Who is Charles Atlas?

Search: charles atlas

Why: In The Shadow of the Wind, p. 259:

I eat like a horse, Jacinta. The trouble is, I have a very manly metabolism and I burn it all up. But believe me, under these clothes it's all pure muscle. Feel, feel. Like Charles Atlas, only hairier.

Also, in The Rocky Horror Show:

But a deltoid and a bicep, a hot groin and a tricep
Makes me shake, makes me wanna take Charles Atlas by the... hand.
In just seven days (hip, hip) I can make you a man.

Answer: Born Angelo Siciliano in Acri, Italy, in 1893, he was a bodybuilder who developed an exercise program for the "97-pound weakling." He died in 1972, but his company Charles Atlas Ltd. is still going strong. Some ads:


Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: He named his son Herc. In mythology (mixed, because Hercules was Roman):

One of the labors of Hercules (Heracles!) was to obtain some of the golden apples that were guarded by the Hesperides. Hercules asked Atlas to help him get the apples. Seeing an opportunity to escape from the burden of holding up the heavens, Atlas asked Hercules to take over the task while he obtained the apples. Hercules agreed. When Atlas returned with the apples, he told Hercules that he would deliver them for him. His intention was to leave Hercules to support the heavens. However, Hercules asked Atlas to take back the heavens for just a moment so that he could adjust his burden. When Atlas did this, Hercules walked away with the apples.