Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden, August 16, 1868 – October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture,[1] a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories.

Born in Mill Spring, Missouri, Macfadden changed his first and last names to give them a greater appearance of strength.

Aided by long-time Supervising Editor Fulton Oursler, Macfadden eventually grew a publishing empire, including Liberty, Dream World, Ghost Stories, the once-familiar movie magazine Photoplay, and the tabloid newspaper, The New York Evening Graphic.

He claimed that through fasting "a person could exercise unqualified control over virtually all types of disease while revealing a degree of strength and stamina such as would put others to shame".

Macfadden acknowledged the difficulties of fasting and did not support it as an ascetic practice, but rather because he believed its ultimate benefits outweighed its costs.

He also attempted to found a "Physical Culture City" in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, which folded after a few years and became the vacation-cabin neighborhood, and, later, suburban development of Outcalt.

Nicknamed "Body Love Macfadden" by Time – a moniker he detested – he was branded a "kook" and a charlatan by many, arrested on obscenity charges[why?

Macfadden made an unsuccessful attempt to found a religion, "cosmotarianism", based on physical culture.

On March 7, 1943, the advertisement in The New York Times Magazine for the Tarrytown School read: "To Meet the Needs of a Nation at War".

His son Jack appeared on Groucho Marx's show You Bet Your Life (December 31, 1953) and talked about his father, who was then 84 years old.

Macfadden supported unorthodox ideas that are widely derided as quackery, such as grape therapy supposedly healing cancer.

[35][36] Morris Fishbein wrote that "In his campaign, Bernarr Macfadden aligned himself with the border-line cultists that oppose scientific medicine and devote themselves to the promotion of some single conception of disease causation, prevention, and treatment.

[38] He was targeted by the Society for the Suppression of Vice for producing "pornographic" posters to promote one of his Physical Culture Exhibitions.

James Whorton, PhD, notes that the glamorous and eccentric character of Macfadden's life has led to a predilection for "the amusing tale or shocking incident" in describing it.

Whorton argued that this distracts from Macfadden's real beliefs and significance, causing research to be directed "to the outer person, to actions rather than motives.