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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jun 30, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Abbye Stockton, who was called "The First Lady of Iron," for being a pioneering female weightlifter, died at her Santa Monica, Calif., home at age 88.
The women's gym owner, who also earned the titles of "America's Barbelle" and "the Queen of Muscle Beach" in the 1930s and '40s, died Monday, reports The Los Angeles Times.
The report said the former telephone operator, who had earned the nickname Pudgy as a young child, soon came to have the most impressive female body on Santa Monica's Muscle Beach. She appeared on the cover of more than 40 magazines.
She and husband Les performed various routines including the "high press" that called for Abbye to lift a 100-pound barbell over her head while balancing atop Les' hands, the report said.
"She was a very powerful role model for women because she's the first woman figure to come along who was strong and displayed strength but also had a very shapely, unquestionably feminine physique," said her close friend Jan Todd, a professor of kinesiology and health education at the University of Texas.
Besides her daughter, Stockton is survived by one brother.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
