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Bearded, biceped bodybuilder Steve Reeves was the recipient of several "Mr." titles in the early '50s, most notably Mr. Universe and Mr. America. He was in small TV roles on the basis of his "build"; one of his early jobs on the weekly sitcom Topper garnered more fan mail than any other episode of that series. Reeves' first movie speaking role was in Jail Bait, a 1954 cheapie directed by the one and only Edward Wood Jr.. He then headed to Europe, attaining worldwide fame via entrepreneur Joseph E. Levine's Hercules films. Steve Reeves starred in (and occasionally produced and scripted) Italian sword-and-sandal epics until retiring to count his money in 1968.