May Boss,
a legendary stuntwoman who doubled for Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth,
Doris Day and Dorothy Malone, has died. She was 90 and had been in
declining health since suffering a stroke in 2008.
Boss, whose stunt career spanned over 50 years, appeared in over 100 films and TV shows, including Mary Poppins, The Blues Brothers, Blazing Saddles, Earthquake, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Soylent Green, True Lies and Total Recall.
Widely considered one of Hollywood's best horsewomen, Boss rode the rodeo circuit before getting her start in show business in the heyday of Hollywood Westerns. "She trick rode in rodeos, and in those days they were making a lot of Westerns, so it was an easy transition for her," said her son, stuntman Clay Boss.
Her first movie stunt was in 1952 on The Story Of Will Rogers, and many Westerns followed including Nevada Smith, The Hallelujah Trail, John Ford's How The West Was Won and doubling for Hayworth in They Came to Cordura.
A natural athlete, Boss wasn't confined to horseback, however. She doubled for Sandra Dee in Tammy Tell Me True and for Doris Day in Send Me No Flowers. In Mary Poppins, she was one of the flying nannies.