 Charles "Ironman" Saliba | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Maltese |
| Born | November 13, 1929 Sliema, Malta |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Strongman |
Charles "Ironman" Saliba (1929-1982), was a performing oldtime strongman from the island of Malta who performed feats of strength shows during the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Saliba was known as the "Ironman" or the "Man of Iron" and was also known as the strongest man in Europe. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Charles Saliba was born in Sliema, Malta on the 13 November 1929. Saliba was born into a large family consisting of eight siblings in total. In later years Saliba married Mary whom he had three children with. [1] [2]
During his younger years Saliba was interested in boxing and the martial arts. Saliba trained boxing at a boxing club in Manwel Dimech Street in Sliema, Malta. [5] [6] In later years Saliba would train mostly at home where he had a gym equipped with weightlifting and exercise equipment. Saliba's diet involved him consuming five cartons of eggs a week and a lot of horse meat. [1] [2] [7] Saliba would later train the Maltese boxer Bertu Camilleri at the Youth Gym Sliema. [8]
Saliba started his performing strongman career during the 1960s. [9] At the beginning of his career Saliba began performing at a number of venues such as Radio City Theatre in Hamrun and at the Orpheum Theatre in Gzira. During some of his earlier performances Saliba would perform dangerous stunts as well as feats of strength. Some of Saliba's feats involved him bending steel objects with his hands and with his head, laying on a bed of nails for hours, laying on bed of sea urchins for hours, wrapping himself up in barbed wire etc. Saliba also performed with Walter Cornelius a Latvian strongman who performed feats of strength shows in the United Kingdom. [3] [1] [2] In 1968 Saliba toured the United Kingdom with sifu Charles Gaffiero performing at public shows to raise money to buy a kidney machine for a hospital in Malta. [10] Saliba was also known to perform feats such as using his mouth to hammer nails into wood and using his hair to lift heavy objects. Saliba would also perform the human sandwich stunt which involved him laying in between two beds of nails. Saliba was also known to have performed stone breaking stunts which involved someone usually a stone mason or builder smashing a stone with a sledge hammer on Saliba's body. Saliba also performed pulling feats in which he would pull heavy vehicles such as cars, trucks and buses. Saliba was also known to perform a feat in which he would pull a nail out of a plank of wood with his teeth. In one particular show Saliba had two cars drive over his arm. During most of his performances Saliba was assisted by his friend Leli Delia who was an acrobat from Bormla. In 1969 Saliba broke the record for laying on a bed of nails in which he manage to lay on for over eight hours breaking the previous record by Saxon Tylney. In 1970 Saliba once again travelled to the United Kingdom to perform on a televised appearance on the BBC. During this performance Saliba bent a number of steel objects and broke a number of other records. Also during 1970 Saliba performed a dangerous stunt which involved him in laying between two beds of nails with a car full of people resting on top of these. In one of Saliba's most impressive performances he managed to pull a Boeing 727 airliner belonging to Air Malta to help raise money for charity. Saliba was also known for performing the human link feat with horses and people attempting to break his grip by pulling him from both sides with ropes attached to each of Saliba's arms. In his later years Saliba began performing Indian style feats and stunts which involved him pulling heavy vehicles using metal piercings through his mouth and face. Saliba would also perform in the circus and on Australian television after moving to Australia during the 1970s. During this period Saliba also performed as a stuntman. In one particular stunt during the 1970s Saliba managed to pull a heavy cannon. Saliba also performed in Singapore during this period. After returning to Malta one of Saliba's final performances involved him pulling a car with his hair from Saint Julian's to Sliema. [3] [1] [2]
Saliba died on the 19 July 1982 at the age of 53 while attending a record breaking show by open water endurance swimmer Alfred Kitcher. [2] [1]
Douglas Ivan Hepburn was a Canadian strongman and weightlifter. He won weightlifting gold medals in the 1953 World Weightlifting Championships as well as the 1954 British Empire Games in the heavyweight division. He is also known as the first man to bench press 400, 450, 500, and 550 pounds (raw). During the 1950s he was publicly known as the "world's strongest man" for his many feats of strength. Hepburn has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1953), Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1955), and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame (1966).
A strongman is someone who exhibits strength through strength athletics. Strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, are composed of a variety of events in which competitors have to move the highest weights possible, the winner being the one having the highest tally across all events. In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength.
Jamie Reeves is a British former coal miner, strongman and professional wrestler. As a strongman, he won the 1989 World's Strongest Man, was World Muscle Power champion, and also had numerous other titles including Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man. Following retirement from competitive sport he continued to be involved in strength athletics as a referee, event promoter and coach.
Joseph L. Greenstein, better known as The Mighty Atom, was a 20th-century strongman known for highly unusual feats of strength and endurance.
The Brian Conley Show was a comedy variety show, and later a comedy chat show, fronted by comedian Brian Conley. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV between 1992 and 1995, and then 2000 and 2002.
Thomas Inch was a British strongman, who held the titles of Britain's Strongest Youth and Britain's Strong Man.
Manjit Singh is a strongman originally from India, who moved to Leicestershire in 1977. He holds a number of Guinness World Records for feats of strength concerned with pulling large obstacles. Singh has recently come to greater attention in the UK after his appearance in the third series of Britain's Got Talent.
Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza is a professional footballer who plays for Msida Saint-Joseph as a striker.
Otto Acron is an Australian strongman.
Antonio Olivari was born on 28 September 1980. He is a songwriter and composer from Ħamrun, Malta and has written songs in English and in Maltese.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, the Europe's Strongest Man, and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year and holds numerous Strongman titles from multiple strength federations, including multiple world records. With 30 international competition wins, he is the third most decorated strongman in history, behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas and Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski, and in terms of pure brute strength, many strength analysts and strongman experts regard Hafþór as "the strongest man to have ever lived".
Johnny Strange, nicknamed "the man with ears of steel", is an English world record breaking performance artist, producer, street performer and bestselling author based in London, England. He is known for performing daredevil stunts with a comedic twist.
Stanisław J. Radwan, also known as The Polish Strongman and King of Iron and Steel, was an ethnic Polish, American strongman and professional wrestler in Cleveland, Ohio during the 1940s and 1950s.
William Bankier billed as 'Apollo, the Scottish Hercules', was a strongman stage performer who in 1915 and 1919 was also 'King Rat' of the showbusiness charity the Grand Order of Water Rats.
Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Taboo" written by Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg and Muxu. The song was performed by Christabelle. The Maltese entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a final held on 3 February 2018, where "Taboo" performed by Christabelle eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.
Enzo Gusman, also known as Laurence was a Maltese singer born in Sliema, Malta. It was Malta's late comic actor Johnnie Navarro who discovered him and invited him as a resident singer on a programme called "TIC TAC" transmitted on the now-defunct Malta's Cable Radio system run by Rediffusion. In 1964, Gusman was the vocalist of the Maltese pop-group "The Boys". In 1965, Gusman pursued a career in banking, even when he emigrated to Canada in 1979. In later years, he would again spend several years living in Malta.
Joe "Powerful" Falzon (1932-2023), was a performing oldtime strongman from the isle of Malta who performed feats of strength shows during the 1960s and 1970s. Falzon was known as "The Powerful" and "The Strongman" and was also known as the strongest man in Malta.
Anthony "il-Walker" Zarb (1904-1993), was a performing oldtime strongman from the isle of Malta who performed feats of strength shows from the 1920s until the 1970s. Zarb was known as "il-Walker" and the "Steel Bending Champion of Malta" and was renowned in Malta for his steel bending shows.
Tony "The Strongman" Farrugia, is a performing oldtime strongman from the isle of Malta who performed feats of strength shows during the 2010s and 2020s. Farrugia is known as "The Strongman" and is also known as the strongest man in Malta.
Tony Nicholl was a Maltese footballer who played as a striker. Tony Nicholl scored 263 goals in 302 games in his 25-year career in Malta, he won 30 trophies during his time in Malta and was the league's top-scorer on 7 occasions.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
