Woman on Fire: Stuntwoman La Faye Baker
One of the Action Flick Chick’s most popular features has been a series of interviews with stunt professionals like La Faye Baker (Mission: Impossible 3, Lethal Weapon 4), David Leitch (The Matrix Revolutions, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Luci Romberg (Zombieland, Indiana Jones 4, Ninja Warrior). Part 2 of La Faye’s interview will run soon. She sent us this news this week, which works out really well. We’d already requested the results through other channels so we could report them to you.
On Sunday, October 4, in Los Angeles, over 200 entertainment industry members turned up in support of the Celebrity & Stuntwomen’s Awards, which honors stuntwomen, professional female athletes, and action actresses each year. Among the top honorees were two-time Golden Globe winner Jamie Lee Curtis for the Action Icon Award and world champion boxer Laila Ali for the Dare2bDifferent Award. Screen Actors Guild president Ken Howard presented the Action Icon Award to Ms. Curtis.
Other top honorees included Angela Meryl for the Diamond in the RAW Award and May Boss for the Helen Gibson Award. The Special Achievement Award was given to Mary Albee, while the Gone But Not Forgotten Award was given posthumously in memory of Svetla Krasteva-Foley. Tom Foley accepted the award on behalf of his late wife’s honor.
Lisa Hoyle.
Other awards, which were voted on by members of the stunt community and Screen Actors Guild included the Gem Award, which was a tie, honoring both Vic Armstrong and Keith Woulard. The Jewel Award went to Annie Ellis and the Mentorship Award was awarded to Spice Williams-Crosby. Dorenda Moore was given the “Wow” Stuntwoman Award.
The Dynamic DUO Award winners were stuntwoman Lisa Hoyle and actress Keira Knightley for their work in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. When we asked about this award, La Faye explained that the DUO prize goes to a stuntwoman/actress pair for work together in instances when an actress’s “collaboration with her stunt double creates action sequences.”
La Faye, who co-created the awards, said, “In its second year, the 2009 Celebrity & Stuntwomen’s Awards proved to be an event that is among few that honor the entertainment industry’s bravest action-oriented women. It was an outstanding production and I am proud to have celebrated the achievements these talented individual.”
Among the prestigious list of attendees who were in attendance included Extra correspondent Jeannie Mai and TV Guide Channel’s Patrick Stinson who served as co-hosts for the 2009 Celebrity & Stuntwomen’s Awards. Other special celebrity guests included Lee Meriwether, best known for her role as Catwoman in the original Batman film; Louis Mandylor, co-star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding; actress Erica Hubbard and Rhyon Brown from Lincoln Heights; Shirly Brener, co-star of War, Inc.; Zoe Bell, co-star of Drew Barrymore’s recent film Whip It; professional X Games skateboarder Lauren Perkins; Biohazard actress Julia Voth; America Olivo, co-star of The Last Resort; Contradictions of the Heart actress Alisa Reyes; legendary stunt icon Jeannie Epper; and many more.
La Faye Baker when she's not on fire.
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Do you know who did the stunt work for the Underworld trilogy? Loads of great action sequences.