Joan Rhodes
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Joan Rhodes (born April 13, 1920), birth name Josie Terena, is an English actress, wrestler, stuntwoman and strongwoman born in London, England.[1]
Bob Hope
Joan began as a variety and cabaret performer during the 1950s and 1960s. Her popularity increased due to her early appearances on television shows in the US and UK, including The Toast Of The Town in 1955 and The Bob Hope Christmas Show. It was there, on stage in Iceland on December 27 that Rhodes lifted, then accidentally dropped, comedian Bob Hope while entertaining troops for the USO.
Stage Routine
Rhodes could bend iron bars across her knee, in her mouth and around her arm or neck. She ripped telephone directories, often ripping two simultaneously and ripping others into quarters. She lifted large men over her head or into her arms, including 450lb boxer Ewart Potgeiter and giant Ted Evans, who reportedly weighed over 480lbs. She frequently ended her act by lifting four male audience members at the same time.
Other parts of her stage routine included allowing men to try to bend iron bars before she would, arm-wrestling two men at once (one with each hand as each man was allowed to use two arms), lifting jeeps and small cars and pushing them offstage while men sat in them, and defeating a team of four men in tug of wars.
Rhodes was a life-long friend of author Quentin Crisp.[2]
Stunts
As a stunt performer, she worked on films, including Fanny By Gaslight (1944). She appeared as herself performing some of her strength feats in the Vernon Sewell-directed crime caper Johnny You're Wanted (1956). She also appeared in Burke and Hare (1971), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) and The Elephant Man (1980).
Autobiography
Her autobiography, Coming on Strong, was published in 2007.
Family
Her brother-in-law is the ballet sculptor Tom Merrifield.
References
- ^ Grove, Valerie (June 7, 2005). "Iron lady shows her mettle". The Times.
- ^ Elizabeth Sanderson (2009-12-27). "The extraordinary story of Joan Rhodes, the vaudeville strongwoman who shared a waspish correspondence with Quentin Crisp". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
External links
- Joan Rhodes at IMDb
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