Famed ‘Strongman’ aged 104 killed by mini van
Would one expect the former “Strongest Man in the World” to die in his sleep? No way. Though it’s sad to see him go, he had a full and vibrant life and even on his last morning was “bright and friendly.”
At the height of his career, according to www.oldtimestrongman.com, “some of Rollino’s best lifts include: a teeth lift of 475 pounds, a one-finger lift of 635 pounds, a deadlift of 585 pounds, a curl of 185 pounds, a back lift of 3200 pounds, and a hand and thigh lift of 1500 pounds — all at a bodyweight of only 175 pounds.”
Joe Rollino image from www.oldtimestrongman.com
Joe Rollino from www.oldtimestrongman.com, bending a spike with is teeth in his Coney Island show.
Joe Rollino at age 102.
Joe Rollino, Famed Coney Island strongman, 104 (aka ‘Kid Dundee’) killed after minivan hit
Monday, January 11th 2010 | DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS, By Jill Colvin, Rocco Parascandola and Corky Siemaszko | csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
Joe Rollino, a 104-year-old former Coney Island strongman known as “Kid Dundee” in his boxing days, lost the fight of his life after he was knocked down by a minivan in Brooklyn Monday.
Rollino’s death plunged many Brooklynites into mourning and evoked fond memories of “Old Man Joe,” the short but strapping senior citizen whose craggy face was perennially creased by a smile.
“He was a relic in the neighborhood,” said his friend Eileen Bille, 53, who called him “Puggy.” “There’s not a person from here to Bay Ridge who doesn’t know him. I’m sick to my stomach.”
Rollino was hit as he crossed Bay Ridge Parkway in Dyker Heights after buying newspapers at a deli, as he did each day.
“This morning he was bright and friendly like every morning,” said deli owner Victor Oh. “I see him every morning. I feel like one of my family died.”
Rollino was unconscious and unresponsive when cops arrived at 13th Ave. and the parkway shortly before 7 a.m. He was taken to Lutheran Medical Center, where he died.
Police questioned the driver of the green 1999 Ford Windstar minivan, who was cited for having a defective horn.
A life-long vegetarian who ate oatmeal every morning and swam laps in the ocean year-round, Rollino would have turned 105 on March 19.
Just 5-feet-4 and 122 pounds at his prime, Rollino became famous on the local boxing circuit in the 1920s for his ability to take a punch.
“Fighters would hit me in the jaw, and I’d just look at them,” he told TheSweetScience.com in a March 2008 interview. “You couldn’t knock me out.”
Rollino was also a former Coney Island strongman who billed himself as the “Strongest Man in the World” and once lifted 450 pounds with his teeth.
“I was always very strong,” he told the Web site.
Born in South Brooklyn, Rollino served in the Pacific during World War II and proudly wore the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded after he was wounded in the legs by shrapnel.
There were reports that Rollino was married and had a child before he shipped out to war, but the strongman lived most of his life alone. At the time of his death, he shared a home with a niece.
“He was like a grandfather to my kids,” said his friend Bille, a mother of five.
Rollino would regale his friends with tales from his days of working as a longshoreman and how he got a bit part in the 1954 Marlon Brando movie “On the Waterfront.” His big scene wound up on the cutting-room floor.
Rollino was also a devotee of the “Iron Game” – bodybuilding – who prided himself on never using steroids to maintain his remarkable physique and strength.