Edward Connors

Edward Connors, whose full name is Edward Krueger Connors Jr., is also known as Ed Connors. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, United States.⁠[1]

In a memoir excerpt on his website, Connors recalls participating in scouting in Omaha during childhood and feeling self-conscious about his weight.⁠[2]

Connors attended Creighton Preparatory School and earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1968.⁠[3]

According to his biography, Connors was drafted after college and served in Vietnam for about 21 months. Afterward, he worked for Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Associates on the East Coast.⁠[3]

Connors moved to Los Angeles and worked on the architectural design of the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus store.⁠[3]

Connors and his partners acquired Gold’s Gym, then located in Santa Monica. Joe Gold had founded the brand in 1965; Connors was a later owner.⁠[1][4]

Gold’s Gym opened its first franchise in San Francisco. A later interview biography records Connors’s direct involvement in opening 36 additional locations.⁠[5]

Gold’s Gym’s official retrospective states that Tim Kimber joined roughly two years after Connors and Pete Grymkowski acquired the gym, which moved to Venice. The three subsequently developed its licensing network.⁠[6]

During Connors’s period of ownership, Gold’s Gym opened its first location outside the United States in Canada in 1985 and entered European and Asian markets in 1996.⁠[4]

According to his biography, Gold’s Gym was sold to Brockway Moran & Partners in 1999. Connors remained a shareholder and board member until his departure in 2004.⁠[2]

Connors later told CNN that he had planned to travel to Italy in September 2001 to buy a castle and operate a vineyard. The trip and purchase were canceled after the September 11 attacks.⁠[7]

Creators Publishing published Connors’s memoir, The Three Muscleteers. It recounts Gold’s Gym’s development and his support for people in bodybuilding, wrestling and related fields.⁠[8][1]

Connors, Pete Grymkowski and Tim Kimber were inducted into the Gold’s Gym Hall of Fame at a ceremony at Hotel Per La in Los Angeles.⁠[6]

School of Hard Knocks released an interview with Connors discussing his military service, Gold’s Gym’s development and his experience supporting younger people in the industry.⁠[9]

According to a CNN interview published that February, Connors moved alone to Lecce in Italy’s Puglia region in January after selling his Venice Beach home. He said he had never married and had no children.⁠[7]

Beyond Activ named Connors, Grymkowski and Kimber as Lifetime Achievement Award recipients for its 2026 Americas Awards. The organizer scheduled the ceremony for November 12, 2026, in Dallas; it had not yet taken place as of October.⁠[10]

People Connors has supported in bodybuilding and wrestling include Cory Everson, Jay Cutler and John Cena. Personal website: https://edconnors.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5][1]