Ventura, Jesse (1951– )

US professional wrestler, actor, and politician. After a career as a Navy SEAL, professional wrestler, and actor, he was unexpectedly elected governor of Minnesota in 1998 as the candidate of the anti-establishment Reform Party. He ran as a financial conservative, promising voters a tax rebate, and a social liberal, supporting gay rights, abortion rights, and the use of medicinal marijuana. Ventura left the Reform Party in 2000 after it was taken over by supporters of the former far-right Republican Pat Buchanan.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he served in the US Navy as a Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) special operations officer 1969–73. He then took up weightlifting and became famous as a wrestler, using the stage name Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, until the mid-1980s. He then moved into acting, appearing in the 1987 film, Predator. He served as mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, 1991–95.