Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic screen presence and versatility. She was a favorite of directors, including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra, and made 85 films in 38 years before turning to television.
A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer-generated imagery special effects, these depictions were limited to the use of models, false perspective and other in-camera effects, unless the creator could find someone willing to carry them out, even such dangerous acts as jumping from car to car in motion or hanging from the edge of a skyscraper: the stunt performer or stunt double.
A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed to a daredevil, who performs for a live audience. When they take the place of another actor, they are known as stunt doubles.
Dar Allen Robinson was an American stunt performer and actor. Robinson broke 19 world records and set 21 "world's firsts." He invented the decelerator which allowed a cameraman to film a top-down view of the stuntman as he fell without accidentally showing the airbag on the ground. This was displayed in his fall from the hotel in the movie Stick. The original decelerator can still be seen on display in Moab, Utah.
Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing them.
Hal Brett Needham was an American stuntman, film director, actor, writer, and NASCAR team owner. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with actor Burt Reynolds, usually in films involving fast cars, such as Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Cannonball Run (1981) and Stroker Ace (1983).
James Sherwin "Bud" Ekins was an American professional stuntman in the U.S. film industry. He is considered to be one of the film industry's most accomplished stuntmen with a body of work that includes classic films such as The Great Escape and Bullitt. Ekins, acting as stunt double for Steve McQueen while filming The Great Escape, was the rider who performed what is considered to be one of the most famous motorcycle stunts ever performed in a movie. He was recognized for his stunt work by being inducted into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.
Tom Steele was a stunt man and actor, best remembered for appearing in serials, especially those produced by Republic Pictures, in both capacities.
Jeannie Epper is an American stuntwoman and actress. She has performed stunts in over 100 feature films and television series and is perhaps best known as Lynda Carter's stunt double on the 1970s television series Wonder Woman. She was featured in Amanda Micheli's 2004 documentary Double Dare, along with New Zealand stuntwoman and actress Zoë Bell. Entertainment Weekly noted that many consider her "the greatest stuntwoman who's ever lived."
Charles Bert Hayward was an American motion picture stuntman and actor. He was associated particularly with the films of John Wayne. He doubled for most of the great Western and action stars of the 1950s-1980s.
James Nelson "J. N." Roberts, is an American former professional off-road and enduro motorcycle racer and a film industry stuntman. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a dominant motorcycle competitor in American desert racing centered in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. At one point in his desert racing career, Roberts won 27 consecutive desert races, earning him the unofficial nickname of King of the Desert. Roberts was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009. He is also a member of the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall Of Fame.
Jophery Clifford Brown was a Major League Baseball pitcher who made one relief appearance for the Chicago Cubs. He became an award-winning stunt man and actor.
A Day in the Dirt Motocross Grand Prix is an annual motocross event held on Thanksgiving weekend, in California, United States. The races are notable for their participants, ranging from Hollywood film and stunt industry professionals like Mike "Mouse" McCoy and Alisa Hensley-Lane, to racing legends such as Ricky Johnson, Jeff Ward, Ron Lechein, Jeremy McGrath, J.N. Roberts, Eric Kehoe, Eddie Mulder, Mike Kiedrrowski, Ryan Hughes, Jeff Emig, Broc Glover, Mike Bell, Micky Dymond, and John DeSoto. The races also attract extreme sports celebrities such as Ronnie Renner, Henry Wiles, Robie and Bret Peterson, Shaun Palmer, Dave Mirra, Mike Metzler, and Alexander Smith.
David L. Boushey, is an American stuntman, stunt coordinator, stage fight director and stunt trainer. He is the founder of the United Stuntmen's Association, the International Stunt School, the Society of American Fight Directors, and is a member of The Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.
Robert P. "Bob" Orrison was an American film and television stunt performer.
Troy Wilford Melton was an American stuntman and actor.
Loren Janes was an American stuntman, notable for his work in Hollywood films, particularly those starring Steve McQueen, including Bullitt, Nevada Smith, and The Hunter. He also co-founded the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures in 1961. In 1956, he was the first civilian to enter the United States Olympic Trials for pentathlon; he also competed in 1964. He is a member of the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.
Henry Kingi is an American stuntman and actor. As a stuntman he has worked in films like Fast Five (2011). His acting roles include Goody in Car Wash (1976), Shell in Earth Star Voyager (1988), the mean Indian in Far Out Man (1990), Kungai Demon in Parting Gifts, an episode of Angel (1999), and George in From Mexico with Love (2009). As a miscrew he worked in films like The Assault, From Paris with Love, Patriots Day and Colt 45.
The Black Stuntmen's Association is an organization that was formed as a result of policies that kept black stuntmen and stuntwomen from getting studio work. Founded in 1967, members of the association include co-founder Eddie Smith, Ernie Robinson, Alex Brown, Willie Harris, Henry Kingi, Joe Tilque, and William Upton.
Bob Rose was an American actor and stuntman.
