Corinna Everson


Corinna "Cory" Everson is an American female bodybuilding champion and actress. Cory won the Ms. Olympia contest six years in a row from 1984 to 1989.

Education

Corinna Kneuer was born in Racine, Wisconsin and attended high school in Deerfield, Illinois. Cory attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she was a multi-sport standout.

Early career

While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Cory met Jeff Everson, a competitive bodybuilder who worked there as a strength coach. They married in 1982. While they were married, the Eversons built a successful mail-order clothing business called Sampson and Delilah.

Bodybuilding career

Corinna Everson began to train seriously as a bodybuilder after her graduation, and made rapid progress. In the early years, she and Jeff trained at Ernie's Gym on Sherman Avenue in Madison.
She won the Ms. Olympia contest at her first participation and remained undefeated from 1984 to 1989 when she retired from competition, which is a unique performance.

Contest history

In January 1999, Everson was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame, as part of the inaugural group. She was inducted into the Muscle Beach Venice Body Building Hall of Fame on September 5, 2005.
At the 2007 Arnold Classic she became the first woman to be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, Everson was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame.

Film and television career

After retiring from competition, Cory Everson began acting. Her first major movie appearance was in Double Impact alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. In it she plays Kara, a bone-crushing assassin working for the main villain whose attempts at lesbian seduction are rebuffed by Alonna Shaw's character Danielle and which ultimately leads to her downfall. She took a minor role in Natural Born Killers. Then in Ballistic , she reprised the evil musclewoman role with bravado, losing the final epic fight to Marjean Holden playing an undercover cop.
Cory Everson has made a number of guest appearances in television series, most notably playing Atalanta on . She appeared in two episodes of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. with her sister, Cameo Kneuer.
In 1991 Everson appeared on To Tell The Truth Game Show.
Cory Everson was the original host of the fitness show BodyShaping, which she also produced. She also hosted her own exercise show on ESPN, Cory Everson's Gotta Sweat, for seven years.

Filmography

Television work

Personal life

Cory and Jeff Everson divorced in 1996; however, she kept 'Everson' as her stage name. In 1998, she married Dr. Steve Donia, a cosmetic dentist; they have two children that they adopted from Russia. She became active with Nightlight Christian Adoptions, an adoption agency that brings orphans from Russia and Belarus to the US to stay with families looking to adopt a child.
Cory's sister, Cameo Kneuer, is a two-time Ms. National Fitness champion and a mainstay of the TV game series Knights and Warriors.

Books authored