Born in Toccoa on October 17, 1932, Paul Anderson attended Furman University, where he began lifting weights. In 1955 he traveled from the United States to the Soviet Union as a goodwill ambassador, and his lifting there surpassed many world records. Later that year he won the World Championships, and he brought home the gold medal from the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. He was the last American to win a gold medal in the super heavyweight division. On June 12, 1957, he lifted a total of 6,270 pound in a backlift, which was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the greatest weight lifted by a human being. Anderson married Glenda Garland in 1959, and in 1961 they established The Paul Anderson Youth Home, a Christian rehabilitation facility for young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one who otherwise might be confined to penal institutions. He became a professional to raise funds through demonstrations and speaking engagements to support the Youth Home, and before his death on August 15, 1994, over 2,000 young men benefited from the home and his unselfish devotion.