Bill Cunningham’s got the world on a string
By Mariko Derpa
When Bill Cunningham drives to his local gym every morning to start his day with his workout routine, nobody knows that this 83-year-old resident of St. George once trained Hollywood stars like Steve McQueen, Roger Moore, and Rock Hudson and is himself the proud champion of over 200 natural body building awards, let alone that he cultivates another passion: singing.
Cunningham’s inspiring life story began in 1956 when he left his native Ulster in Northern Ireland to move to America where he quickly became a very successful personal trainer in California.
“It’s been an incredible ride,” the three-time Mr. Senior Universe says. “I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful life.”
“When I was 14”, he recalls, “I was working in a biscuit factory and the heat was quite unbearable as I was next to the oven. But I started to sing to distract myself and ‘have a good time,’ and it was then and there that I realized that I had a voice I could carry.”
“When I was 17,my father asked me what I would like to become, and I was too embarrassed to say ‘a singer,’ but I knew that I wanted to perform since I always loved the stage,” Bill said. “Then there was that day when I went to the local opera house and they were asking people to sing, so I went and did Johnnie Ray. I will never forget how crazy the audience went. After my performance, they had the world’s most famous hypnotist at the time go on stage who asked if there was anyone who would like to be hypnotized, and so I went. Later, when my father came back home from work, he told me that he had met the hypnotist who was performing earlier in town who had told him that there was a guy named Bill Cunningham who did an impersonation of Johnnie Ray. He asked me if that was me and I finally said ‘yes’.”
Cunningham’s father never heard his son singing until much later in his life when Bill sent him a CD with his recordings when he was already living in the States.
A truly astonishing episode occurred when Cunningham started to sing with childhood friend Bobby Little they were both only 5 years of age back on the Shankill and Bangor’s Kilcooley estate in Northern Ireland. Their lives took separate paths, and they lost track of each other until they were reunited after 60 years in California. Someone had told Bill that there was a man living in his neighborhood who was also originally from Ireland and who loved to sing. They are friends to this day.
“I was on top of my game when in 1962 I happened to go to an audition held at a big studio in Hollywood where about 400 people were waiting on line to get in to sing,” Bill tells. “I went straight up to the guy at the entrance and asked him if I could have five minutes with him to talk. He agreed and I told him that I had no money to pay my rent and that I was a father with a young child, that I didn’t know anyone in the business, but that I wanted a chance to show my singing skills.” He was let in and the next day received a phone call offering a five-year contract and was asked to leave for Paris two days later to perform in a nightclub. “I would have seen the world and stayed in France for five years but I couldn’t do it. I had a wife and a small child at home.”
During those years, Cunningham appeared in The Steve Allen Show as well as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and performed on stage with the likes of Dinah Washington.
Cunningham’s career as a champion bodybuilder had taken off in the meantime — he had been passionate about fitness since he was 15 — and allowed him to make a living for his family. He had stopped singing as he focused on his training, but the love for music and the stage always stayed in his heart.
From 1960 to 1968, he was head trainer at the prestigious Beverly Hills Health Club where he trained stars including Steve McQueen, Rock Hudson, Roger Moore, Regis Philbin, Mickey Rooney, and Kurt Russell, only to name a few.
One of the notables of his career was working as a stuntman in several of the Frankie Avalon-Annette Funicello beach movies in the ‘60s as well as being Avalon’s personal trainer. This led him to star on the cover of the famous album “Muscle Beach Party” alongside Peter Lupus, who gained fame with the “Mission Impossible” TV series.
“She was a beautiful gal, and we spent two days shooting,” said Bill of Funicello. “She loved Peter and my shots, and so we ended up on the most famous album cover of that era, carrying her on our shoulders.”
Collecting the world’s most coveted bodybuilding trophies including three-time title of Mr. Ireland and two-time winner of Mr. USA, World Cup Masters Champion, and Olympia Pairs Champion, he said that it took him about a year to get back into singing, which he fully resumed in 2013.
“You need to train your voice again,” he said. “It is like with any part of your body. But once you hit the vocal cords again, they know what to do.”
Cunningham’s love for the stage and to perform hasn’t seized.
To this day, he works as a personal trainer but is dedicating more time than ever to his passion for singing. The showman inside of him is eager to perform, and he has pursued shows at event spaces in the local area and beyond. He also just completed his latest music video for “I’ve Got The World On A String.” The video — directed and produced by his son, actor Colin Cunningham — is a family affair starring Bill’s wife, daughter, and two granddaughters and can be viewed at billcunninghamsings.com.
