Joan Rhodes and the other strong woman of history

Описание: Joan Rhodes and the other strong woman of history

*info below from Wikipedia

Joan Rhodes (13 April 1921 – 30 May 2010) was a London-born British performer, wrestler, stuntwoman and strongwoman. Born into poverty in London, she and her siblings were deserted by their parents. Following unhappy spells in the workhouse and with an aunt, she left home at 14. After sleeping rough in Brewer Street, Soho, she joined a travelling fair, where she got the idea for her act after seeing a professional strong man at work.

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 450 lb boxer Ewart Potgeiter and giant Ted Evans, who reportedly weighed over 480 lbs. 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 tugs of war.