Kevin Levrone | A Very Different Bodybuilder
Kevin Levrone
A Very Different Bodybuilder
Of all the characters I’ve met in chronicling this zany sport over the past 40 plus years one of the more interesting and unpredictable individuals I’ve encountered is Kevin Levrone, who in a pro career spanning 1992 through 2003 competed in 62 contests. Out of those he won 20 (including two Arnold Classics: 1994 and '96) and only finished out of the top five twice (8th at the ’97 Arnold Classic and 6th at the 2003 Olympia) while being Olympia runner-up four times (1992, ’95, 2000, and “02).
But despite that record of consistency (which in longevity, accumulation of contests, and number of high finishes is unique) what was, is, different about the Baltimore native is that he has always been …. well, different. With him you never knew what he would do next. His extra-curricular activities ranged from starting his own rock band, Full Blown, in which he was lead singer, to after retiring launching a movie career and appearing in the 2007 release Redline, to challenging British Olympic sprinter Dwain Chambers to take him on in a 60 meters dash. That confrontation took place on December 11, 2002, at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Southern California, with Chambers blazing home in 6.64 seconds (world record is 6.39 seconds) and Kevin coming in about a second later. Still it was a helluva performance for the bodybuilder, as at 250 pounds he was 60 pounds or so heavier than his adversary.
DIFFERENT FROM THE START
The first contact I had with the man I was later to dub The Maryland Muscle Machine was shortly after his win at the 1992 Night of Champions in New York. A week earlier at the Chicago Pro, his first pro contest for which he was favorite, he had finished third behind Thierry Pastel (2nd) and Porter Cottrell (1st) but was holding so much water Evian approached him about a sponsorship deal.
In New York I only had the briefest of pleasantries with this new wunderkind and in an Olympia preview I predicted he would be seventh. My next sighting of him was 48 hours prior to the 1992 Olympia being staged on September 12 in Helsinki, Finland. There he was striding through the Marina Hotel restaurant cracking jokes and glad-handing fans and press alike, pinching a French Fry here, a piece of cheesecake there. Combined with his full jowls and his sociability I immediately assessed he was not “ready” -- was too relaxed. He should be holed up in his room like the other 1992 Olympians concentrating on the tribulations to come. Later that day when the then 27 year-old purred into my tape recorder, “I’ll be happy with the judges’ decision whether they place me 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10” it was verification that he knew he hadn’t peaked and would be quite content to settle into a lower top ten finish.
The morning of the contest he swapped dressing room banter with Dorian Yates and Steve Brisbois, almost acting as if he was just “hanging out with the guys.” However I had to admit his face wasn’t as cherubic as it had been two days earlier.
And then he rumbled out for the prejudging and all seventh place bets were off. With a face more sunken than Davy Jones locker, thighs containing deeper cuts than a Republican budget and deltoids more spectacular and eye-catching than the epaulettes of a third world dictator, the French Fry predator of 48 hours ago, in his Big O debut, stormed to second place just one berth from being Lee Haney’s Mr. Olympia successor – only a Dorian Yates away from a Sandow.
The enigma of Kevin Levrone had materialized. I smiled, laughing at myself, “McGough you’ve been around the block a few times but this new kid on the block sure fooled you.”
FACE TO FACE
On Monday September 14, 1992, (two days distant from the Olympia and the day after he finished second again to Dorian Yates at the English Grand Prix) we sat down in the Forte Crest Hotel in my hometown of Nottingham for our first interview of what would be many. From that Q&A baptism I learned that in interviewee mode he continually tries to turn the tables like an overworked scratch disc jockey. He constantly quizzed me on subjects like, how did I get into bodybuilding? What kind of town was Nottingham? Was my hair really that color? With his melodic voice, propensity to emphasize words, emote phrases and adopt facial expressions to fit what he was saying, I found his delivery to be in the style of Muhammad Ali at his “sting like a bee” peak.
I complemented him about his Olympia routine. He replied, "I didn’t have a routine. A piece of luggage containing my music got lost and never arrived so the morning of the contest I just picked a record out and winged it. Afterward people told me, ‘Wow that was a great routine – you were really flowing.’ I said “Yeah, flowing to who knows where.’ ” In time I learnt that Kevin is cooler than an Aston Martin at the North Pole. I think you could tell Kevin chicken breasts had been declared a banned substance and it wouldn’t faze him.
That was just my first interaction with a competitor who attained iconic status and today we are fellow members of Team MD. I have many more tales of Kevin Levrone to tell but we’d have to fell a rain forest to accommodate them all.
THE GUESSING GAME
Throughout the succeeding years Kevin would call me from time to time and ask, “Guess where I am?” I was always stumped as back would come answers like, “I’m in New Orleans at a rock concert.” “I’m waiting outside a Hollywood agent’s office.” “I’m in a hair salon getting my hair dyed blonde.” Always he was speaking the truth.
I got used to it and in the end ceased to be surprised that what he told me surprised me. The culmination came with a 2002 call, asking the by now traditional, “Guess where I am?” question.
I sighed, “Kevin if you told me you were on the moon I wouldn’t be surprised.”
There was a slight pause before he murmured, “…. Hmm, how’d you know?”
And so it goes with Kevin Levrone, always different, always amusing, never boring, always immensely likeable. Just love the guy.