Shelley Beattie

Shelley Ann Beattie (August 24, 1967 – February 16, 2008) was a professional female bodybuilder and actress. Beattie's highest placement was the top three at the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia contests, the two most prestigious shows for female professional bodybuilders. She was one of the few deaf professional female bodybuilders in the world, making the cover of Deaf Life magazine twice in the 1990s. After her retirement, she joined the Grinder on America's Cup team, finishing second place in both 1994 and 1995. In 2008, she died by suicide. Shelley Beattie was born in Orange County, California. Beattie's mother was a athlete, while her sister, who was , played college basketball at Portland State University. Beattie became deaf at the age of three due to an aspirin overdose. In school, she learned sign language and had several operations and speech therapy to improve her ability to communicate. However, Beattie was socially isolated due to her deafness and turned to sports as an outlet. She competed track and field, including heptathlon, cross country, hurdling, and 400 meter sprints. She also set a school record for the low hurdle. At the age of 14, she began lifting weights to improve her times. At age 16, Beattie sustained an ankle injury that she believed was career-ending. Beattie's home life was unstable. Between the ages of 14 and 17, she had been placed in three different foster homes and had attended three different schools. She turned to weightlifting as an outlet to cope with anxiety and frustration. Beattie attended Western Oregon State College in Monmouth from 1984 to 1988, graduating with a degree in child psychology and special education. During this time, she also studied jazz dance and choreography, and joined a dance company. She also began entering and competing in amateur bodybuilding competitions at this time. In her first competition, the Portland Rose Cup Novice, she weighed in at 124 pounds and finished fourth in the heavyweight class.