Billy Blanks
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William Wayne Blanks (born September 1, 1955) is an American actor, martial artist, and fitness personality. He was a nationally ranked competitor in semi-contact and point karate during the 1980s,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> winning a bronze medal at the 1981 World Games,<ref name="iwga">Template:Cite web</ref> before creating the Tae Bo exercise program.<ref name="CNN">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Early life and education
Blanks was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. He began his study of the martial arts at the age of eleven, attending Karate and Taekwondo classes.<ref name=CNN /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was born with an anomaly in his hip joints that impaired his movement. The resulting clumsiness aroused taunts from Blanks' siblings and led his instructors to believe that he would never accomplish much. Blanks found the answer to these challenges in karate. When he saw Bruce Lee on TV, he decided he wanted to be a world martial-arts champion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Martial arts
Blanks holds black belt ranks in taekwondo (7th dan) and karate (5th dan), and a black sash in Hung Ga kung fu (under Sifu Wong Ting-fong).<ref name="blanks">Template:Cite web</ref>
During the 1980s, Blanks was a top competitor on the point competition, semi-contact, and sport karate circuits, notably against Steve Anderson.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> He finished in 3rd place at the World Union of Karate-do Organizations (WUKO) World Championship in the Male Kumite category in 1980.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> He represented the United States at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara, California, and won a bronze medal in the Men's Kumite Open (Heavyweight).<ref name="iwga">Template:Cite web</ref> He was Karate Illustrated magazine's National Champion and Rookie of the Year for 1983.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Blanks was an early member of USA Karate, the precursor to USA National Karate-do Federation, after it broke away from the Amateur Athletic Union.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He also was a member of Chuck Merriman's Atlantic World Karate Team with Anderson.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="blanks"/>
Career
Blanks was hired as a bodyguard for lead actress Catherine Bach during the filming of 1988's Driving Force, which was filmed in Manila during a time of political unrest. Blanks impressed the producers and was written into the script in a supporting role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This led to Blanks' work in several martial arts films, including King of the Kickboxers and Bloodfist. Blanks also appeared in the opening scene of Tony Scott's The Last Boy Scout, where he plays a doomed pro-football player. Blanks played Ashley Judd's kickboxing instructor in Kiss the Girls (1997).<ref name="TV Guide">Kiss the Girls - Full Cast & Crew - TV Guide</ref>
In the late 1980s, Blanks developed the Tae Bo workout, while running a karate studio in Quincy, Massachusetts. He used components of his martial arts and boxing training.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The name is a portmanteau of tae (as in taekwondo) and bo (as in boxing).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Blanks opened a fitness center in Los Angeles to teach his new workout. He later attracted celebrity clients such as Paula Abdul, and the popularity of the workout quickly grew, becoming a pop culture phenomenon after Blanks began releasing mass-marketed videos. He sold over 1.5 million VHS tapes in his first year,<ref name="madamenoire.com">7 Black Body Trainers Capitalizing On The $17 Billion Fitness Market</ref> and is reported to have grossed between $80 million and $130 million in sales.<ref name="madamenoire.com"/><ref>Jack Dickey (2015)Tae Bo's creator Billy Blanks teaches to smaller audience with equal fervor Sports Illustrated, accessed December 30, 2016</ref>
Personal life
Blanks is a Christian and released a special line of Tae Bo workouts called the "Believer's" series that includes motivational prayers and other Christian components. He has appeared on the Christian television network TBN.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He attended Crenshaw Christian Center.
In 1974, Blanks married Gayle H. Godfrey, whom he met in karate class. Shortly after the marriage, he adopted Gayle's daughter, Shellie, who was born in 1973. Shellie Blanks Cimarosti, a martial artist, is prominently featured in many Tae Bo videos. Shellie has also produced her own video called Tae Bo Postnatal Power, as well as hosted her father's new infomercial Tae Bo T3 (Total Transformation Training). Gayle and Blanks also have a son, Billy Blanks Jr., who works as a fitness instructor. Blanks Jr. produced several best-selling DVDs,<ref name="ref1" /> including Cardioke and Fat Burning Hip Hop Mix. He has also starred in a touring production of the musical Fame, and has worked as a dancer in music videos with Madonna, Quincy Jones and Paula Abdul.<ref name="ref1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Company2008">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Blanks and Godfrey divorced in 2008 after 33 years of marriage. Godfrey filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In November 2008, Blanks became the father of a new daughter, named Angelika. The mother is Tomoko Sato, whom Blanks met in 2007 when she worked as his Japanese interpreter.<ref name=JapanProbe>Template:Cite web</ref> Blanks and Sato's marriage was formally registered in January 2009 and their wedding ceremony was held on June 20, 2009. He relocated to Japan in 2009.Template:Citation needed
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Template:Sort | Template:Sort | Template:Sortname |
| 1988 | Template:Sort | Template:Sort | |
| 1989 | Template:Sortname | Template:Sort | Template:Sort |
| 1989 | Template:Sortname | Template:Sort | |
| 1990 | Template:Sortname | Template:Sort | |
| 1990 | Template:Sortname | Template:Sort | Template:Sort |
| 1990 | Template:Sort | Template:Sort | |
| 1991 | Template:Sortname | Template:Sort | |
| 1991 | Template:Sort | Mr. Brown | |
| 1992 | Template:Sortname | Billy | |
| 1992 | Template:Sortname | Tyler Wilson | |
| 1992 | The Master | Black Thug | Template:Sort |
| 1993 | Showdown | Billy Grant | |
| 1993 | TC 2000 | Jason Storm | |
| 1993 | Back in Action | Billy | |
| 1994 | A Dangerous Place | ||
| 1995 | Expect No Mercy | Agent Justin Vanier | |
| 1995 | Tough and Deadly | John Portland | |
| 1996 | Balance of Power | Niko | |
| 1997 | Kiss the Girls | Kickboxing Instructor | |
| 2007 | Dance Club: The Movie | Dance Club Dancer | Short film |
| 2011 | Jack and Jill | Himself | Cameo role; Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Ensemble |
| 2017 | The Clapper | Cameo role | |
| 2024 | The Last Kumite | Loren |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Spenser: For Hire | Man Fighting On The Street | Episode: "Heart of the Matter"; Template:Sort |
| 1989 | Kids Incorporated | Billy | Episode: "Karate Kids" |
| 1992 | Street Justice | Tsiet Na Champion | Episode: "Circle of Death" |
| 1994 | Sister, Sister | Driver | Episode: "Love Strikes" |
| 1996 | Muppets Tonight | Dancing Muppet | Episode: "Paula Abdul" |
| 1997 | Assault on Devil's Island | Creagan | Template:Sortname |
| 1998 | ER | Kickboxing Instructor | Episode: "The Storm (Part I)" |
| 1999 | Sunset Beach | Billy | Episodes: "605, 606"; Template:Sort |
| 1999 | The Parkers | Himself | Episode: "Taking Tae-Bo with My Beau" Special guest star |
| 1999 | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Episode: "Prelude to a Kiss" Special guest star | |
| 2003 | The Fairly OddParents | Episode: "Kung Timmy" Special guest voice |
Music video
| Year | Title | Artist | Role | Template:Tooltip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | "Light Switch" | Charlie Puth | Tae Bo Instructor |
References
Further reading
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1955 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Christians
- 21st-century Christians
- African-American Christians
- African-American male actors
- American exercise instructors
- American expatriates in Japan
- American male film actors
- American male karateka
- American male taekwondo practitioners
- Male actors from Erie, Pennsylvania
- World Games bronze medalists for the United States
- 21st-century African-American people
- 20th-century African-American sportsmen
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- Medalists at the 1981 World Games