Lou Ferrigno was born in Brooklyn, New York to Victoria and Matt Ferrigno, a police lieutenant.

Soon after he was born, Ferrigno says he believes he suffered a series of ear infections and lost 75 to 80 % of his hearing, though his condition was not diagnosed until he was three years old.

In 1977, Ferrigno was cast in the title role opposite Bill Bixby as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk.

In February 2006, Ferrigno was sworn in as a Los Angeles County, California reserve sheriff's deputy.

In November 2010, Ferrigno was sworn in as a member of a Maricopa County, Arizona volunteer sheriff posse, which also includes actors Steven Seagal and Peter Lupus, in order to help control illegal immigration in the Phoenix Valley area.

Ferrigno was a contestant on season five of the NBC reality television series The Celebrity Apprentice, which premiered in February 2012.

" I sette magnifici gladiatori " ( 1983 ) aka " The Seven Magnificent Gladiators " was a Sword & Sandal variation on the Seven Samurai / Magnificent Seven theme starring Lou Ferrigno and Sybil Danning.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity grew beyond that afforded him by " Stay Hungry ;" Ferrigno was shortly thereafter cast as The Incredible Hulk, a role he would continue to play in a variety of mediums into the 2010s.

Schwarzenegger went on to win the next three Mr. Olympia competitions, including the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition, which was highlighted in the 1977 docudrama Pumping Iron and featured other notable bodybuilders such as Lou Ferrigno, Serge Nubret, and Franco Columbu, who would go on to win the 1976 competition.

" Watching the show backstage, Jerry Jarrett noticed that Hogan was actually bigger than Ferrigno, who was well known at the time for having large muscles.

She was criticized by viewers and had numerous outbursts and clashes with other contestants, including Arsenio Hall, Lou Ferrigno, and Dayana Mendoza.

Lou Ferrigno has stated during an interview that Sinbad of the Seven Seas was one of his favourite films he made.

All recognizable footage of Kiel was cut ; the scenes were then reshot with Lou Ferrigno.

According to Lou Ferrigno, it was also changed because CBS thought the name Bruce sounded " too gay-ish ," a rationale that Ferrigno thought was " the most absurd, ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.

Soon, Kiel was replaced with professional bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, although a very brief shot of Kiel ( as the Hulk ) remains in the pilot.

The hard contact lenses Ferrigno wore to simulate the Hulk's electric-green eyes had to be removed every 15 minutes because he found wearing them physically painful, and the green fright wig he wore as the Hulk was made of dyed yak hair.

Team Unanimous ' video — in which Ferrigno appeared dancing while mopping — won the task, winning the $ 50, 000 for Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Following this, Ferrigno left the competition circuit for many years, a period that included a brief stint as a defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.

In the early 1990s, Ferrigno returned to bodybuilding, competing for the 1992 and 1993 Mr. Olympia titles.

Although Ferrigno and Bixby did not share lines on camera ( except for one episode, " King of the Beach "), the two were friends, with Ferrigno describing Bixby as a " mentor " and " father figure " who took Ferrigno under his wing.

Ferrigno trained Michael Jackson on and off since the early 1990s, and in 2009, he helped Jackson get into shape for a planned series of concerts in London.

In a January 2009 taping, Ferrigno Fitness provided equipment to The Price Is Right, hosted by Drew Carey for use as a One Bid prize, and demonstrated the equipment himself.

Inspired by a book of the same name by Charles Gaines and George Butler, the film nominally focuses on the competition between Arnold Schwarzenegger and his primary competitor for the title of Mr. Olympia, Lou Ferrigno.

The film then switches focus to the rivalry between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, professional bodybuilders competing for the title of Mr. Olympia.

Schwarzenegger, Ferrigno, and Serge Nubret prepare to go onstage and compete for the over 200 pound category.

In order to compensate for the loss of Cort's narrative arc, Butler decided to capitalize on Schwarzenegger and Ferrigno's contrasting personalities and cast the film as the story of a heroic but " sinister " underdog ( Ferrigno ) against a charismatic, powerful " villain " ( Schwarzenegger ).

; Lou Ferrigno ( 2000 – 2007 ) ( played by himself ): Ferrigno is the actor known for his role as The Incredible Hulk.

Other celebrity guests in attendance for WrestleMania VII included Philbin, Trebek, and Marla Maples ( as backstage announcers ), George Steinbrenner, Paul Maguire, Macaulay Culkin, Donald Trump, Lou Ferrigno, Chuck Norris, and Henry Winkler.

In 2010, Ferrigno appeared in " My Two Chads ", an episode of Sonny with a Chance, appearing as himself in an episode of the fictional series MacKenzie Falls.

In the episode, Spence first asks Lou Ferrigno to go to a sci-fi convention.

Future Falcon Crest and Castle co-star Susan Sullivan was in the original pilot ; Brett Cullen, also of Falcon Crest ; Ray Walston, co-star of Bixby's first series, My Favorite Martian ; Brandon Cruz, co-star of The Courtship of Eddie's Father ; Lou Ferrigno, who along with starring as the Hulk, appeared in one episode (" King Of The Beach ") as a different character ; Bixby's ex-wife Brenda Benet ; and in an uncredited role, the bodybuilder and professional wrestler Ric Drasin played the half-transformed Hulk in “ Prometheus " ( parts 1 and 2 ).

Ferrigno appeared as himself in the 2009 feature film comedy I Love You, Man.

The competition over, he wishes Ferrigno happy birthday and leads the other competitors in singing " Happy Birthday to You " as a cake is revealed.

Ferrigno took part in a Smosh video, titled " I love Lou Ferrigno ", in which he is tracked down by one of Smosh's members, Anthony, in Hollywood.

Ferrigno also singles out the instances in which Bixby directed Ferrigno in some episodes as particularly memorable.

The sketch apes certain well-known scenes from the 1970s bodybuilding documentary film Pumping Iron in which Arnold Schwarzenegger taunts Lou Ferrigno and mentors other gym users in poses.

Ferrigno is visibly shaken onstage, and as a result, ends up placing third behind Nubret and Schwarzenegger, who is declared the winner.

In South Africa, Schwarzenegger wages his psychological warfare on Ferrigno, befriending Ferrigno and then subtly insulting him over breakfast with his family.

But when Spence meets West ( playing himself ), he leaves Ferrigno and asks West to come with him.

During competition, Ferrigno at weighed 285 lb ( 130 kg ) in 1975, and 316 lb ( 143 kg ) in 1992.

Ferrigno competed in the first World's Strongest Man competition in 1977, where he finished fourth in a field of eight competitors.