In this article, we are opening up the topic of the evolution of stuntwomen.

Even now I can still sit and watch Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd and be amused and impressed by their slapstick comedy acting and stunts.
Harold Lloyd did a lot of his own stunts and in the 1957 film ‘Safety last’, Lloyd actually hung from the clock tower at the Atlantic Hotel in Broadway.

After filming had finished it is said that he created a dummy version of himself and dropped it from that same height to see what would happen if he had fallen whilst doing the stunt – that’s not something I think I would like to do!

**Silent motion pictures and stuntwomen**

Silent motion pictures began in 1894 until 1929. In a lot of cases, there were no safety guidelines when it came to ‘action’ scenes, it was a matter of ‘let’s do it and see how it turns out’.

There wasn’t any proper training and the stunts were performed by dancers, actors and singers. Even though men did the majority of the action stunts, women stunt performances were included in silent movies – riding horses, swimming and driving cars.

**The first American stuntwoman**

Helen Gibson, born Rose Wenger is said to have been the first-ever American professional stuntwoman. She began her career in 1911 as a trick rider and rodeo performer. In 1915 Helen Gibson began doubling Helen Holmes in ‘The Hazards of Helen Holmes’. In one of her many stunts, she was required to jump from a railway station roof onto a moving train. Rehearsals on a stationary train went well but when filming, Helen jumped and was propelled to the end of the train holding on to an air vent for dear life!
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https://www.thefightcoordinator.co.uk/post/2019/04/22/the-evolution-of-stuntwomen