Joseph "Joe" Rollino was a decorated World World War II veteran, weightlifter, and strongman.
Background
The son of Italian immigrants, Rollino dubbed himself the world"s strongest man in the 1920s, moving 3,200 pounds (1,500 kg) with his back during the prime of his career. Rollino was born and raised in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, one of 14 children.
Career
Only 5 feet 5 inches (165 m) tall and weighing 150 pounds (68 kg), Rollino allegedly began lifting weights in the 1920s and trained for a time with Warren Lincoln Travis. He also took up boxing and toured the United States as a boxer, fighting under the name Kid Dundee. Rollino also became known as a strongman, moving more than a ton, bending nails with his mouth and coins with his bare hands.
He often appeared on the Coney Island Festival in the 1920s/30s, being dubbed the world"s strongest manitoba
Rollino boasted of lifting 635 pounds (288 kg) with one finger. He once lifted 450 pounds (200 kg) with his teeth.
After retiring from active performing, he worked as a longshoreman and once worked as a bodyguard for Greta Garbo. He also knew such celebrities as Mario Lanza and Houdini.
Rollino was a lifelong> and "devout" vegetarian.
During his later years, he was known for his winter swimming activities. Rollino was part of the Iceberg Athletic Club, a now-defunct swimming club, for more than 20 years. "He saw that his men were really hurting, getting injured during a battle", Pete Spanakos said, "so he ran onto the field, grabbed two men under one arm, two under another, and brought them back behind the lines.
And he did this several times."
Rollino lived a life of relative obscurity, rarely giving interviews or appearing in public.
In a 2008 interview, he claimed to have been "born strong". He later lived with a niece.
According to friends and family, he was in very good shape and was still able to bend quarters with his teeth as of his claimed 103rd birthday. On January 11, 2010, Rollino left his home and was hit by a vehicle in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.
He died at a hospital several hours later, aged either 93 or 104.