Kellie Everts: The Progenitor of Female Bodybuilding and a Life Lived Without Apology
Rasa Von Werder, born Rasa Sofija Jakstaite on July 16, 1945, in Calw, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was known to the world by many names — most famously as Kellie Everts — but to those who truly knew her, she was a force of nature, a pioneer, and a woman who lived life entirely on her own terms.
Her story began with displacement. The daughter of Lithuanian parents, Stasys and Regina Jakstas, who fled Soviet-occupied Lithuania under Stalin, she spent her earliest years in a displaced persons camp. In 1949, the family boarded the naval ship USS Heintzelman bound for the United States. They were sponsored to stay in an ethnic community in Newark, New Jersey, while her grandmother, aunt, and uncle moved to an estate in Waccabuc, New York, where they tended to housekeeping, childcare, and the grounds.
Her father, Professor Jakstas, a man of intellect and vision, had founded the first State Teacher’s College in Kaunas, Lithuania. In their new life, he assembled a Lithuanian school in the Annunciation Church auditorium. When her parents separated, Kellie moved with her father to Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
A month after graduating high school, Kellie’s life shifted toward the bright lights of entertainment. She left for Hollywood with one of Marilyn Monroe’s photographers and began a career in show business. Living in Santa Monica across from the pier, she married Stanley Everts in 1963 and had a daughter, also named Kellie. After living in the Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, and finally Hollywood, her life was shaken when Stanley passed away in 1966.
After ten years in California, she returned to Williamsburg for 17 years, building a successful business and saving $200,000, which she used to purchase a home in Upstate New York. In 2000, she married Richard Allan Von Werder after a long engagement. Their relationship was platonic by mutual understanding, rooted in her commitment to celibacy for spiritual reasons. He passed away in 2002.
Kellie was far more than a show business figure — she was the progenitor of modern competitive female bodybuilding. Before her, female bodybuilding existed only in niche corners of the fitness world. Through tireless self-promotion and groundbreaking appearances, she brought it into the national and international spotlight. She began competing in beauty and fitness contests in 1972, but her true breakthrough came with a six-page feature in Esquire magazine in July 1975, shot by Jean-Paul Goude, followed by high-profile television appearances on To Tell the Truth, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Stanley Siegel Show.
Her boldest move came in May 1977, when Playboy published “Humping Iron,” a spread she had fought to get into the magazine. Though the idea was initially met with hesitation, Playboy saw the opportunity to play off the popularity of the film Pumping Iron. The impact was immediate. Just six months later, in November 1977, the first recognized women’s muscle contest took place in Canton, Ohio. This marked the start of the competitive female bodybuilding scene as we know it today, later evolving into events like the IFBB Ms. Olympia.
Throughout her career, she modeled for photography legends such as Irving Penn and Helmut Newton. She was featured in Vogue and appeared in Oui magazine spreads — though one Newton shoot was shelved due to controversy. Despite her contributions, Kellie faced exclusion from certain competitions, including the 1981 IFBB event at Caesar’s Palace, likely due to her “Stripping for God” performances — a combination of erotic dance and religious preaching that challenged societal norms.
Her competitive record included titles such as Miss Nude Universe (1967), Miss Americana Best Body (1972 and 1974), Miss Body Beautiful USA (1974), and numerous second-place finishes alongside legends like Arnold Schwarzenegger. She appeared in Playboy nine times, predating the likes of Lisa Lyon and Laura Combes in bringing women’s muscle to mainstream media.
In 1979, Maria Shriver produced a nine-minute documentary on her for a Baltimore television station, showing her in church, in the gym, and on stage. Her books, including The Man Whisperer, I Strip for God, and The Origin and Decline of Female Bodybuilding, preserve her story in her own words.
Kellie’s dancing career spanned from 1966 to 1987, taking her coast to coast and into Canada. She later moved into producing dance and female domination videos, funding the purchase of her 50-acre Upstate New York property — a wilderness retreat with riverfront land and her beloved “Island of Mirth.”
In 2007, the World Bodybuilding Guild honored her as the “Progenitor” of female bodybuilding and inducted her into their Hall of Fame. Dan Lurie, the bodybuilding promoter who first featured her in Muscle Training Illustrated in 1974, called her “the first real female bodybuilder ever” and credited her with introducing the sport to mainstream audiences.
Kellie Everts was a woman who defied categories — a bodybuilder, dancer, preacher, provocateur, author, and photographer. She lived a life that refused to be boxed in, and she changed the cultural landscape for women in fitness and beyond.
Kelly Everts, later known as Rasa Von Werder or Guru Rasa of the Church of Mother God, lived a life that refused to fit neatly into society’s boxes. She was a woman of conviction, controversy, and reinvention — a person who could command a stage in a sequined costume and stand in front of the White House with a rosary in hand, delivering a message she believed could save the world. Her journey was never ordinary, and neither was her impact.
In September 1973, Everts delivered her first religious talk just moments after dancing at the Melody Theater in Times Square. This unexpected blend of stripping and preaching earned her the nickname “The Stripper for God.” It wasn’t a gimmick — it was a bold statement about the coexistence of sexuality and spirituality, two realms society preferred to keep apart. Traveling across the United States and Canada, she gave over 1,000 sermons in burlesque theaters and nightclubs, sparking public debates and stirring discomfort in those who clung to narrow social norms.
The idea that a woman could be both an ordained minister and an adult entertainer was more than controversial — it was revolutionary. Everts didn’t flinch in the face of criticism. She took her message wherever she felt it needed to be heard, whether that meant preaching about Our Lady of Fátima in front of the White House in 1978, urging the conversion of Russia to prevent nuclear war, or founding “The University of Mother God Church,” a religion dedicated to the return of matriarchy and the feminine divine.
Her spiritual calling was deeply personal. Rasa often spoke of a profound moment when Jesus Christ, through the form of a priest, called her behind the altar in a church — alone, unplanned — and ordained her in spirit. This mystical experience became the foundation of her daily celebration of Mass for the Poor Souls in Purgatory, a mission she chronicled in books such as Theater of Justice – Celebrity Souls Appear, God Waits for Them, and Royals Ascend into Heaven.
But her life was not defined by ministry alone. Everts was also an unrelenting author and online presence. On May 24, 2004, under her spiritual name, she launched the “Woman Thou Art God” website, a platform dedicated to female empowerment, spirituality, and her vision for a matriarchal world. She later expanded her reach with a second site, “Embodiment of God,” building upon her earlier work. Over the years, she published more than three dozen books covering everything from her own biography to the principles of her religion. She often collaborated with other thinkers and writers, including William Bond, who contributed to her projects.
Everts’ later years proved she was never afraid of reinvention. After thirty years of celibacy for spiritual purposes, she claimed divine guidance told her at age 63 to end her celibacy and “have fun” — a decision she embraced as “the Will of God.” This new chapter saw her become a self-described “cougar” and photographer of men, particularly in the college town of Binghamton, New York. At Binghamton University, she became a minor campus celebrity, appearing several times on the front page of the student newspaper. She documented these adventures, as she did most of her life, in a series of books.
Even as her focus shifted, her commitment to the matriarchal movement never wavered. In 2019–2020, she published Woman, Thou Art God: The New Religion for Women, laying out the doctrines and guidelines of the faith she founded. She continued writing well into her later years, working on additional autobiographical volumes of her I Strip for God series, along with theological and instructional works for her Sisterhood.
Beyond her religious and literary work, Everts also engaged in activism, humanitarian outreach, and community service, particularly in Brooklyn, New York. Her life was an intricate blend of sensuality and sanctity, rebellion and reverence, humor and high purpose.
Kelly Everts was not just a performer, preacher, or provocateur — she was a woman who lived entirely on her own terms. Whether one agreed with her methods or not, her life stood as a testament to fearless authenticity. She forced the world to confront its hypocrisies, to reconsider its boundaries, and to ask uncomfortable questions about what it means to be both fully human and spiritually alive.
Filmography
She Did It His Way (1968)
The Girls on F Street (1967)
Dude Ranch (1966–1968)
The Swinger (1966)
Television Appearances
England documentary on YouTube video creators and dancing (2008)
The Morton Downey Jr. Show (1988)
Entertainment Tonight segment on Morton Downey Jr. (1988)
People Are Talking (1988, multiple episodes)
The Sally Jessy Raphael Show (1988)
60 Minutes Australia (1988) and other international documentaries
Geraldo (1987)
Phil Donahue (1987)
Regis Philbin & Kathie Lee (1986)
San Francisco News (1984)
Detroit TV (WXYZ Detroit) (1982)
The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder (1976, 1981)
To Tell the Truth (1978, twice)
Common Ground with Warren Saunders (1978)
AM Chicago (1978)
Friday Night Live with Jay Levene (1978)
AM Washington (1974, 1978)
Inside Edition (1978)
The Bill Boggs Show (1976)
Real People (1975–1981, five appearances)
The Mike Douglas Show (1975)
AM New York (multiple times, including with Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1974)
Kellie Everts’ life was a testament to boldness, perseverance, and self-definition. She didn’t just live in the spotlight — she created it. And in doing so, she left behind a legacy that will inspire for generations to come.
TRIVIA:
Everts was effectively the founder of female bodybuilding; prior to her it was extremely rare for women to do so. She first began competing in various bodybuilding contests in the NYC area in 1972. It was after her promotion, Esquire 6 page layout in July 1975 and then being on "To Tell the Truth", as well as the Mike Douglas Show and The Stanley Siegel Show, and subsequently getting female body building into Playboy, May 1977 (Humping Iron) that anyone began to hold serious female fitness and body building contests.
Initially, she had won the titles of Miss Nude Universe in July 1967, Miss Americana 2nd place and Best Body in 1972 (on the same stage with Arnold Schwarzenegger), Miss Body Beautiful 2nd place in 1973, Miss Body Beautiful U.S.A. first place in 1974, and Miss Americana 2nd place & Best Body 1974 (the same stage with Arnold Schwarzenegger again).
Combined burlesque and an avid interest in weight training to win numerous titles including Miss Body Beautiful 1969 and Miss Nude Universe 1969.
Raised in Freehold, New Jersey until she dropped out of school at 16 and began her dance career.
She is a German author, former stripper, female bodybuilder, photographer, evangelist, mystic, contemplative, and founder of a church.
She understands both Christianity and yoga.
She believes her mission is to empower women, and to restore the worship of God as Mother.
She made nine appearances in Playboy.
Her father, a professor, created a Lithuanian school in the Church's auditorium, on the heels of founding the first State Teacher's College in Kaunas, Lithuania.
She was deprived of money for necessities like clothes and dental care. She was verbally abused and was told that she was unattractive and valueless. Upon leaving home, Kellie struggled to prove herself.
She suffered mental and emotional abuse from her mother. Whenever Kellie got jobs, her mother would call up and have her fired.
Her Lithuanian parents, had fled from Lithuania (then part of the Soviet Union) under Stalin. The family ended up in a displaced persons camp, and in 1949 boarded the Navy ship USS Heintzelman bound for the US.
The first female fitness and body building contest was in 1979, IFBB Miss Fitness, and the next was the IFBB 1980 Ms. Olympia. She promoted the idea to get it accepted, and from 1975 to 1977 she was the only one notably promoting it. After those first two contests, many more were held. Hundreds of women began to train and enter contests, then thousands. She explains this further in one of her many books, The Origin & Decline of Female Body Building (2011), and also in her 2019 interview with David Robson.
On February 2, 2007, the World Bodybuilding Guild (WBBG) awarded her "Progenitor" of Female Bodybuilding and in August 2007 inducted her into their Hall of Fame.
At the age 5, Kellie was moved ahead a grade because of her artistic talents. She was considered a child prodigy. Her drawings were put into a children's gallery, and a Christmas card she drew at age 6 was mimeographed and hundreds of copies were distributed.
She had two pages of pictures on her "Stripping for God" in Playboy.
In 1988, she notably appeared on The Morton Downey Jr. Show. As a result of the blatant and outrageous mistreatment of her on the show by the host Morton Downey Jr., Everts had filed a libel lawsuit against both Downey as well as the television network on which the show was aired, WWOR-TV.
She first appeared as Miss Nude Universe, hers was the first female body builder as "Humping Iron", May 1977, predating Lisa Lyon's appearance by three years.
Everts traveled in the United States and Canada, giving over 1,000 sermons in burlesque theaters and nightclubs.
In September 1973, Everts gave her first spiritual talk (prior to dancing) at the Melody Theater in Times Square as a religious minister. The combination of stripper and spiritual religious conviction led to the creation of what the press called the "Stripper for God".
A month after finishing high school she ran away with the famous photographer of Marilyn Monroe, to Hollywood, CA, where she began her career in show business. She lived in Santa Monica next to the pier, where she married Stanley Everts in 1963 and had a daughter, also named Kellie. She later lived in the Pacific Palisades, then Beverly Hills, and then finally Hollywood itself.
She trained for the 1981 competition but was barred from entering the Caesar's Palace Boardwalk Regency IFBB competition in Atlantic City. However, by then she had already accomplished her goal of promoting bodybuilding for women, having laid the groundwork for it several years prior.
Upon her death, Rasa ultimately plans to leave her property and all her money for a sisterhood that will have a "Temple to Mother God", and convent for women who will conduct research and promotion for the general cause of Matriarchy. Her goal is to have this sisterhood continue her work on the "New Religion for Women" that she founded, and send it out worldwide.
Her dancing career went from March 1966 to August 1987, dancing coast to coast and all over Canada as well. She then quit to become a producer of her dancing and female domination videos, making enough money to purchase a large property with island in Upstate New York in 1989, where she has lived ever since.
As a guru of the new religious movement she founded, many of her followers believe she is an Avatar, or an incarnation of God, much like Ramakrishna.
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