Jeannie Epper famously doubled for Lynda Carter in Wonder Woman and for Kate Jackson in Charlie’s Angels and was even crowned ‘the greatest stuntwoman ever’
Hollywood stuntwoman Jeannie Epper has died aged 83.
She famously doubled for Lynda Carter in Wonder Woman and for Kate Jackson in Charlie’s Angels, with dozens of film and TV credits across the 1970s and ’80s. She passed away aged 83 on Sunday, with her family confirming the tragic news today.
Carter lead tributes on social media, hailing her “love” for the acting legend. “It was the 70s. We were united in the way that women had to be in order to thrive in a man’s world, through mutual respect, intellect and collaboration,” Lynda penned on X, formally Twitter.
“Jeannie was a vanguard who paved the way for all other stuntwomen who came after. Just as Diana was Wonder Woman, Jeannie Epper was also a Wonder Woman.” Epper began her career aged nine, but got her big break working on Wonder Woman.
She was famously crowned “the greatest stuntwoman” ever by Entertainment Weekly back in 2007 and was a truly well-known industry figure. Epper spoke openly about how hard it was to land stunt work as a woman, but saw her jobs skyrocket in the late 1970s.
She doubled for Carter in Wonder Woman for three seasons from 1976 to 1979 on ABC and CBS. Epper is known for several famous movie and TV stunts, including doubling for Kathleen Turner as she fell down a mudslide in Romancing the Stone, she also fought for Linda Evans against Joan Collins on TV drama Dynasty.
Working in stunts ran in her family, with her siblings Tony, Margo, Gary, Andy and Stephanie all doing the same career. She was once praised by Steven Spielberg for her work on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Poltergeis and Minority Report.
“She certainly qualifies to be one of the great stunt coordinators,” Spielberg said. Her recent work includes The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Kill Bill: Vol. 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. She became the first woman to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Taurus World Stunt Awards back in 2007.
