"Life Begins at 40!"

Paul Gaudino started out as a shoemaker in Butler, PA

 In 1971, St. Fidelis College decided to offer a course in television production and Gaudino, a shoemaker by trade, was wondering if it were really possible to take the course and break onto the airwaves. "So, he came up to me one day and tells me about his idea to do this show, but he wasn't sure if it would work out. 'Go for it!'" said his wife, Barabara.

It was those same words that Barbara must have been thinking in 1957 when she fled communist East Germany. On the other side of the barbed wire she met a 22-year-old Army private who was into physical fitness. He spoke only English, she only German. They dated, and two years later were married. It was 10 years before Barbara could introduce her husband to her mother, but the trip behind the Iron Curtain provided more than just the first meeting with his in-laws. "I saw this East German television show called 'Medicine with Notes with Accent on Prevention'," Gaudino said, explaining that the "notes" were musical ones and that the show was a poor imitation of American fitness programs set to music. "It was on that show where I saw the saying, Life Begins at 40, and when I started my own show, I remembered that and used it in my program," Gaudino said.

Barbara Helps Out

Paul met Barbara when he was stationed in Germany in the 1950's.

Barbara seems some what amused at the modest celebrity it has brought. I was visiting a daughter of mine when some people came up to me and said, "You're Barbara Gaudino, Paul Gaudino's wife, aren't you?'," Barbara said. "Just think. All the way from little Butler and I get recognized in Virginia Beach. Who'd believe it?"


Paul in the early days.
31 Years on Cable Television
The Longest Running Family Fitness Show

But believing is what has made him visible; it's what made possible the 500-mile round-trip to Red Lion, Pa., where he first taped the week's five shows, even when the weather was so poor that his cameraman couldn't get to the studio.

Believing that his show would go national allowed him to quit the shoe business and plunge into promoting his show. "He stuck with it no matter what was thrown his way. He really believed in the show,"Barbara said.

Unlike so many people his age and younger, Gaudino said he doesn't think about how many times his body has orbited the sun. "Last year I took up golfing for the first time, ever. I'm 61, now.* At 61, most people would be saying 'you've got to be kidding, I can't even get out of bed," Gaudino said. "I don't worry about my age, I worry about my physical condition."
   
*Paul turned 71 in 2006.