Helping others make it big

Elia Powers

An Olympic athlete, reality television host and motivational speaker

lives among us here.

He trains professional athletes, appears on soap operas and, just

when you think his schedule is full, there he is in a flash, standing

in front of a pack of students.

In the classroom, Howard Dell is no pushover. Just look at his

favorite T-shirt -- which reads, “Discipline, Dedication, Desire” --

for evidence.

He finds it amusing when students test his authority. Talk during

roll call, and be ready for a trip to the principal’s office. Cop an

attitude during class and expect to see your belongings hit the

floor.

Dell doesn’t need to put up with students who give him lip. So why

does a man whose acting career began beside Halle Berry substitute

teach at Corona del Mar High School?

“I don’t believe there are many people teaching hope,” Dell said

Tuesday from a spacious lounge at the Newport Beach Tennis Club,

where he is fitness director. “If I have the platform to teach, I’m

confident people will listen to my message.”

Dell is always searching for the right audience.

That’s why he signed on last year to co-host “Making It Big,” a

reality television show that pits three professionals against each

other as they work toward attaining their dream job.

“The show fits my message,” he said. “There are plenty of people

who have the gumption but don’t have the opportunity to succeed.”

On the show, contestants work through challenges meant to test

their competence and ability to handle pressure. Dell explains each

assignment and introduces industry leaders who evaluate the three

contestants’ talents.

The six-episode show, which began airing in May on the Oxygen

Network, is geared toward female audiences.

Dell doesn’t deny that looks played a role in his hiring. A former

decathlete who maintains a competitor’s physique, he fit the bill to

become co-host.

“He’s an imposing presence,” said John Ritchie, executive producer

of “Making It Big.” “What’s most apparent is that he is personable

and gives off good energy.”

The show’s filming took place in Dell’s native country of Canada.

That’s where he was a high school sports standout who lettered in

football, basketball, track and badminton.

Dell’s athletic career was soaring, and he had hopes of playing in

the NBA, but during his senior year, he suffered a major knee injury,

which should have ended thoughts of playing professional sports.

It didn’t.

After months of rehabilitation, Dell was back to competition,

eventually becoming a bobsledder on the 1988 Canadian Olympic team.

Dell turned to football, playing for years in the Canadian

Football League and completing a short stint with the National

Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals.

In the early 1990s, he moved to Los Angeles to begin an acting

career. Within the first week, he was cast in his first nationally

televised show, “A Different World,” in which he acted alongside

Berry.

“I’m above her in the credits,” he says, jokingly.

Dell made appearances on shows such as “The Young and The

Restless,” and even played O.J. Simpson in a television production.

For Dell -- a student of Martin Luther King Jr. -- a career

highlight was playing his hero in “A Dream Continues,” a play that

ran for a year in Vancouver, British Columbia.

When he moved to Corona del Mar in 2002, Dell developed a list of

local clients -- many of whom play sports for local high schools. He

has continued a one-man strength-and-conditioning company called

“Success Sports.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.