Bev Francis

[jdm022]

Another Bev sighting!!!!


 
     

[bunker1971]

Recent pic and (very short) article :

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-spanier/right-next-door-bev-franc_b_6784138.html

[jdm022]

A couple new scans....ENJOY


 
     
 

[mooveeguy]

She must have tortured her legs in training.

[lorao]

Truly was amazing all of the different "looks" she pulled off, she must have had amazing discipline and again she never got the respect she deserved from the judges even as I think most of the fans knew better.  You really had to laugh as in one contest she cut herself down to the sexiest little thing imaginable only to get out muscled and what she really accomplished with that was ridiculing the judging criteria as it became clear that the Weider hierarchy would NEVER let her win no matter what the claimed criteria was.   Her NOT having a single Ms. O while ALL the winning Ms. O's were members of the Weider stable who REPEATED until the Weider's decided to promote someone else within the stable.   Clearly rather than creating more stars that they couldn't control, for example Bev had her own gym in Syosset, the Weider's just used their stable members as the Ms. O's who could win as you had to wonder if all of those Ms. O's had already signed non-compete clauses.  I can't recall ever reading about Cory, Lenda, or Iris ever competing anywhere against the Weider's as gym owners, promoters, and magazine owners, etc.  and the only bodybuilders who ever went on to be break out stars only ever did so in Hollywood ... as if they got passed from the Weider Corporation to Hollywood Inc. all without them ever being truly independent business people themselves.

[pumpfiction]

Truly was amazing all of the different "looks" she pulled off, she must have had amazing discipline and again she never got the respect she deserved from the judges even as I think most of the fans knew better.  You really had to laugh as in one contest she cut herself down to the sexiest little thing imaginable only to get out muscled and what she really accomplished with that was ridiculing the judging criteria as it became clear that the Weider hierarchy would NEVER let her win no matter what the claimed criteria was.   Her NOT having a single Ms. O while ALL the winning Ms. O's were members of the Weider stable who REPEATED until the Weider's decided to promote someone else within the stable.   Clearly rather than creating more stars that they couldn't control, for example Bev had her own gym in Syosset, the Weider's just used their stable members as the Ms. O's who could win as you had to wonder if all of those Ms. O's had already signed non-compete clauses.  I can't recall ever reading about Cory, Lenda, or Iris ever competing anywhere against the Weider's as gym owners, promoters, and magazine owners, etc.  and the only bodybuilders who ever went on to be break out stars only ever did so in Hollywood ... as if they got passed from the Weider Corporation to Hollywood Inc. all without them ever being truly independent business people themselves.

Love your rants lorao, and this one is no exception ha ha!

Keep also in mind that Bev moved from her native Australia and was already a very accomplished athlete (Besides teaching maths in school as well) with 3 World gold medals in powerlifting, a world record in bench press and a national record in Shot Put established in the late 70s (Apparently she left the T&F world due to an injury). At this point, she was already an overachiver and she wanted more by entering bodybuilding contests. But unlike the two aforementionned sports, the latter has always been about politics and Bev learned it the hard way, especially during the Caesar Cup in 1983, which was the highlight of 1985 movie Pumping Iron II: The Women. She stepped in as Rachel McLish was the representative face of a polished FBBing, just before vacating her throne to the younger, photogenic Cory Everson who went on winning 6 Olympias in a row. Bev attempted to make her physique fit the criteria set by the IFBB, shedding a lot of mass in the process, not without success: she won the World Pro Championships c. 1987-1988. But the Ms O title was still unreachable; a runner-up position was the best she could obtain between the reign of Cory and Lenda’s.

But in her last appearance at the pro level in 1991, she let everything break loose. She came with an ultra massive, ripped, 170 lbs-heavy physique never seen before.

And you’re right, it’s pretty telling that she ended up as one of the rare bodybuilders – a woman to boot! – to establish a successful, longstanding gym business without much from Weiders’ empire money.

[alison brundage]

Excellent assessments, both of you.  All of us who appreciate developed female muscle know that in 1983-91  Bev Frances  made history.  What we saw ...we saw.   

[mab1064]

Did anybody, back when she was competing, truly realize how beautiful she was?

She went from a square jawed massive track and field  athlete then powerlifter, to a very attractive lady as she got more and more into bodybuilding.   She was quite an athlete !

I saw her at an Atlantic Coast competition in NYC a few years ago. She is quite striking in her presence, beauty and
friendliness!

[ThirdRedeemer]

Bev really is one of the best bodybuilders of all time! 

[asapferg]

These made me pop a tent pole in my shorts!  

[alison brundage]

These made me pop a tent pole in my shorts!

Weider was sort of "forced" to include her in his mag for what we all saw and realized was extraordinary development.    Being a business man primarily, I seriously doubt he was wild about it at that moment in time.

[asapferg]

These made me pop a tent pole in my shorts!

Weider was sort of "forced" to include her in his mag for what we all saw and realized was extraordinary development.    Being a business man primarily, I seriously doubt he was wild about it at that moment in time.

As a real businessman he had to go with the demand of his customers and fans of Bev.

[Timmon]

I always imagined that, Alison!
The Weiders saw an opportunity to increase their marketing opportunity by 51% ie previously, men were bodybuilding potential and fitness potential, women didn't have muscles... did they?!

So with a female population larger than male, and women like Rachel lifting, what an opportunity to increase market share for supplements , books and fitness apparel  and equipment etc.

But women thought that looking at weights would make them look like men, so how to change this culture? Women like Rachel were the perfect models to slowly persuade women that they did have muscles, and they actually looked really good.

Then, out of the blue, in marched Bev! A great FBB, but every good reason for sceptical women of the age, to run screaming from the gym, terrified that if they lifted anything more than a can of beans, they too would turn into massive muscle "monsters" !

Of course, even the general public who is not concerned about bodybuilding particularly these days, knows better in general in this more informed age.

Bev was quite remarkable, way beyond anyone else at the time.  I suppose the only comparison you could make these days would be that if at the last Ms O in 2014, an unknown woman the size and condition of Phil Heath entered the final posedown, and made Iris Kyle look like a figure girl, totally unable to offer any competition! It was that amazing. And of course, the worst judging nightmare, where the judges have to be instructed to mark the "winner" down, for being too good. How often has that happened since..., it's almost considered a normal thing to happen at contests.

But at the time, Bev must have represented the spanner in the Weider dream that they hoped would never happen!

Great days, indeed. No such excitement these days, sadly.

[phy911]

better version of the gif than the other I created

[alison brundage]

Timmon...
The entire history of bodybuilding ( specifically BB competition) is like a soap box opera and totally fascinating.   If you want some real interesting history of BB contests read the book  Mr America: The tragic History of a Bodybuilding Icon by John D. Fair.  Nothing but facts.  First edition was 2015 so it's fresh, well documented and written by a guy who knows his stuff.  For me it is an eye opener.  Bodybuilding competition has always been driven by commercial interest and the tides of public demand of an the era.  Today men and women have gotten bigger but the BB contest game hasn't changed much in it's modus operandi since the first Mr America contest that first began right on the heels of the Miss America beauty contest....after all if women can have a beauty contest, men can have a body contest...and so it all began.  What was happening on one side of the isle impacted the other and vice-versa.  Men and women's bodybuilding bounced off each other from the outset and in the middle were the money makers ( playing havoc with it all) 
Alison 
BTW.....On that gif of Bev's most muscular: after you get past the enormous traps and upper body...I find myself taken away by her curly hair and dimples.  Adds a touch !~