Helen Gibson

Helen Gibson was a brave star.

She was a great rider. She performed hard tricks on horses. She even jumped from a roof to a moving train.

This work was very hard. She had to time her jumps well. She did not want to fall in the gaps between train cars.

Helen also made her own films. She was a leader for other stunt women.

She worked in movies for many years. She was a true star of the West.

Helen Gibson was a brave star of the early movies.

She was the first professional stunt woman in America. Helen grew up in Ohio. Her father encouraged her to be a tomboy. She learned to ride horses for Wild West shows. She was very good at trick riding. This means she did special moves on a horse.

Helen worked in many films. She was a star in a series called "The Hazards of Helen."

One of her most famous stunts was very scary. She jumped from a roof onto a moving train. She had to time her jump perfectly. If she missed, she could fall into the gap between train cars.

She also did stunts on a motorcycle. She rode through a wooden gate and onto a moving train.

Helen even started her own film company. She wanted to make her own movies. She worked in Hollywood for a very long time. She was a true leader for other women in stunts.

Helen Gibson was a brave pioneer in the early world of movies.

She was the first professional stunt woman in America. This means she was paid to do dangerous moves in films. Helen was born Rose August Wenger in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1892. Her father encouraged her to be a tomboy. She loved riding horses and watching Wild West shows. These skills helped her build a very exciting career. She became a star that people loved to watch on screen.

Helen learned how to perform amazing tricks on horseback. In 1910, she joined the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show. She practiced picking up things from the ground while riding at a full gallop. She even performed in rodeos like the Second Los Angeles Rodeo in 1913. One of her most famous stunts happened in the film "The Hazards of Helen."

She jumped from a station roof onto a moving train. She had to time her leap perfectly to avoid the gaps between the cars. She also rode a motorcycle through a wooden gate to land on a moving train.

Her journey began in the traveling shows of the early 1900s. After the Miller-Arlington Show closed in 1911, she moved to California. She worked as a cowboy extra in places like Topanga Canyon. In 1912, she earned $15 a week for her first billed role. She met her husband, Hoot Gibson, at a rodeo in Pendleton, Oregon, in 1913. They both worked in the film industry for many years. Their lives were full of travel, rodeos, and movie sets.

Helen worked for many famous film companies during her career. She worked for the Kalem Company and the Selig Polyscope Company.

She starred in 69 episodes of the "Hazards of Helen" series. In 1919, she signed a contract with Universal for $125 a week. Later, she joined the Capital Film Company for $300 a week. In 1920, she even started her own business called Helen Gibson Productions. She produced a Western film called "No Man's Woman."

Even when her time as a big star ended, Helen kept working. She spent many years as a stunt double for other famous actresses. She worked in Hollywood until the 1960s. Her last film role was in the 1961 movie "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

She lived in many places, including Oregon and California. Helen Gibson showed the world that women could be brave action stars. Her hard work helped change how movies were made forever.

Helen Gibson was a pioneer in the American film industry. She is recognized as the first professional American stunt woman.

This means she was a specialist hired to perform dangerous physical feats for movies. Born Rose August Wenger in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1892, she grew up in a family with five girls. Her father encouraged her to be a tomboy, which helped her develop interest in riding. She eventually left Ohio to follow a career in Western performance and cinema.

Gibson's professional journey began with the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show. In April 1910, she performed her first show in St. Louis. She practiced difficult trick riding, such as picking up a handkerchief from the ground while at a full gallop.

When the Miller-Arlington Show closed in 1911, she moved to Venice, California. There, she worked as a cowboy extra. Performers often rode five miles each day to reach filming locations in Topanga Canyon. In 1912, she earned $15 a week for her first billed role in the film Ranch Girls on a Rampage.

Her career expanded through rodeo competition and stunt work. In 1913, she competed in the Standing Woman Race at the Second Los Angeles Rodeo. This performance helped her secure an investor to finance a rodeo tour. During this time, she met Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson in Pendleton, Oregon. The couple performed in various locations, including Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Boise, Idaho. They later returned to Los Angeles to work for studios like Selig Polyscope and Kalem Studios.

Gibson became famous for her work in the long-running film series, The Hazards of Helen.

She performed 69 episodes of this serial. One of her most difficult stunts involved leaping from a station roof onto a moving train. To prepare, she practiced the jump with the train stationary. However, the actual stunt required precise timing because the spatial relationship between the roof and the train changes as it moves.

If a stuntman misses the timing, they might land in the gap between two carriages instead of on the roof.

She also performed highly technical stunts involving motorcycles. In one sequence, she rode a motorcycle at full speed to chase a runaway freight train. She rode through a wooden gate, up a station platform, and through the doors of a boxcar. To make the jump look successful on film, the crew used a technique called undercranking. This involves filming at a slower speed so the action appears faster when played back.

These skills allowed her to command higher salaries, such as $50 a week at Kalem.

In 1920, Gibson attempted to become a film producer. She founded Helen Gibson Productions to create her own starring films. Her first project was a Western melodrama titled No Man's Woman. Unfortunately, the production ran out of money before it was finished. This caused her personal bankruptcy. Although she later starred in The Wolverine for the Spencer Production Company, she faced further financial and health struggles. After a period of illness and financial loss, she performed with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Even after her time as a leading star, Gibson remained active in Hollywood.

She worked as a stunt double for many famous actresses, including Ethel Barrymore and Marie Dressler. She also served as a treasurer for a stunt girl's fraternal organization. Her long career included a role in the 1961 film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. She retired in 1962 and lived in Oregon until her death in 1977. Her life reflects the evolution of the early motion picture industry.