Corinna Everson

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 (gymnastics, track & field and badminton).

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.

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.

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.

Cory and Jeff Everson divorced in 1996; however, she kept 'Everson' as her stage name. She married Dr. Steve Donia, a cosmetic dentist, in 1998; they have two children that they adopted from Russia. Everson's sister, Cameo Kneuer, is a two-time Ms. National Fitness champion and a mainstay of the TV game series Knights and Warriors.

After retiring from competition, Everson began acting. Her first major movie appearance was in Double Impact (1991) 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. This film involves a number of brutal fight scenes. Later in the movie, her character is killed by the hero, Alex (played, of course, by Jean-Claude Van Damme), after being stabbed to death in a battle. She took a minor role in Natural Born Killers (1994). Then in Ballistic (1995), (known in some countries as Fist of Justice) she reprised the evil musclewoman role with bravado. However, she lost the final epic fight to Marjean Holden playing an undercover cop.

Everson has made a number of TV guest appearances, most notably playing Atalanta on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In 1991 Everson appeared on To Tell The Truth Game Show. She appeared in two episodes of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. with her sister, Cameo Kneuer.

Corinna "Cory" Everson (née Kneuer) (born January 4, 1958) is an American female bodybuilding champion and actress. Cory won the Ms. Olympia contest six years in a row from 1984 to 1989.