Shelley Beattie (August 24, 1967 – February 16, 2008) was a professional female bodybuilder and actress.At the peak of her competitive career as a professional bodybuilder Beattie managed to reach the top-three at the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia contests, the two most prestigious shows for female professional bodybuilders. She was also well-known for having been one of the few deaf professional female bodybuilders in the world, making the cover of DeafLife magazine twice in the '90s. After her retirement she joined the Grinder on America3's America's Cup team and managed to reach second place in such competition in 1994 and again in 1995.
Shelley Ann Beattie was born in Orange County, California. At the age of three, Beattie suffered a hearing loss from an aspirin overdose. Her peers' misunderstandings and lack of education about people who are deaf led to trouble socializing. Since she could only understand her classmates if they were facing her, she had difficulty communicating with her classmates, who assumed she was mentally disadvantaged and rejected her. Beattie became a loner and began to use sports to deal with her frustrations and lack of social life. She also learned sign language and had several operations and speech therapy to improve her ability to communicate.
In school, Beattie began to compete in track and field, including Heptathlon, Cross Country, Hurdling, and 400 meter sprints. A gifted athlete, she was a natural in all these events. Her specialty was the low hurdle, where she set school records. As a standout in track and field, Beattie enjoyed the competition. Her hearing loss was not a factor when she was running. Beattie began lifting weights at 14 to improve her time in the hurdles and 400s. She wanted to compete against the boys since she was so much better than the girls on her team. Weight lifting was also a way for Beattie to rebel. She wanted to stand out from the other girls, and knew that weight lifting would allow her to achieve this. She first began weight training in her high school's small weight room, and made quick gains. By the age of 15, she was seeing the results of her time in the gym.
