11/27/2022
LENDA MURRAY... A FEMALE LEE HANEY
Lenda Murray, born in Detroit, Michigan in 1962, is hailed as the world's finest female bodybuilder. She was involved in athletics since her junior high school days. At Henry Ford High School, as a record-holding sprinter, she was named All-City in track-and-field and was a varsity cheerleader.
Lenda attended Western Michigan University where she majored in political science, with a minor in English. At the University, she continued to cheerlead and became the second African-American chosen as the schools home-coming queen. Following graduation, she became a member of the cheerleading squad for the professional football team, the Michigan Panther's.
Murray began bodybuilding in 1985. Following three months of weight training, she placed fourth at that years NPC Michigan State competition. Inspired by her good showing, Lenda went on to win the contest the following year.
After winning the 1989 NPC Junior Nationals. Lenda earned her professional status at the IFBB North American Championships. She then became a regular presence in bodybuilding magazines and a favorite subject of physique photographer, Bill Dobbins, who featured her in his book, The Women and Modern Amazons. Her startling figure and proportions awarded by her six straight IFBB Ms. Olympia titles from 1990 through 1995.
During that time, Lenda's average yearly income was over $300,000. At the height of five-feet, five-inches and weighing 155 pounds, her best training lifts included a 185 pound bench press and a 315 pound squat.
In 1996 and 1997, Murray was runner-up to Kim Chizevsky at the Ms. Olympia event, and retired from competitive bodybuilding after her second loss. She commented, "Years of hard training and dieting, had left me burned out. I felt I needed a rest. My husband, Urel McGill, and I were opening our gym in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and the concern of finding a location, buying equipment and starting a fitness facility was too demanding for me to concentrate on competition."
Following a four year layoff, Lenda made a return to competition in 2002, to capture her seventh Ms. Olympia title, at the age of 40. In 2003, she won again, however, in 2004, she placed second to Iris Kyle, and again retired from competitive bodybuilding.
During the early 2000's, Lenda had been featured in the mainstream publications, Ebony, Mademoiselle, People, Vanity Fair and Sports Illustrated. Her physique had become the standard against which professional female bodybuilders are judged: an hourglass figure, with broad shoulders, tapering into a V shaped torso, mirrored by a proportionally developed lower body.
Currently residing in Los Angeles, (2010)California, Lenda is single and lives with her cats, Martin and William. A grandmother of 11 and stepmother of four, she closed this interview by saying, "Finally, I'm doing what I want to do."
