Portal:Erie/Selected biography/1

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Billy Blanks (born September 1, 1955) is an American fitness guru, martial artist, actor, and the inventor of Tae Bo. Blanks was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of fifteen children. Blanks began his acting career in the 1980s where he starred in several action-adventure feature films. In the late 1980s, Blanks invented the Tae Bo workout, while running a karate studio in Quincy, Massachusetts. Blanks opened a fitness center in Los Angeles to teach his new workout. He later attracted some celebrity clients such as Paula Abdul and the popularity of the workout quickly grew. The popularity of the workout later waned, but Blanks still attracts many celebrity clients and Tae Bo videos and DVDs have continued to sell well.