Corinna "Cory" Everson (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Kneuer; born January 4, 1958) is an American female bodybuilding champion and actress. Everson won the Ms. Olympia contest six years in a row from 1984 to 1989.

Education

Corinna Kneuer was born in Racine, Wisconsin and attended high school in Deerfield, Illinois. She attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, where she was a multi-sport standout (gymnastics, track & field and

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

Early career

While attending the

, she met Jeff Everson, a competitive bodybuilder who worked there as a strength coach. They married in 1982. While they were married, the Eversons built a successful mail-order clothing business called Sampson and Delilah.

Bodybuilding career

Everson began to train seriously as a bodybuilder after her graduation, and made rapid progress. In the early years, she and her husband trained at Ernie's Gym on Sherman Avenue in Madison. She won the Ms. Olympia bodybuilding contest at her first participation and remained undefeated from 1984 to 1989 when she retired from competition.

Contest history

*1980 Ms. Mid America - 1st (tall and overall) *1980 American Couples - 3rd (with Jeff Everson) *1981 Ms. Midwest Open - 1st (tall & overall) *1981 Ms. Central USA - 1st (HW and overall) *1981 Couples America - 1st (with Jeff Everson) *1981 American Championships - 11th (MW) *1982 Ms. East Coast - 1st (MW) *1982 Bodybuilding Expo III - 2nd (MW) *1982 Bodybuilding Expo Couples - 2nd (with Jeff Everson) *1982 AFWB American Championships - 5th (HW) *1982 IFBB North American - 1st (MW and overall) *1982 IFBB North American Mixed Pairs - 1st *1983 Bodybuilding Expo IV - 1st (MW and overall) *1983 Bodybuilding Expo Mixed Pairs - 1st *1983 U.S. Bodybuilding Championships Couples - 1st (with Jeff Everson) *1983 AFWB American Championships - 8th (HW) *1983 NPC Nationals - 2nd (HW) *1984 American Women's Championships - 1st (HW and overall) *1984 NPC Nationals - 1st (HW and overall) *1984 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st *1985 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st *1986 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st *1987 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st *1988 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st *1989 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st

Awards and honors

In January 1999, Everson was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame, as part of the inaugural group. She was inducted into the Muscle Beach

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Body Building Hall of Fame on September 5, 2005. At the 2007 Arnold Classic she became the first woman to be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2008 was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame. In 2012, she was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.

Film and television career

After retiring from competition, Everson turned to acting with her first major movie appearance being '' Double Impact'' (1991) alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. She took a minor role in '' Natural Born Killers'' (1994). Then in ''Ballistic'' (1995), she reprised the evil musclewoman role, losing the final fight to Marjean Holden playing an undercover cop. Everson has made a number of guest appearances in television series, most notably playing

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

on '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys''. She appeared in two episodes of '' The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.'' with her sister, Cameo Kneuer. In 1991, Everson appeared on ''

To Tell The Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' game show. Everson was the original host of the fitness show ''BodyShaping'', which she also produced. She also hosted her own exercise show on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, ''Cory Everson's Gotta Sweat'', for seven years.

Film

Television

Personal life

She married Jeff Everson in 1982. They divorced in 1996; however, she continues to use Everson as her stage name. In 1998, she married Dr. Steve Donia, a dentist; they have two children whom they adopted from Russia. She became active with Nightlight Christian Adoptions, an adoption agency that brings orphans from Russia and Belarus to the US to stay with families looking to adopt a child. Everson's sister, Cameo Kneuer, is a two-time Ms. National Fitness champion and a mainstay of the TV game series '' Knights and Warriors''

Books authored

*''Strength Training for Beauty Volume 3 - Number 1''Runner's World Magazine Company (1986) *''Superflex: Ms. Olympia's Guide to Building a Strong & Sexy Body'' Contemporary Books (1987) with Jeff Everson *''Back in Shape''

Houghton Mifflin Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Boston Financial District. It was formerly known as the Houghto ...

(1991) with Stephen Hochschuler *''Cory Everson's Workout'' Perigee Trade (1991) with Jeff Everson *''Cory Everson's Fat-Free & Fit'' Perigee Trade (1994) with Carole Jacobs *''Cory Everson's Lifebalance'' Perigee Trade (1998)

References

External links

Facebook PageMs Olympia 1986 online - Cory everson win
*
Cory Everson
fitness filmography at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

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Lenda Murray {{DEFAULTSORT:Everson, Corinna 1958 births American exercise and fitness writers American exercise instructors American female bodybuilders American film actresses American television actresses Living people People from Deerfield, Illinois American professional bodybuilders Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American sportswomen 20th-century American actresses