Best Fitness instructor

Denise Cheshire Pearlman, Golden state Gymnastics

Born and raised in Burbank, Pearlman started her gymnastics career at 11 years old and quickly rose to become one of the United States’ top performers. In 1975, she was the vice champion at the U.S. National Championships and went on to compete internationally for five years. She also was a finalist at the 1976 Olympic trials, but an injury kept her from a spot on the team.

After retiring from gymnastics, she went on to become asuccessful stuntwoman and suit performer,working on suchfilms as “Cocoon,”“Lassie,”“Gorillas in the Mist,”“Terminator 2,”“Mighty Joe Young,” “JackFrost” and “Men in Black2.”

The most important film she worked on was “The Goonies,” where she met husband Ron Pearlman, a Burbank firefighter.