Dean Smith, Olympic Sprinter Turned Hollywood Stunt Performer, Dies at 91
With help from fellow gold medalists Bob Mathias and James Garner, the Texas native got lots of action onscreen with John Wayne, John Ford, Paul Newman and Dale Robertson.
He was not on the list.
Dean Smith, who won a gold medal as a sprinter at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics before becoming a top-notch Hollywood stunt performer who worked on a dozen films starring John Wayne, has died. He was 91.
Smith died Saturday at his home in Breckenridge, Texas,
after a battle with cancer, his friend Rob Word told The Hollywood Reporter.
Smith, who got into the business with help from James Garner, appeared in seven Paul Newman films, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), The Sting (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974).
The tough Texan, who loved to say he could “ride, run and jump,” doubled for good friend Dale Robertson on the 1957-62 NBC series Tales of Wells Fargo, the 1964 film Blood on the Arrow and the 1966-68 ABC series Iron Horse.
He also did the dirty work for Ben Johnson on Cheyenne
Autumn (1964) — one of four features he did with director John Ford — for
George Hamilton in Evel Knievel (1971), for Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson
(1972) and for Roy Rogers, one of his childhood heroes, on a 1982 episode of
ABC’s The Fall Guy.
Smith was even fitted at Max Factor with a red wig and white bustle to step in for Maureen O’Hara on the Wayne-starring McLintock! (1963) when her character backs out of a two-story building and lands in a hay wagon and then holds onto the back of a moving barouche carriage.
“The other stuntmen just kidded me all over the place, said
it looked like I had walnuts in my socks,” he told Word on a 2014 episode of
the web series A Word on Westerns. “But anyway, I made more money on McLintock!
than any of the other stuntmen, so you can’t complain on that.”
Born in Breckenridge on Jan. 15, 1932, Smith spent his early years on his grandparents’ sprawling ranch and found inspiration from cowboy stars Rogers, Gene Autry and Monte Hale on the big screen every Saturday afternoon.
He played football and ran track at the University of Texas,
and at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Finland, he finished fourth in the 100-meter
dash before handling a leg for the U.S. 400-meter relay squad that captured
gold. He then returned to college and was on the Longhorns team that won the
1953 Cotton Bowl.
After serving 21 months in the U.S. Army while stationed in California, Smith played briefly with the Los Angeles Rams and was introduced by an Olympic teammate to Garner, who helped him get stunt jobs. He got his start on Tales of Wells Fargo and in the 1958 films Quantrill’s Raiders, The Law and Jake Wade, Born Reckless and Auntie Mame.
“I wanted to be like Roy and Gene and all those guys,” he
said. “[People told him], ‘Well, you have a college degree, you could go into
any other business,’ but I came to Hollywood.”
A fellow Helsinki gold medalist, decathlete Bob Mathias — who played himself in a 1954 biopic — introduced him to Wayne, and Smith would work with the Western screen legend on Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo (1959) and The Alamo (1960), filmed back home in Texas.
In addition to McLintock!, they also were together in The
Comancheros (1961), Ford’s How the West Was Won (1962), In Harm’s Way (1965),
El Dorado (1966), The War Wagon (1967), True Grit (1969), Rio Lobo (1970), Big
Jake (1971) and The Train Robbers (1973).
Smith later did stunts as he portrayed famed frontiersman Kit Carson in Seven Alone (1974), and he hung upside down from a fake blimp 200 feet above the Orange Bowl in Miami for Black Sunday (1977).
His résumé also included Ford’s Two Rode Together (1961), Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), Raoul Walsh’s A Distant Trumpet (1964), Robert Aldrich’s Ulzana’s Raid (1972), Blake Edwards’ The Great Race (1965) — he partook in that film’s huge barroom brawl — Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity (1969), Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man (1970), Michael Crichton’s Westworld (1973), Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express (1974) and Sam Raimi’s The Quick and the Dead (1995).
Smith, who moved back to Texas in 1992, is a member of the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame and the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. His memoir, Cowboy Stuntman: From Olympic Gold to the Silver Screen, was published in 2013, with Garner providing the foreword.
After graduating from University of Texas at Austin where he ran track and was a member of the Silver Spurs, Smith played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of his career in Hollywood.
He was the winner of the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. He was also an actor and noted stuntman, appearing in many films and TV series.
Survivors include his wife, Debbie, and son, Finis.
Stunts
Tom Berenger, Sam Elliott, and Gary Busey in Rough Riders (1997)
Rough Riders
stunts
TV Mini Series
1997
Keys to Tulsa (1997)
Keys to Tulsa
stunts
1997
John Travolta in Michael (1996)
Michael
stunts
1996
Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman in The Quick and the Dead (1995)
The Quick and the Dead
stunts
1995
Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, and James Garner in Maverick (1994)
Maverick
stunt double: James Garnerstunts (uncredited)
1994
John Candy, Dabney Coleman, and Bobcat Goldthwait in Hot to Trot (1988)
Hot to Trot
stunts
1988
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Raw Deal (1986)
Raw Deal
stunt double: Sam Wanamaker
1986
Cloak & Dagger (1984)
Cloak & Dagger
stunt player
1984
Steve Martin in The Lonely Guy (1984)
The Lonely Guy
stunts
1984
Christine (1983)
Christine
stunts
1983
Simon & Simon (1981)
Simon & Simon
stunt coordinator
TV Series
1981–1982
The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
The Concorde... Airport '79
stunts
1979
The Legend of the Golden Gun (1979)
The Legend of the Golden Gun
stunts (uncredited)
TV Movie
1979
Hardcore (1979)
Hardcore
stunt double: Gary Graham (uncredited)
1979
Bruce Boxleitner and James Arness in How the West Was Won (1976)
How the West Was Won
stunt coordinator
TV Series
1978
FM (1978)
FM
stunt policeman
1978
Black Sunday (1977)
Black Sunday
stunt double Bruce Dernstunts (uncredited)
1977
Roy Rogers, Walter Barnes, Billy Green Bush, Joan Hackett, James Hampton, Clay O'Brien, and Andrew Robinson in Mackintosh and T.J. (1975)
Mackintosh and T.J.
stunt double: Roy Rogers (uncredited)
1975
Jeff Bridges and Blythe Danner in Hearts of the West (1975)
Hearts of the West
stunts (uncredited)
1975
Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway in Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Three Days of the Condor
stunt double (uncredited)
1975
Paul Newman in The Drowning Pool (1975)
The Drowning Pool
stunt double (uncredited)
1975
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
The Great Waldo Pepper
stunts (uncredited)
1975
Seven Alone (1974)
Seven Alone
stunts (uncredited)
1974
Fred Astaire, William Holden, Paul Newman, Richard Chamberlain, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Susan Blakely, and Jennifer Jones in The Towering Inferno (1974)
The Towering Inferno
stunts (uncredited)
1974
Charlton Heston, Victoria Principal, Geneviève Bujold, Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, George Kennedy, Marjoe Gortner, Lloyd Nolan, Richard Roundtree, and Barry Sullivan in Earthquake (1974)
Earthquake
stunts (uncredited)
1974
Airport 1975 (1974)
Airport 1975
stunts (uncredited)
1974
The Sugarland Express (1974)
The Sugarland Express
stunts (uncredited)
1974
Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)
The Sting
stunt double (uncredited)
1973
Westworld (1973)
Westworld
stunts (uncredited)
1973
The Train Robbers (1973)
The Train Robbers
stunts (uncredited)
1973
Paul Newman in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
stunts (uncredited)
1972
Ulzana's Raid (1972)
Ulzana's Raid
stunts (uncredited)
1972
Hickey & Boggs (1972)
Hickey & Boggs
stunts (uncredited)
1972
Anthony Franciosa, Doug McClure, and Hugh O'Brian in Search (1972)
Search
stunts
TV Series
1972
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Jeremiah Johnson
stunt double (uncredited)
1972
The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972)
The Legend of Nigger Charley
stunts (uncredited)
1972
Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
Sometimes a Great Notion
stunts (uncredited)
1971
George Hamilton in Evel Knievel (1971)
Evel Knievel
stunts (uncredited)
1971
Big Jake (1971)
Big Jake
stunts (uncredited)
1971
John Wayne in Rio Lobo (1970)
Rio Lobo
stunts (uncredited)
1970
Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man (1970)
Little Big Man
stunts
1970
Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Sharon DeBord, Elaine Devry, Shirley Jones, Jackie Joseph, Sue Ane Langdon, Jackie Russell, and Jean Willes in The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
The Cheyenne Social Club
stunts (uncredited)
1970
Airport (1970)
Airport
stunts (uncredited)
1970
Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Katharine Ross in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
stunt double (uncredited)
1969
Stiletto (1969)
Stiletto
stunt double: Alex Cord (uncredited)
1969
John Wayne, Glen Campbell, and Kim Darby in True Grit (1969)
True Grit
stunt double: Robert Duvallstunts (uncredited)
1969
Shirley MacLaine and John McMartin in Sweet Charity (1969)
Sweet Charity
stunt double: John McMartin (uncredited)
1969
Gregory Peck and Nathaniel Narcisco in The Stalking Moon (1968)
The Stalking Moon
stunt double: Robert Forsterstunt double: Trooper (uncredited)
1968
Don Murray and Otis Young in The Outcasts (1968)
The Outcasts
stunts
TV Series
1968
The Scalphunters (1968)
The Scalphunters
stunt double: Dabney Coleman (uncredited)
1968
Iron Horse (1966)
Iron Horse
stunt coordinatorstunt double: Dale Robertsonstunt double Dale Robertson
TV Series
1966–1967
Raymond Burr and Barbara Sigel in Ironside (1967)
Ironside
stunts
TV Series
1967
Kirk Douglas and John Wayne in The War Wagon (1967)
The War Wagon
stunts (uncredited)
1967
Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, and James Caan in El Dorado (1966)
El Dorado
stunts (uncredited)
1966
James Coburn, Giovanna Ralli, and Dick Shawn in What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
stunts (uncredited)
1966
Ann-Margret, Red Buttons, Bing Crosby, Van Heflin, Slim Pickens, Mike Connors, Alex Cord, Robert Cummings, and Stefanie Powers in Stagecoach (1966)
Stagecoach
Stunt Double Alex CordStunt Indian on Stagecoachstunts (uncredited)
1966
The F.B.I. (1965)
The F.B.I.
stunts
TV Series
1965
Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in The Great Race (1965)
The Great Race
stunts (uncredited)
1965
In Harm's Way (1965)
In Harm's Way
stunts (uncredited)
1965
Rio Conchos (1964)
Rio Conchos
stunt double: Stuart Whitmanstunts (uncredited)
1964
Wendell Corey, Martha Hyer, and Dale Robertson in Blood on the Arrow (1964)
Blood on the Arrow
Stunt Double Dale Robertsonstunt coordinatorstunts (uncredited)
1964
Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Sal Mineo, Karl Malden, Ricardo Montalban, Richard Widmark, Dolores del Rio, Carroll Baker, Arthur Kennedy, and Gilbert Roland in Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
Cheyenne Autumn
Stunt Double Ben Johnsonstunts (uncredited)
1964
Troy Donahue, Diane McBain, and Suzanne Pleshette in A Distant Trumpet (1964)
A Distant Trumpet
stunt double: Claude Akinsstunts (uncredited)
1964
Kings of the Sun (1963)
Kings of the Sun
stunts (uncredited)
1963
Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Stefanie Powers, and Patrick Wayne in McLintock! (1963)
McLintock!
stunt double Strother Martinstunts (uncredited)
1963
PT 109 (1963)
PT 109
stunts (uncredited)
1963
Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren in The Birds (1963)
The Birds
stunts (uncredited)
1963
How the West Was Won (1962)
How the West Was Won
stunts (uncredited)
1962
James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The Virginian (1962)
The Virginian
stunts
TV Series
1962
John Wayne and Lee Marvin in The Comancheros (1961)
The Comancheros
stunts (uncredited)
1961
Gunfight at Black Horse Canyon (1961)
Gunfight at Black Horse Canyon
stunt double (uncredited)
TV Movie
1961
James Stewart and Richard Widmark in Two Rode Together (1961)
Two Rode Together
stunts (uncredited)
1961
Tales of Wells Fargo (1957)
Tales of Wells Fargo
stunts (uncredited)
TV Series
1960–1961
John McIntire in Wagon Train (1957)
Wagon Train
stunts (uncredited)
TV Series
1960
John Wayne, Richard Widmark, and Laurence Harvey in The Alamo (1960)
The Alamo
stunts (uncredited)
1960
Audie Murphy, Suzanne Lloyd, Venetia Stevenson, and Barry Sullivan in Seven Ways from Sundown (1960)
Seven Ways from Sundown
stunts (uncredited)
1960
Clu Gulager and Barry Sullivan in The Tall Man (1960)
The Tall Man
stunts
TV Series
1960
Overland Trail (1960)
Overland Trail
stunt double: Doug McClure (uncredited)
TV Series
1960
Henry Fonda and Gene Barry in Bat Masterson (1958)
Bat Masterson
stunts (uncredited)
TV Series
1960
The Magical World of Disney (1954)
The Magical World of Disney
stunts (uncredited)
TV Series
1958–1959
Robert Fuller and John Smith in Laramie (1959)
Laramie
stunts
TV Series
1959
Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin, Richard Conte, Tab Hunter, Michael Callan, and Dick York in They Came to Cordura (1959)
They Came to Cordura
stunts (uncredited)
1959
Sean Connery, Kieron Moore, Janet Munro, Jimmy O'Dea, and Albert Sharpe in Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
stunts (uncredited)
1959
Gregory Peck in Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Pork Chop Hill
stunts (uncredited)
1959
John Wayne, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and John Russell in Rio Bravo (1959)
Rio Bravo
stunts (uncredited)
1959
Coral Browne, Peggy Cass, Fred Clark, Patric Knowles, Rosalind Russell, Roger Smith, and Forrest Tucker in Auntie Mame (1958)
Auntie Mame
stunts (uncredited)
1958
Jeff Richards and Mamie Van Doren in Born Reckless (1958)
Born Reckless
stunts (uncredited)
1958
George Montgomery in Cimarron City (1958)
Cimarron City
stunts
TV Series
1958
Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
stunts (uncredited)
1958
Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, and Patricia Owens in The Law and Jake Wade (1958)
The Law and Jake Wade
stunts (uncredited)
1958
Quantrill's Raiders (1958)
Quantrill's Raiders
stunts (uncredited)
1958
Cheyenne (1955)
Cheyenne
Stunt Double Will Wright (uncredited)
TV Series
1957
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