Playboy model and bodybuilding legend Lisa Lyon in ‘grave condition’ after pancreatic cancer diagnosis
A FORMER Playboy model and bodybuilding icon has been moved to hospice care after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Lisa Lyon, who posed for Playboy magazine in 1980, was described to be in a “grave condition.”
Lyon, 70, was recently transferred to a hospice in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, according to .
The former bodybuilder became a champion after winning the first International Federation of Bodybuilders Woman’s World Pro Bodybuilding Championship.
This 1979 contest was one of only two competitive bodybuilding competitions that she entered.
Despite her short-lived championship career she continued to promote bodybuilding in magazines and on TV talk shows.
Lyon’s October 1980 Playboy cover made her one of the first bodybuilders photographed for the famous magazine.
She also penned a book on the sport called Lisa Lyon’s Body Magic, which was published in 1981.
As a pioneer in this women’s sport, she was admitted into the International Fitness and Bodybuilding (IFBB) Hall of Fame in 2000.
Aside from her bodybuilding endeavors, Lyon also modeled for a world-famous photographer.
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Robert Mapplethorpe, who also photographed Andy Warhol, produced a photobook with images of Lyon.
The book, called Lady Lisa Lyon, explored and challenged gender stereotypes and traditional ideas about beauty.
Lyon also pursued a short acting career and starred in three films in the 1980s.
The films were: Three Crowns of the Sailor, Getting Physical, and Vamp.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was a fan of Lyon and her work.
He told TMZ: “She is the best. I love her.”
