Biography for
Joan Rhodes More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

13 April 1920, London, England, UK

Date of Death

30 May 2010, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Josie Terena

Nickname

Mighty Mannequin
Diana Dors with muscles

Height

5' 7" (1.70 m)

Trivia

She was a professional strongwoman who could tear telephone books in half, bend iron bars etc.

She once dropped Bob Hope onto his head while performing with him during his 1955 USO show in Iceland.

She appeared in two films directed by Vernon Sewell: Johnny You're Wanted (1956) and Burke & Hare (1972).

Auditioned for Federico Fellini for his film Fellini's Casanova (1976), where she was to overpower Donald Sutherland in a wrestling match, which Joan found easy to do. However, the director and star both thought it would be embarrassing if such a normal sized woman was to defeat the burly Sutherland, so the role instead went to Sandra Elaine Allen, who at that time was the world's tallest woman at 7'7".

In 2007 she wrote her autobiography, Coming on Strong, which had an introduction by her friend, the comedian Roy Hudd.

Personal Quotes

I plan on growing old disgracefully.