Legends of the Fall

Back then, Jeannie Epper was a 42-year-old mom accustomed to being punched, kicked, burned, trampled by horses, thrown from high buildings and nearly drowned. All part of being a Hollywood stunt professional. But then came the “Russian Swing.”

The contraption looks like a modified child’s swing set that can send its passenger flying 30 feet or more. In other words, like most things a stunt person does, it’s potentially fatal.

On this particular occasion in 1983, Epper was doubling for Kathleen Turner, who was starring in “The Man With Two Brains.” The Russian Swing was there to create the illusion that Turner was being thrown high and far after being struck by a car.

Epper carefully reviewed the stunt. How high would she have to go? Where would she land? How good would her timing be?

After a few more minutes, she made a rare professional decision--she wasn’t going to do it. But she knew someone who would--her 22-year-old daughter, Eurlyne, who ended up performing the feat flawlessly.

“I wasn’t really scared, but my adrenaline was definitely pumping,” remembers Eurlyne Epper, now 38 and a working stunt-mom of three children who lives in Simi Valley. “The stunt went great and it was good having my mom there.”

“I was so proud of her,” adds Jeannie, now 57 and president of the Studio City-based Stuntwomen’s Assn. of Motion Pictures Inc. “She did it perfectly.”

In a way, the stunt represented the passing of the torch to the next generation of Eppers. Although Jeannie had some of her best work ahead of her, notably in 1984’s “Romancing the Stone,” it was a signal that the daughter could now do things that the mother could not.

“I’ve done a lot of high work: falls, explosions and fires,” says Eurlyne, whose credits include “Charlie’s Angels,” “Waterworld” and “Star Trek: Insurrection.” “You just get known for doing something and that’s what you tend to do.”

And the torch may be passed yet again. In the coming years, Eurlyne may be watching her oldest son, Christopher Epper, pull stunts that she can’t--or won’t--do anymore. At 14, Christopher has already piled up a host of impressive movie credits, including “Dennis the Menace” and “Without Limits.”

“I started when I was 5 by running off the roof onto an air bag,” says Christopher, now a ninth-grader at a Simi Valley high school.

In all, 16 Epper family members from four generations have been or are now Hollywood stunt people. No doubt you’ve seen them hundreds of times in commercials, television shows and the movies and never known it.

Remember the person who stabbed Janet Leigh in “Psycho’s” famous shower scene? That wasn’t Tony Perkins in Mommy drag, it was Margo Epper, Jeannie’s sister. Remember when cars flipped over and crashed as meteors slammed into New York City in last summer’s “Armageddon”? Chances are that was Richard Epper, Jeannie’s son, driving the cars.

And remember when Wonder Woman would swoop down on the bad guy? That wasn’t Lynda Carter, it was Jeannie.

“There was a saying going around Hollywood that the Epper kids were born with elbow and knee pads,” says Jeannie, who has also doubled for actresses Linda Evans, Cybill Shepherd and Shelley Long. “We were all born for stunts.”

A Horseman Came Riding

The Epper stunt line began with patriarch John Epper, a cocksure horseman who left his native Switzerland for America in the 1920s. After a short time on the East Coast, he decided to put his equestrian knowledge to work out West, where he established a riding academy in Los Angeles.

As family lore has it, John’s entry into the business was like a scene out of a corny Hollywood movie. Makers of a film (whose title Jeannie can’t recall) put out a call for a special stunt horse--one that could jump with a rider over a car. Apparently, the horses they were using couldn’t make the leap.

John told the filmmakers he had a horse that could easily execute the stunt. They borrowed his animal and went off to film. But Epper’s horse didn’t make the jump. The stunt coordinator then asked John if he could ride the horse and do the trick.

“He did it in one take,” says Jeannie proudly.

A stunt star was born. John quickly made a name for himself in scores of westerns and other pictures, doubling for such actors as Ronald Reagan and Gary Cooper. If a movie called for a horse stunt, there was a good chance John Epper would be in the saddle. (Of course, he was just as skilled riding bareback.)

“I’ve seen some of his horse stunts in old movies,” says great-grandson Christopher, who prefers motorcycles to horses. “And I can’t believe it. I don’t think I could ever do what he did on a horse.”

But six years ago, Christopher made a promise to his great-grandfather that he’d do something a lot tougher than jumping a horse over a car. He told the 86-year-old Epper, who was then in the last few weeks of his life, that he’d live up to the Epper name.

“I was 8 at the time and I don’t remember everything,” Christopher says. “But all of us [Epper great-grandchildren] were called into his room by his bedside. And he said to me, ‘You’re the oldest, and I understand you want to go into the profession. I want you to always remember you’re carrying the family name.’ ”

Choosing a Path Early in Life

Lately, Christopher’s teenage growth spurt has hurt his chances for stunt work. It’s been about a year since his last assignment, due in part to his size. At 5 feet, 10 inches and 160 pounds, he’s man-sized and can’t pass for a kid anymore. That puts him in competition with experienced stuntmen, who don’t have to worry about keeping up with schoolwork on the set and don’t have a legal limit of eight hours placed on their workday.

Like Christopher, Jeannie remembers an equally pivotal moment with John when she was 9 years old. A ‘50s TV show called “The Dakotas” needed a girl to ride a horse bareback down a mountain. Already a skilled rider, Jeannie wanted to do it.

“My father said it could be dangerous, but he knew I was an excellent rider,” Jeannie says. “He kept telling me to keep my head up, but that’s about all. I think he didn’t want to over-concern me. There’s a fine line between being concerned and destroying someone’s confidence.”

With her father anxiously looking on, Jeannie nailed the horsing stunt--her first one on camera.

“After it was over, he picked me up and kissed me and said, ‘I knew my girl could do it,’ ” recalls Jeannie. “Being Johnny Epper’s daughter has scared me. It’s put a lot of pressure on me to be the best.”

While John blazed the stunt trail for his family, Jeannie helped do the same for her gender. When she started in the business, it was routine for men to do the stunts for actresses. But as attitudes and fashion styles changed, there gradually came more opportunities for women stunt workers.

“Actresses began saying, ‘I don’t want a hairy-legged guy doing this for me,’ ” says Jeannie, who lives with her husband in a quiet Simi Valley neighborhood. “And women were wearing less and less clothes in front of the camera, and it was so obvious it was a man.”

As her skill and reputation grew, Jeannie moved into stunt coordinating as well. As a coordinator, though, she’d occasionally run into men who resented taking orders from a woman.

While coordinating stunts for the police show “Cagney and Lacey,” Jeannie encountered a guest actor who couldn’t throw a convincing punch. As delicately as she could, Jeannie tried to show the gentleman the proper technique, but the actor didn’t want to be instructed by a woman. Finally, other stuntmen on the set had to show the actor how it was done.

“He threw the punch well enough to shoot the scene,” Jeannie says. “But he still couldn’t throw it like a man.”

Fortunately, Jeannie’s grandson takes instruction from her just fine. In fact, Christopher credits Jeannie for much of his success.

“She’s helped me a lot with mental preparation,” he says. “She’s done most of the stunts before and she says things like, ‘You’re going to slam against the ground pretty hard so be ready for it.’ ”

Christopher has learned tricks of the trade from Eurlyne too. His mother has emphasized stunt mechanics.

“She’s an expert on the trampoline,” he says. “She’s taught me how to flip, how to twirl, how to land and how not to get hurt.”

Through the rough and tumble world of stunts, the Eppers have been remarkably free of major injuries in a profession in which they’ve all seen colleagues die.

“We’re lucky compared to the stuntmen in the early days; they really abused themselves,” says Jeannie. “All they wore were pads like the old football players did. Today, we look like the Michelin Man out there.”

Aches, Pains and Fear for Loved Ones

Despite good protective gear and safety precautions, minor injuries are still unavoidable. The family complains of a host of aches, bruises and neck or back pain.

“After a while, it all settles in and you hurt all over,” Jeannie says. “By the time you hit my age, you’re like a big bottle of Tylenol.”

Ironically, the most serious injury Jeannie suffered occurred when the cameras weren’t rolling. She was coming down a slide ladder after shooting a scene in “Waterworld.” The ladder gave way, and she fell 14 feet, hurting her back and knee.

“It goes with the territory,” she says. “But if I’m going to get hurt, I’d rather get hurt on camera.”

In spite of their mostly good fortune, the Eppers say one of the hardest feats in their work is watching helplessly on the sidelines while a family member goes headlong into some death-defying stunt.

“It’s hard to watch your kids,” Jeannie says. “It’s scary and you never know if they are going to be all right or not.”

“I’m cautious about what [Christopher] does,” adds Eurlyne, who also is busy every day looking after her two other children, 4-year-old Taylor Woldman and 17-month-old Matthew Woldman. “I keep an eye on him. He’s still a minor.”

It’s even harder for family members who aren’t in the stunt business. In the back of their minds, they dread receiving that phone call. The one telling them that their loved one may have been seriously hurt or killed.

“You absolutely worry about that,” says Eurlyne’s husband, Mitch Woldman, a carpenter. “You never know what’s going to happen out there.”

Woldman still vividly remembers being on the set for a stunt Eurlyne performed for the television series “Hunter.” She was to be struck by a car.

“Of course, you’re nervous,” says Woldman, 31. “And to see it happen right in front of you is really something. I’d never seen anything like it before.”

So why do the Eppers do it? Why stay in a business that has fewer and fewer jobs for more and more workers? Why put up with the aches, bruises and cuts, and the risk of major injury?

“Well, we’re adrenaline junkies,” says Jeannie. “I don’t think there’s a greater high for us than pulling off a stunt that everyone thinks can’t be done.”