Stockton, Abbye (Pudgy) Eville, 1922-2006

Abbye “Pudgy" Eville Stockton (1917-2006) and Les Stockton (1916-2004)

Abbye “Pudgy" Stockton played a central role in popularizing physical culture and exercise for women. She was born Abbye Eville on August 11, 1917 and grew up in Santa Monica, CA. Upon her graduation from Santa Monica High School in 1935, Pudgy became a telephone operator for the local phone company, spending many hours each day sitting down. As a result, she began to gain a little more weight than she wanted. Her boyfriend and later her husband, Les Stockton, born October 29, 1916, performed as a gymnast on the UCLA Team and suggested that she start lifting weights, unheard of for women in the 1930s. After some initial reluctance, Abbye agreed and began using Les’ York Barbell Co. weights. Soon she transformed herself into an athletic dynamo and joined Les at the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica. There she participated in acrobatics, weightlifting and adagio (the throwing and catching of acrobats). Pudgy became one of the first women to ever lift weights to achieve fitness in the United States. She and Les married on July 14, 1941.

...