 The Final Years In 1948 he married his fourth wife, Johnnie Lee Macfadden. He was nearly 80; she was 44. There was quite a lot of publicity, and the two newlyweds seemed as playful and as energetic as a young couple in their twenties rather than a couple with a combined age of 124!
His marriage to Johnnie Lee brought him a lot
of publicity, but it lasted only four years. The truth is that Macfadden was still
carrying on affairs with other women well into his eighties.
Although Macfadden was a master showman, could still attract attention, and still had a group of loyal followers,
few of the younger people during the 40's and 50's took him really
seriously. He was considered somewhat of a kook and an eccentric.
By 1952, Macfadden's legal and financial problems were spiraling out of control.
This was certainly exacerbated by
people with whom he had business dealings who wanted a chunk of what they
saw as a rapidly dwindling fortune. He faced numerous lawsuits. He lost the Hotel Deauville in Miami Beach as a
result of a lawsuit involving legal technicalities.
Both of his ex-wives
Those who were closest to him began to see a change - he was not his old self. He complained of pains in his legs, had lost a lot of his energy and vitality, but he refused to accept any help. In this instance, his solid self-determination and strong will worked against him. There are times when everyone needs help from others, but Macfadden thought of this as weakness and refused to recognize that he needed help from anyone. In 1955, he developed a urinary tract blockage which he attempted to treat by fasting. October 7, unconscious and near death, he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, but doctors could do nothing to save him. He died Oct. 12, 1955. He had been healthy almost to the very end, and the end came quickly. He lived 87 years, a long and productive life - not bad for someone who had been a sickly, weak child who wasn't given long to live! Although most people believed that Macfadden died nearly penniless, Johnnie Lee Macfadden claimed that there was still money - that it was buried at various locations across the country. She said that he had told her that he had buried money in steel cartridge boxes, and it amounted to millions! A couple people reported that they had seen Macfadden leave one of his hotels carrying a bag and a shovel and return with only the shovel. However, as far as we know, all attempts to locate the buried treasure have failed. Many people close to Macfadden said that the rumors of buried money were false - that there was no money left. However, in 1960 a steel cartridge box was found buried on Long Island on some property once owned by Macfadden. It contained $89,000! Could it be that the rumor was true and there is actually some of the Macfadden fortune still buried?
It seems unbelievable that a man so well-known
and so influential as Bernarr Macfadden could be forgotten. Indeed, most people
of the present generation do not know who Bernarr Macfadden was. This is unfortunate, because he was
an important as well as flamboyant and colorful figure in American history and especially in the history of
the health and fitness movement. It is encouraging to note that recently people are beginning to "rediscover"
Macfadden.
Bernarr Macfadden was clearly
ahead of his time in many ways. He was the first person in the alternative
health care field to become a millionaire. His impact was widespread. He
was the one person most responsible for creating a health and fitness consciousness
in America. He was influential in helping Americans to see that sex was not something to be ashamed of.
He was also influential in bringing about ways to control venereal disease.
His teaching about the value of eating fresh fruits, vegetables,
and whole grain foods cannot be faulted; and his belief in the value of
exercise, particularly walking, anticipated an age when exercise would
be accepted as a requisite for good health. He was also "on target" when he wrote about the important role that the
mind plays in maintaining good health. Indeed, he was the "father
of physical culture." Not all
of his ideas about health and disease are accepted even today. This
is most apparent in areas where he simply stretched a perfectly good idea beyond
its limits. For example, he believed that fasting was a cure for all ailments.
In an effort to encompass all health problems - all diseases, he certainly went
overboard. Nevertheless, many of his ideas on the natural treatment of illness were accurate,
but more than that, his ideas about fitness, especially about diet and exercise,
were absolutely correct.
Macfadden is studied today
in Journalism classes. His place in history as the maverick publisher of
pulp magazines and tabloid newspapers is secure. His impact on magazine publishing and upon advertising
was immense.
Macfadden Publications survived long after his death. Many of the advertising and promotional techniques
which he developed
are still being used today. Bernarr Macfadden was an
American original. He was totally a self-made man. He was a genius at carving out his own unique niche.
He was instrumental in helping
Americans emerge from the puritanical mentality of the past, but in many ways, he was out of step with
the new society that he had played a part in creating. Some of his ideas about family and business ethics
were simply old fashion and insensitive. He was a very complicated
and even contradictory man. In the end, he remains an enigma.
INTRODUCTION || EARLY YEARS || WEAKNESS - A CRIME || PERFECT WOMAN - PERFECT FAMILY || A PUBLISHING EMPIRE || HEALTH CRUSADER || FAME - FORTUNE - FOLLY - FAILURE || RESOURCES-LINKS-MACFADDEN STUFF This site was created by
Jim Bennett © 2001, 2002, 2003 Visit my other sites: StudioArts.Net | RiverFlow.Com | MathSquad.Com
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In celebration of his 81st birthday,
he devised the stunt of parachuting from an airplane over Dansville, New
York. Wearing a football helmet, baseball catcher's shin guards, and substantial
padding underneath a business suit, Macfadden safely completed the jump.
He repeated this stunt at different locations for two more birthdays.
The photo on the
left shows Macfadden, ever the ladies' man and still spry at age 84, dancing with Paris chorus girls.
had taken legal action against him, and he even spent a short time in jail
for non-payment of alimony. Most of the time, he was simply trying to avoid legal prosecution - trusted friends
and associates were turning against him. His foundation was running out of money.
1952 was also the year that Mary
Macfadden's tell-all biography of her life with Bernarr, "Dumbbells
and Carrot Strips," was published. He felt that the public image which
he had worked so hard to create, was severely damaged by the biography - that the physical
culture cause had been hurt. He was angered and hurt by this.
