Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s–1970s

This biographical dictionary shines the spotlight on several hundred unheralded stunt performers who created some of the cinema’s greatest action scenes without credit or recognition. The time period covered encompasses the silent comedy days of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, the early westerns of Tom Mix and John Wayne, the swashbucklers of Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, and Burt Lancaster, the costume epics of Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas, and the action films of Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, and Charles Bronson.
Without stuntmen and women working behind the scenes the films of these action superstars would not have been as successful. Now fantastic athletes and leading stunt creators such as Yakima Canutt, Richard Talmadge, Harvey Parry, Allen Pomeroy, Dave Sharpe, Jock Mahoney, Chuck Roberson, Polly Burson, Bob Morgan, Loren Janes, Dean Smith, Hal Needham, Martha Crawford, Ronnie Rondell, Terry Leonard, and Bob Minor are given their proper due. Each entry covers the performer’s athletic background, military service, actors doubled, noteworthy stunts, and a rundown of his or her best known screen credits.

Gene Scott Freese is a screenwriter living in Chandler, Arizona. He has written books on TV cowboy Jock Mahoney, character actor Richard Jaeckel, and Hollywood stunt performers from cinema’s Golden Age.

Gene Scott Freese
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 356
Bibliographic Info: 98 photos, filmographies, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7643-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1470-0
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments  vi
Preface  1
Introduction  3
Stunt Performers  7
Bibliography  325
Index  327

“essential”—Midwest Book Review; “provides a much-needed reference tool on an obscure, and often difficult to research, domain in cinematic history…recommended”—ARBA; Reviews of the first edition: “the first book to provide a comprehensive listing of stunt performers and their credits”—Big Reel; “excellent”—Past Times; “useful”—Classic Images; “amazing”—Western Clippings; “fine reference work”—The Big Trail; “the one-stop reference source for the stunt industry”—Film Review; “valuable”—Psychotronic; “comprehensive”—Starlog; “recommended”—Library Journal; “recommended”—ARBA.