior Mr USA | Division not recorded (Most Muscular) | #1 |
| 1969 | Mr America | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #3 |
| 1969 | Mr USA | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #1 |
| 1969 | Mr USA | Division not recorded (Most Muscular) | #1 |
| 1968 | Mr America | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #4 |
| 1968 | Mr USA | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #4 |
More Men's Open Bodybuilding athletes Athletes from United States Ken Waller peak window
Most-met rivals
Compare any two athletes →In 4 meetings, Ed Corney finished ahead of Ken Waller 3 times to 1.
Opponents are ranked by how often they shared a stage and how big the stage was, not by reputation. A meeting is one contest where both competed in the same division and both were placed.
Win rate here is first-place finishes as a share of all 9 professional contest results. It is published only where a career holds at least five, because below that a single placing moves the figure by twenty points or more.

