Corinna "Cory" Everson (

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

Kneuer; born January 4, 1958) is an American

female bodybuilding Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

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 A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

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

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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 Jeff trained at Ernie's Gym on Sherman Avenue in Madison. She won the Ms. Olympia 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 ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

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.

Film and television career

After retiring from competition, she turned to acting with her first major movie appearance being '' Double Impact'' (1991) alongside

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the a ...

. 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 (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", 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 ...

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'' 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 (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

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

Film

Television

Personal life

Cory and Jeff Everson divorced in 1996; however, she kept 'Everson' as her stage name. In 1998, she married Dr. Steve Donia, a cosmetic dentist; they have two children whom they adopted from Russia. She became active with

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, 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 (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-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, and Stephen Wan ...

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Carla Dunlap Carla Dunlap-Kaan (born October 22, 1954) is a professional American female bodybuilding champion. Early life and education Dunlap was born in 1954, in Newark, New Jersey. She started competing in sports with gymnastics at age 10. She later c ...

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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 Professional bodybuilders Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin 21st-century American women