Eileen Philippa Rose Fowler,
MBE (13 May 1906 – 7 March 2000) was a
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
physical exercise instructor. She was involved in the keep-fit craze and had a lasting career on radio and BBC television.
Life
Fowler was born in
Tottenham
Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthams ...
in 1906. She originally trained to act and dance despite her parents' objections. She did not appreciate the lifestyle and in the 1930s she had trained to be a keep-fit instructor at the time that exercise became a craze. In 1934 she founded the ''Industrial Keep Fit Organisation'' and she gave classes in the south of England.
[ In the following year ]Phyllis Colson
Phyllis is a feminine given name which may refer to:
People
* Phyllis Bartholomew (1914–2002), English long jumper
* Phyllis Drummond Bethune (née Sharpe, 1899–1982), New Zealand artist
* Phyllis Calvert (1915–2002), British actress
* Ph ...
founded the Central Council of Physical Recreation
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
(CCPR).[Service to Sport]
, H.Justin Evans, 1974
During the Second World War she was employed by the Central Council of Physical Recreation to improve the fitness of workers as she toured across the country conducting group physical training. In February 1945 she married an electrical engineer. After several years the CCPR again employed her and she and 200 women provided a show at an F.A. Cup final.[
In 1954 she gave her first keep-fit broadcast.][ Many were exercising with her radio broadcasts at 6:45 in the morning. With the catchphrase "Down with a bounce; with a bounce, come up" she introduced fun into exercise.][Eileen Fowler]
Obituary, The Guardian, Retrieved 14 November 2016
She helped found the Keep Fit Association in 1956 and she ran her own "EF Fitness" classes near her house. These exercises moved on to BBC television until 1961, and after this she created exercise records that allowed people to continue to exercise at home. Alternatively, they could read ''Stay Young Forever'' which Fowler wrote in 1963. During the 1970s she appeared on TV and on radio.[
In March 1974, she appeared on '']Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (us ...
'' she chose one of her own records as her favourite and requested writing materials and ''The Kon-Tiki Expedition
''The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas'' ( no, Kon-Tiki ekspedisjonen) is a 1948 book by the Norwegian writer Thor Heyerdahl. It recounts Heyerdahl's experiences with the Kon-Tiki expedition, ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition, where he tr ...
'' by Dr Thor Heyerdahl as her favourite book.Eilen Fowler
BBC, Retrieved 14 November 2016 In 1975, she was awarded an MBE.[Julie Anderson, ‘Fowler, Eileen Philippa Rose (1906–2000)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200]
accessed 14 Nov 2016
/ref>
Fowler remained fit into her 90s and would insist on displaying her suppleness to other residents at her retirement home. She died in Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...
in 2000.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Eileen
1906 births
2000 deaths
People associated with physical culture
People from Tottenham
Physical education in the United Kingdom