Armand Tanny, a pioneering figure in bodybuilding who won national titles in 1949 and 1950 and was a popular figure on the original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, Calif., during its heyday in the 1940s, has died. He was 90.

Mr. Tanny, the younger brother of gym pioneer Vic Tanny, died April 4 of natural causes in a nursing facility in the Los Angeles area, according to his daughter, Mandy Tanny.

Originally a weightlifter, Mr. Tanny won the Mr. 1949, the 1949 Pro Mr. America and the 1950 Pro Mr. USA titles in bodybuilding. A competitor in the days before steroids, he credited his wins to diet and hard work. He was a firm believer in the benefits of raw foods.

During the 1950s, he was one of the original nine bodybuilders from Muscle Beach who were part of Mae West's traveling nightclub act. According to the book "Remembering Muscle Beach," by Harold Zinkin with Bonnie Hearn-Hill (Angel City Press, 1999), the nine were known as Mae's Muscle Beach Men. Also in the group were prominent bodybuilders Joe Gold, George Eiferman, Richard DuBois, Harry Schwartz, Dom Juliano, Lester "Shifty" Schaefer, Irvin "Zabo" Koszewski and Chuck Krauser.

According to Ms. Hearn-Hill, Mr. Tanny and Mr. Gold organized a strike when Ms. West cut their salaries in half from $250 a week to boost the take at a New York club.

"Armand and Joe were ready to board the plane," Ms. Hearn-Hill told the Los Angeles Times. "Mae quickly caved in, and they got their full salaries."

Mr. Tanny turned to professional wrestling in the 1950s. But for much of his life, the quiet and studious Tanny made his living writing about physical fitness and bodybuilding for his friend Joe Weider's publications, including Muscle Power magazine.

He attended the University of Rochester in New York and the University of California, Los Angeles, but World War II intervened, and Mr. Tanny joined the Coast Guard and served until he suffered a knee injury. He left the service and went back to school at UCLA, earning a degree in physical therapy. When he wasn't at the beach with early bodybuilding pals, Mr. Tanny was at the Santa Monica gym started by his brother Vic, a pioneer in the creation of the modern health club. Vic Tanny died in 1985.