Jeannie Epper was a pioneering stuntwoman and actress best known for her work in films like “Romancing the Stone” and TV’s “Wonder Woman.”
- Died: May 5, 2024 (Who else died on May 5?)
- Details of death: Died at her home in Simi Valley, California of natural causes at the age of 83.
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Jeannie Epper’s legacy
Born in Los Angeles, Epper grew up in a family of stunt performers, including both of her parents and her five siblings. She began learning the family craft as a young girl and became one of the first child stunt performers. As a young adult in the 1960s, though, she met a challenge in landing jobs: Men had typically done the vast majority of stunt work, including donning wigs and dresses to double for women.
In the 1970s, as women took on more action roles in movies and television shows, some actresses began requesting female stunt doubles. As Epper put it in a 1999 interview for the Los Angeles Times, “Actresses began saying, ‘I don’t want a hairy-legged guy doing this for me.’ And women were wearing less and less clothes in front of the camera, and it was so obvious it was a man.” One of those actresses was Lynda Carter, star of TV’s “Wonder Woman,” the hit that became Epper’s breakthrough. She doubled for Carter in many of her fighting and jumping stunts – although she noted that Carter was brave and often wanted to do her own stunts, which had to be discouraged for the actress’ own safety.
Epper became a legend of the stunt industry and an inspiration for women in the craft as she doubled for actresses in dozens of films and TV programs. One memorable stunt came in 1984’s “Romancing the Stone.” Epper won a Stuntman Award for Most Spectacular Stunt for plummeting down a mudslide in place of female lead Kathleen Turner. But her significant stunts weren’t all in action movies and TV shows. She also doubled for Linda Evans in “Dynasty” as her character fought with Joan Collins.
Eppers’ many other stunt credits include “The Bionic Woman,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “RoboCop,” “Armageddon,” “Blade,” “2 Fast 2 Furious,” and “Kill Bill Vol. 2.” She also worked as an actress, with small roles in “Laverne and Shirley,” “Tales from the Crypt,” “Charmed,” “Supernatural,” and others. Her most recent stunt credit came at the age of 74 in “Hot Pursuit;” in 2019, she had a guest role in an episode of “The Rookie.” Eppers was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards in 2007, and she was the first woman to receive the prize.
Notable quote
“My son… used to tell everybody, ‘My mama doubles Wonder Woman.’ ‘Yeah, right, kid.’ So he would come home, and he would get pictures of me, and they still didn’t believe it. I went down, I told Lynda [Carter] the story. Lynda said, ‘Invite the whole class down on the set. We’ll show them.’ So I got clearance from the school and all that. They watched me go from Jeannie into the Wonder Woman costume and watched me do a few jumps. And [my son] was the hero for the next five grades.” — from a 2014 interview for Television Academy Foundation
Tributes to Jeannie Epper
Full obituary: Los Angeles Times
