Debbie Dobbins (October 28, 1963 – December 30, 1993) was a popular

fitness competitor Fitness and figure competition is a class of physique-exhibition events for women and men. While bearing a close resemblance to bodybuilding, its emphasis is on muscle ''definition'', not size. The class was originally introduced when bodybuilding ...

and fitness model during the early 1990s. Her life was cut short due to smoke inhalation in a house fire.

Biography

Dobbins was born in Olongapo, Philippines, of half Irish and half Filipino descent. When she was three her family moved to Portland, Oregon, where she grew up in the northwest side. She competed in a variety of sports in high school and college, including track and field and basketball. She graduated from college with a degree in Marketing and Advertising. After college, she began taking aerobic classes, and also took up running and weight training. Later she taught aerobics and cross training for seven years, and gradually made weight training a bigger part of her fitness regimen. Dobbins moved to Los Angeles, California at age twenty-four to pursue a career in the fitness industry. There she became an aerobics instructor and played volleyball for

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, cert ...

in Costa Mesa. While establishing herself as a fitness model she worked full-time for a leasing company, and did promotional work for Randy Pfund, coach of the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. Debbie also worked as a cheerleader for the

Portland Breakers The Portland Breakers were an American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Before moving to Portland, Oregon, the franchise was previously in Boston, Massachusetts as the Boston Breakers and ...

of the USFL and Los Angeles Raiders of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. Her magazine cover appearances included ''Musclemag International'' and ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

''. She was also featured in ''Iron Mans special swimsuit issue and modeled for ''Iron Man'' gym wear. In 1993, Debbie placed third in the Ms. Fitness USA competition and tied for second at the Ms. Galaxy. Her death in late 1993 occurred as a result of smoke inhalation in a house fire. In a 1994 episode of ''Hard Copy'', it was speculated that there was foulplay involved with the fire causing her death.

Stats

*Height: 5'7" *Weight: 120-128 pounds

Contest history

*1993 Miss Fitness USA - 3rd Runner-up *1993 Miss Fitness USA - 2nd Runner-up *1993 Miss Galaxy Fitness - 1st Runner-up

Magazine covers

*December 1993 - ''

Musclemag International ''MuscleMag International'' or ''Musclemag'' was a Canadian bodybuilding, fitness and men's magazine, considered one of the top magazines in its field. It was established in Canada in 1974 by Robert Kennedy, an immigrant to Canada and leading expe ...

'' *February 1994 - ''

'' *March 1994 - ''Musclemag International'' *July 1994 - '' Muscular Development''

References

*MUSCLEMAG INTERNATIONAL (March 1994). "Training Legs With Debbie Dobbins" by Martin Brown. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.

External links

Information and coversLong Departed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbins, Debbie 1963 births 1993 deaths Fitness and figure competitors Deaths by smoke inhalation Filipino emigrants to the United States American people of Irish descent People from Olongapo American models of Filipino descent National Football League cheerleaders American sportswomen 20th-century American women 20th-century American people