Lisa Lyon, the bodybuilding pioneer and playboy model who inspired Marvel’s Elektra, is “in serious condition in a hospice in LA with pancreatic cancer”
- Lisa Lyon wrote a bodybuilding book and is friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger
- She also appeared in three films in the 1980s after her Playboy appearance
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Women’s bodybuilding pioneer Lisa Lyon is in a serious condition with pancreatic cancer. according to TMZ.
Lyon, who also posed for Playboy in 1980, is apparently being treated at a hospice in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley.
While best known as a bodybuilder, she is also said to have inspired Frank Miller to create the Marvel Comics character Elektra. In 2005, Jennifer Garner starred in the action movie “Elektra.”
But Lyon’s impact extended beyond the comics world. She wrote a book about bodybuilding in 1980 – ‘Lisa Lyon’s Body Magic’ – and became friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He’s even quoted by TMZ as saying that Lyon is “the best – I love her.”
Women’s bodybuilding pioneer Lisa Lyon is said to be in a serious condition with cancer
Lyon is said to have inspired Frank Miller to create the Marvel Comics character Elektra
In 2000, she was inducted into the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Hall of Fame and, according to GreatestPhysiques.Comdescribed as “a media relations activist with one woman on behalf of sport and elevating bodybuilding to the level of the visual arts.”
Lyon also modeled for Robert Mapplethorpe – a photographer best known for photographing the artist Andy Warhol.
According to numerous bodybuilding websites, Lyon was born in 1953 – meaning she is about 70 years old – but the exact date is not given.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she also appeared in three films in the 1980s, after her profile grew after her Playboy work.
In 1983 she appeared in Thee Crowns of the Sailor and a year later she appeared in Getting Physical. Her last appearance, in 1986, was in Vamp.