Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story

Beginning with the silent film era and continuing into the present day, documentary filmmaker and author Mollie Gregory writes an in-depth account of the stuntwomen who have performed on the big screen and television. "Their arena is one that few know--a community of gifted athletes whose work makes movies thrilling. Like all stunt performers, stuntwomen risk injury or even death, but over the years, they have also faced institutional discrimination, unequal pay, and sexual harassment." Gregory explores these subjects and more, using interviews with the stuntwomen and -men, the actresses they doubled, and others involved in making movies and television, to give readers a close view of the exciting and dangerous world these women love to face on a daily basis.

Before World War I, women were frequently used as stunt performers, but as the movie industry boomed and society urged women back into the home, short-statured men in wigs and dresses soon took their places. Then, as the feminist and Civil Rights movements gained traction, women and African Americans suddenly found new roles to play on the big screen. The advent of television shows like Charlie's Angels and Wonder Woman also helped provide jobs for these daredevil performers. Gregory discusses the use of illegal drugs by movie personnel, which created increasingly dangerous situations for the stunt performers, the horrifying and sometimes life-shattering accidents some suffered when a stunt when wrong, and the future role for stunt performers now that computer-generated imagery is available in place of real people. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer

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