Lisa Lyon (born 1953) is a
female bodybuilder
Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions. and photo model from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and is regarded as one of female bodybuilding's pioneers.
Biography
Born in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in 1953. Lisa Lyon studied art at the
University of California at Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
. There she became accomplished in the Japanese art of fencing,
kendo
is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...
, but found herself lacking sufficient upper body strength so she began weight training. This eventually led her into bodybuilding.
Lyon entered and won the first
International Federation of BodyBuilders
The International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness (IFBB), headquartered in Las Rozas (Madrid), is an international professional sports governing body for bodybuilding and fitness that oversees many of the sport's major international event ...
Women's World Pro Bodybuilding Championship in Los Angeles on June 16, 1979. This was the only bodybuilding competition of her career. She appeared in many magazines and on television talk shows, promoting bodybuilding for women. She also wrote a book on weight training for women titled ''Lisa Lyon’s Body Magic'' (), which was published in 1981.
Her stats as taken in October 1980:
Bust 37A, Waist 24", Hips 35", Height 5' 4", Weight 120 lbs, Hair Color brunette.
At the time, she could dead-lift 225 pounds, bench-press 120 pounds, and squat 265 pounds.
Although Lyon is often cited as the first female bodybuilder to appear in ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'' (in October 1980),
she was actually predated by stripper and bodybuilder
Kellie Everts, who appeared in a May 1977 pictorial called "Humping Iron".
Lyon modeled for
Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton (born Helmut Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-a ...
, American fine art photographer
Joel-Peter Witkin
Joel-Peter Witkin (born September 13, 1939) is an American photographer who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work often deals with themes such as death, corpses (and sometimes dismembered portions thereof), often featuring ornately decorated ...
, and American fine art photographer and boyfriend
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Michael Mapplethorpe (; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-p ...
(between 1980 and 1983, Mapplethorpe created over 150 photographs of her, resulting in the 1983 book ''Lady: Lisa Lyon''),
and
Marcus Leatherdale, who published two pictures of her in his first catalogue book at the Molotov art gallery. Lyon's work with Mapplethorpe was notable owing to Mapplethorpe's depiction of her body as simultaneously traditionally feminine and strong in a conventionally masculine sense.
She was inducted into the
IFBB Hall of Fame The IFBB Hall of Fame was established in 1999 to honor outstanding athletes and officials in the sport of bodybuilding. There have been no inductees since 2011.
Induction years
1999
*Carla Dunlap
*Cory Everson
*John Grimek
*Lee Haney
*Rachel McLi ...
in 2000 for being ''a one-woman media-relations activist on behalf of the sport'' and ''Elevating bodybuilding to the level of fine art''.
Lisa Lyon also had a short acting career:
* Mathilde in ''
Three Crowns of the Sailor
''Three Crowns of the Sailor'' (french: Les trois couronnes du matelot) is a 1983 French fabulation, fabulist film with Surrealist cinema, surrealist and oneiric (film theory), oneiric flourishes written and directed by Cinema of Chile, Chilean ...
'' from 1983
* Pilar Jones in the bodybuilding movie ''Getting Physical'' from 1984
* Cimmaron in ''
'', a low-budget 1986 film starring
Grace Jones
Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...
.
In creating the Marvel Comics character
Elektra,
Frank Miller
Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...
initially used Lyon as a basis for the character's appearance.
[Sanderson, Peter. "The Frank Miller/Klaus Janson Interview," ''Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson'' vol. 2, p. 305.]
References
External links
IFBB Hall of Fame profile*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Lisa
American female bodybuilders
1953 births
Living people
Professional bodybuilders
21st-century American women