Ben Weider, a Canadian who helped turn bodybuilding into a worldwide sport and who was instrumental in launching Arnold Schwarzenegger's career in the United States, has died. Weider, who was 85, died suddenly Friday after being taken to a hospital in Montreal, family spokeswoman Charlotte Parker in Los Angeles said Saturday. The cause of his death was not immediately known. Parker said he had not been ill. “He did work out every day until his death,” she said. Weider and his brother, Joe, turned their love of bodybuilding into a billion-dollar business that includes nutritional supplements, gyms and magazines such as “Muscle and Fitness.” In 1946, Weider and his brother co-founded the International Brotherhood of Body Builders, which sanctions thousands of amateur and professional bodybuilding competitions around the world. Weider was president of the organization until he resigned in 2006. The funeral will be held on Monday in Montreal.
