Born Bernard Adolphus McFadden in Mill Spring, Missouri, Bernarr Macfadden changed his first and last names to give them a greater appearance of strength. He thought "Bernarr" sounded like the roar of a lion, and that "Macfadden" was a more masculine spelling of his name.
Macfadden founded Physical Culture magazine in 1899, and was editor up to the August 1912 issue. He eventually grew a publishing empire, including Liberty, True Detective, True Story, True Romances, Dream World, Ghost Stories, the once-familiar movie magazine Photoplay, and a trashy tabloid newspaper, The New York Graphic. He was a celebrity who was an acquaintance of Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Will Rogers, and Rudolph Valentino. At the peak of his career, he owned several hotels and a major building in New York.
He attempted to found a "Physical Culture City" in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, which folded after a few years and became the vacation-cabin neighborhood, and, later, suburban development of Outcalt.
Macfadden contributed to many articles and books including The Virile Powers of Superb Manhood (1900), MacFadden's Encyclopedia of Physical Culture (1911–1912), Fasting for Health (1923), and The Milk Diet (1923).
Macfadden made an unsuccessful attempt to found a religion, “cosmotarianism”, based on physical culture. He claimed that his regimen would enable him to reach the age of 150.
Nicknamed “Body Love Macfadden” by Time...a moniker he detested...he was a flamboyant personality who inspired millions of people around the world to live healthful and vigorous lives. He was branded a “kook” and a charlatan by many, arrested on obscenity charges, and denounced by the medical establishment. Throughout his life, he campaigned tirelessly against “pill-pushers,” processed foods and prudery.
Macfadden's magazines included SPORT, a preeminent sports magazine prior to Time, Inc.'s Sports Illustrated.
Macfadden was married four times and had eight children, seven of whose names began with the letter "B".
Macfadden established many “healthatoriums” in the eastern and midwestern states. These institutions offered educational programs such as “The Physical Culture Training School”. Although he gained his reputation for physical culture and fitness, he gained much notoriety for his views on sexual behavior. He viewed intercourse as a healthy activity and not solely a procreative one. This was a different attitude than most physicians had at the time.
Macfadden's Macfadden Foundation established two boarding schools for young boys and girls in Westchester County, New York, the Macfadden School in Briarcliff Manor (Scarborough) and the Tarrytown School in Tarrytown. The Macfadden School took the younger children, with some being as young as 3. On March 7, 1943, the advertisement in The New York Times Magazine for the Tarrytown School read: "To Meet the Needs of a Nation at War." The boys at the Tarrytown School wore uniforms and were subject to military type discipline. The Macfadden School operated from 1939 to 1950, the Tarrytown School from 1943 to 1954.
Macfadden popularized the practice of fasting that previously had been associated with illnesses such as anorexia nervosa. He felt strongly that fasting was one of the surest ways to physical health. Many of his subjects would fast for a week in order to rejuvenate their body. He claimed that “a person could exercise unqualified control over virtually all types of disease while revealing a degree of strength and stamina such as would put others to shame” through fasting. He saw fasting as an instrument with which to prove a man's superiority over other men.
Macfadden had photographs of himself taken before and after fasts to demonstrate their positive effects on the body. For example, one photograph showed Macfadden lifting a 100 pound dumbbell over his head immediately after a seven day fast. He also promoted fasting by appealing to racial prejudices, suggesting that fasting was a practice of self-denial that only civilized white men would choose to embrace. Macfadden acknowledged the difficulties of fasting and did not support it as an ascetic practice but rather because he believed its ultimate benefits outweighed its costs.
Macfadden died of a urinary tract infection in 1955 in Jersey City, New Jersey, after refusing medical treatment. Upon his death, Edward Longstreet Bodin became the president of the Bernarr Macfadden Foundation.
