Jesse Ventura

Jesse Ventura is an American politician, former professional wrestler, actor, and author whose career has moved through three highly-distinct American public-life phases. He was born James George Janos on July 15, 1951, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He served in the US Navy from 1969 to 1975 — including 17 months in Southeast Asia as a member of the Underwater Demolition Team 12 (the predecessor to today's US Navy SEALs).

His professional wrestling career under the stage name "Jesse 'The Body' Ventura" ran from 1975 to 1984. He wrestled across multiple promotions including the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), rising to consistent main-event status in the early 1980s. After his in-ring career was ended by blood-clot complications in 1984, he transitioned to wrestling commentary and became one of the most-iconic WWF play-by-play commentators of the late 1980s — including the 1987 WrestleMania III broadcast at the Pontiac Silverdome.

His 1990s political career began with his 1991 election as mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota — a Minneapolis suburb of about 60,000 residents. He served one term and ran successfully for Governor of Minnesota in 1998 as the candidate of the Reform Party — defeating both major-party nominees in one of the most-iconic third-party victories in modern American electoral history. He served one term as Minnesota Governor (1999–2003), declining to seek reelection.

His film career has included the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller Predator (in which Ventura played the Sergeant Blain Cooper, with the catchphrase "I ain't got time to bleed"). He has hosted multiple talk shows and conspiracy-theory programs across the 2000s and 2010s, including Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura on truTV (2009–2012). He continues to be a recurring American political-cultural figure into his seventies.

His name Jesse is from the Hebrew Yishai meaning "gift" or "my husband" — referring most-iconically to the Old Testament Jesse, father of King David. Jesse has been continuously among the most-popular American boys' names for decades.