MIGHTY JOAN RHODES (4/13/21-5/30/10)
Here’s Joan Rhodes, a famous and attractive British strong girl from the 1950’s and 60’s. An early photo:
http://www.fotobank.ru/img/ER00-0711.jpg?size=l
She was a thin girl, not too thickly muscled yet she seemed to have been blessed with unusual strength.
I don’t know if Joan was faster than a speeding bullet or whether she could leap tall buildings in a single bound, but at times she seemed more powerful than a locomotive and she really could bend steel in her bare hands. Joan’s neat steel diamond:
http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/images/uploaded/scaled/Joan-Rhodes-1._s.jpg
She toured with circuses and stage shows in Britain and had TV appearances in the UK and US, always displaying her might.
Joan’s heavy table lift:
http://femtime.narod.ru/library/sport/rhodes/rhodes9.jpg
In the day she could lift heavy automobiles and even a baby elephant. She could tear 1,000 page phone books into quarters as though they were made of tissue paper. Tearing phone books:
http://femtime.narod.ru/library/sport/rhodes/rhodes18.jpg
Steel bending:
http://www.staylace.com/gallery/gallery09/graphics/rhodes_joan.jpg
A phone book feast:
http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/images/uploaded/scaled/Joan-Rhodes-2._s.jpg
More steel punishment:
http://femtime.narod.ru/library/sport/rhodes/rhodes2.jpg
Once on a British TV stage show Joan unleashed her ungodly might upon an automoobile, tearing it apart with her bare hands.
First she pulled off the bumpers and then she ripped the doors off their hinges.
She pulled off the hood and tossed it aside and then grabbed the heavy steel engine and yanked it away in her arms, and then she destroyed it.
Then Joan pulled off all the wheels and did not cease her rampage until the pathetic machine was completely destroyed.
I really could’nt tell you how much of this is fact or fiction but it is “showbiz” so take it with a grain of salt. Rob
Other articles:
http://www.lonympics.co.uk/JoanRhodes.htm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7144255.ece
So many are focused on the present-day contenders, many forget about the ones from past decades.
Thanks for posting this retrospective on Joan! B)
wow what a hard life!
Yeah, Joan had it rough in her early days, but maybe that’s what makes your spirit strong. Since Joan was already strong, a strong spirit makes you mighty.
I found a lot of other stories about old-time strongwomen on the web and if I can find the time this summer I will post another thread. -Rob
R.I.P Joan.
First I’ve heard of this. Sad but she lived a long life.
I found another old picture of Joan from the early 50’s.
This is from a British TV show. Ventriloquist Ray Alan is on the left with his dummy Lord Charles.
Of course, Our Lady is devouring another steel bar. -Rob
http://www.anorak.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/ray-alan/8899165.jpg
hallarch wrote:
I found another old picture of Joan from the early 50's.This is from a British TV show. Ventriloquist Ray Alan is on the left with his dummy Lord Charles.
Of course, Our Lady is devouring another steel bar. -Rob
http://www.anorak.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/ray-alan/8899165.jpg
I remember Ray Allen from my childhood when he was an older man; mind you, Lord Charles drove me up the wall, but it’s good to see him younger and, of course, with Joan.
I do not remember Ray Alan or even Joan for that matter.
Joan wrote an auto-bio book which I would love to read but the damn thing is out of print now, and for three months I can’t find it anywhere. -Rob