Polly Burson
Trick rider and stunt woman Polly Burson was born Pauline Shelton on December 24, 1919 in Ontario, Oregon. Born into a rodeo family, Polly spent her early years on her grandfather's ranch and started riding at the age of seven. Following an outstanding career on the rodeo circuit, Polly moved to California to break into the film business. Although it took Burson three years to break into said business, her career as a stunt woman was off and running from the mid-1940's and onward. Among the notable actresses that Polly doubled for throughout her five decade career as a stunt woman are Betty Hutton, Julie Adams, Sophia Loren, Shelley Winters, Yvonne De Carlo, Barbara Stanwyck, Dorothy Malone, Betty Grable, Lucille Ball, and Kim Darby. Burson was the recipient of a Golden Boot Award for her substantial and impressive contributions to the Western genre in 1991; said award was present to her by longtime friend and fellow stuntman Henry Wills. In addition, Polly was also inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall of Fame, and the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas in November, 2002. Burson was married and divorced three times. She died at age 86 on April 4, 2006 in Ventura, California.
Night Passage
(Rosa)
How the West Was Won
(Stock Player (uncredited))
Westward the Women
(Preacher (uncredited))
The Ten Commandments
(Slave)
The Redhead and The Cowboy
(Saloon Girl (uncredited))
Last of the Great Survivors
(Resident)
Earthquake
(Earthquake Survivor (uncredited))
Spartacus
(Slave (uncredited))
The Man from the Alamo
Bend of the River
(Stunts)
Guys and Dolls
(Stunts)
A Place in the Sun
(Stunt Double)
The Perils of Pauline
(Stunt Double)
Miss Susie Slagle's
(Stunt Double)
The Crimson Ghost
(Stunt Double)
Frontier Gal
(Stunts)
Unconquered
(Stunts)
Relentless
(Stunts)
The Swordsman
(Stunts)
Northwest Stampede
(Stunts)
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass
(Stunts)
Buccaneer's Girl
(Stunt Double)
Ma and Pa Kettle
(Stunt Double)
A Ticket to Tomahawk
(Stunt Double)
Fancy Pants
(Stunt Double)
The Furies
(Stunt Double)
The Desert Hawk
(Stunt Double)
My Blue Heaven
(Stunt Double)
The Sword of Monte Cristo
(Stunts)
The Greatest Show on Earth
(Stunts)
Westward the Women
(Stunts)
Rose of Cimarron
(Stunt Double)
Rodeo
(Stunts)
Scarlet Angel
(Stunts)
The Story of Will Rogers
(Stunts)
The Man from the Alamo
(Stunts)
Destry
(Stunts)
Gunsmoke
(Stunt Double)
Escape to Burma
(Stunts)
Night Passage
(Stunts)
The Second Greatest Sex
(Stunts)
The Rains of Ranchipur
(Stunts)
The Ten Commandments
(Stunts)
Pillars of the Sky
(Stunt Double)
The Buccaneer
(Stunts)
Last Train from Gun Hill
(Stunt Double)
Hell Bent for Leather
(Stunts)
Spartacus
(Stunts)
The Shakiest Gun in the West
(Stunt Double)
Black Moon Rising
(Stunts)
The Jayhawkers!
(Stunts)
Who's That Girl
(Stunts)
The Purple Monster Strikes
(Stunts)
Niagara
(Stunts)
McLintock!
(Stunts)
Earthquake
(Stunts)
El Dorado
(Stunts)
How the West Was Won
(Stunts)
True Grit
(Stunts)
Winchester '73
(Stunts)
Creature from the Black Lagoon
(Stunt Double)
Ivy
(Stunt Double)
Heller in Pink Tights
(Stunt Double)