ED FURY (born Rupert Edmund Holovchik) is an American bodybuilder, actor, and model born on this date. He is best known for starring in a number of “sword-and-sandal” films in the 1950s and 1960s.

Born in Long Island, New York, Fury moved to Los Angeles, California in the late 1940s and competed in numerous bodybuilding competitions, such as “Mr. Muscle Beach” in 1951 and 1953, coming in third and second respectively. In addition, he worked as a physique model for photographers Bob Mizer and Bruce Bellas, and also made a couple of loops for Mizer’s male erotica studio Athletic Model Guild (AMG). Fury began his acting career as a stage actor. After appearing in a handful of uncredited parts in films, he received his first bigger role in The Wild Women of Wongo (1958).

In the 1960s, Fury travelled to Italy and took advantage of the popularity of “sword-and-sandal” films. Led by Steve Reeves, who starred in Hercules (1958), the popularity of those films allowed Fury to star in films such as Colossus and the Amazon Queen (1960), The Seven Revenges (1961), and Maciste Against the Sheik (1962). He also starred as Ursus in the film trilogy Ursus (1961), Ursus in the Valley of the Lions (1961), and Ursus in the Land of Fire (1963), before the popularity of “sword-and-sandal” films waned. Fury returned to acting in the early 1970s and appeared mostly in small parts in television series.