LOS ANGELES — Jeannie Epper, a groundbreaking performer who performed stunts for many of the most important women in film and television of the 1970s and 1980s, including star Lynda Carter in the television series “Wonder Woman,” has died.
She was 83 years old.
Epper died of natural causes Sunday at her home in Simi Valley, Calif., family spokeswoman Amanda Micheli told The Associated Press.
Considered one of the greatest stuntwomen in her profession – Entertainment Weekly called her in 2007 “the greatest stuntwoman who ever lived” – Epper comes from a stunt family dynasty that included both of her parents, John and Frances Epper. Her 70-year career as a stuntwoman and stunt coordinator began when she was 9 years old.
“That’s all I really know, outside of being a mom or a grandmother,” Epper said in a 2004 documentary, “Double Dare,” directed by Micheli.
His siblings, Tony, Margo, Gary, Andy and Stephanie, also worked in stunts. Steven Spielberg called them “The Flying Wallendas of Cinema,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, which was first to report Epper’s death.
Her children Eurlyne, Richard and Kurtis, as well as her grandson Christopher, followed her into the stunt business.
At first, she struggled to get many stunt roles as a woman, but saw a major increase in opportunities as women gained more action-oriented roles in the late 1970s.
Her breakthrough role – and the one she will always be most associated with – was in “Wonder Woman.” Epper crashed into windows, kicked in doors and deflected bullets while double-crossing Carter in the series that ran for three seasons from 1976 to 1979 on ABC and CBS.
“I have a lot to say about Jeannie Epper. Above all, I loved him. Carter said on. I always felt that we understood and appreciated each other. After all, it was the 70s. We were united as women must be to thrive in a man’s world, through mutual respect, intellect and collaboration.
“Jeannie was a vanguard who paved the way for all the other stuntwomen who followed. Just like Diana was Wonder Woman, Jeannie Epper was also a Wonder Woman. She is so beautiful to me. Jeannie, I will miss you.
Around the same time, she dubbed Lindsay Wagner on “Bionic Woman” and Kate Jackson on the original “Charlie’s Angels.”
In the 1980s, Epper famously fell into a mudslide for Kathleen Turner in “Romancing the Stone” and fought for Linda Evans in her run-ins with Joan Collins on TV’s “Dynasty.”
Epper also appeared in more intellectual films, doing the stunt for Shirley MacLaine when she threw Jack Nicholson out of a Corvette in the 1984 best picture Oscar winner, “Terms of Endearment.”
And she was a constant presence in films directed or produced by Spielberg, including 1977’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” 1982’s “Poltergeist” and 2002’s “Minority Report.”
“She’s certainly qualified to be one of the great stunt coordinators,” Spielberg said in “Double Dare.”
Most recently, his work has appeared in “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”.
In 2007, she became the first woman to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Taurus World Stunt Awards.
She was the last survivor among her stunt siblings. Her son Kurtis also predeceased her.
Her survivors include her husband Tim, her children Eurlyne and Richard, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
New York Post
