Acting 101: What has Bruce Jenner been doing since the 1976 Summer Olympics?

June 9, 9:29 PMActing ExaminerDeborah Smith Ford

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Bruce Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner                                   (Photo/File)

William Bruce Jenner is a former U.S. track and field athlete, motivational speaker, socialite, and television personality, known principally for winning the decathlon in the 1976 Summer Olympics.  Jenner has been involved in a slew of television and film projects, some of which are listed below.

Bruce Jenner

I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win - if you don't, you won't. - Bruce Jenner

But first is Jenner's education and sports background.  Bruce Jenner attended Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut, from Sleepy Hollow High School in North Tarrytown, New York. Jenner earned a football scholarship and attended Graceland College (now Graceland University), but a knee injury forced him to stop playing football and switch to the decathlon. He was mentored by Graceland's track coach L.D. Weldon, who was the first to recognize Jenner's potential and encouraged him to pursue the decathlon. Jenner debuted in the decathlon at the Drake Relays in 1970- placing sixth.

Jenner placed third in the decathlon at the 1972 U.S. Olympic trials, and finished in tenth place at the 1972 Munich games. In 1974 and 1976, he was the American champion in the event, and he won a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, setting a world record of 8,634 points. Jenner was handed a large American flag from a bystander in the audience as he spontaneously ran a celebratory victory lap, a gesture that has been emulated frequently since that time by athletes in other sports from countries around the world.

After his Olympic success, Jenner appeared with Grits Gresham in an episode of ABC's The American Sportsman. The program featured Gresham hunting, fishing, or shooting in exotic spots with celebrities. In the early 1990s he was the host of an infomercial for a stair-climbing exercise machine called the Stair Climber Plus.

Since 2002, Jenner has appeared as himself on a variety of game shows and reality TV programs. In January 2002 he participated in an episode of the American series of The Weakest Link featuring Olympic athletes. In February and March 2003, he was part of the cast of the American series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, and made a cameo on a season three episode of The Apprentice. Jenner has additionally served as a guest judge on Pet Star on Animal Planet, and appeared with his family on NBC's Celebrity Family Feud.

In late 2007 and 2008 Jenner, along with wife Kris Jenner, stepdaughters Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and stepson Robert (from Kris' marriage to attorney Robert Kardashian), and daughters Kylie and Kendall, starred in the E! reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Jenner also appeared as himself in Nickelodeon's made-for-TV Gym Teacher: The Movie.  He was also a guest on The Bonnie Hunt Show October 6, 2008.  And he was referenced on an episode of Family Guy originally aired on November 16, 2008 where he carried Peter out of his third grade classroom.

I spent twelve years training for a career that was over in a week. Joe Namath spent one week training for a career that lasted twelve years. - Bruce Jenner