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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women
“Miss Wiggins of late has been one of the most sought-after doubles in the movie colony of Hollywood. Sensational jumps from high cliffs, motorcycle spills, dives from ships at sea are all part of the day’s work for her while doubling for movie stars.” Auburn Journal, August 1, 1929
Mary Wiggins’s head bobbed beneath the icy, choppy waters of the Nooksack River near Mt. Baker in the state of Washington. Her legs struggled to bring her back toward the sun-speckled surface. When she broke through she quickly gulped at the winter air and then with barely a splash went under again. The camera crew, standing safely on the riverbank, watched in rapt silence as they filmed the stuntwoman’s realistic drowning scene.
Mary was one of the best stuntwomen in the business having perfected the art of portraying a distressed victim fighting the river’s strong current from taking her under. Until the former award-winning diver arrived in Hollywood in 1927, drowning scenes were played in a broad, melodramatic way. They were loud and splashy and the stunt double would yell and frantically wave their arms. They would dip below the waves screaming and come up in a dramatic fashion while those on the shore scrambled to rescue them.
Mary’s technique was much more subdued but none the less effective. The temperature of the water was fifteen below zero and she was adorned in thick wool trousers, a large coat, and heavy boots. She held herself under the water as long as she dared. Her hair rose upwards like seaweed, rippling in the current, then with superhuman effort she emerged completely out of the water. Director William Wellman shouted, “cut” and the technicians working on the 1935 film Call of the Wild hurried to help Mary out of the freezing river. Her part was so seamlessly woven into 20th Century Picture’s adaptation of Jack London’s popular novel, audiences couldn’t tell her from Loretta Young, the star in which she was doubling.
Between 1930 and 1931, Mary appeared in a handful of Western films starring Ken Maynard. Maynard was a champion rodeo rider and a trick rider with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show turned actor. Mary helped Maynard choregraph and executed stunts for the women in the pictures that included falling off galloping horses and runaway wagons, and leaping out a window to escape the villain.
Daughters of Daring
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Daughters of Daring
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To discover more about remarkable trailblazers like Mary Wiggins, read
Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women
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