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 Redhead and The Cowboy
(Saloon Girl (uncredited))
The Ten Commandments
(Slave)
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)
Northwest Stampede
(Stunts)
Escape to Burma
(Stunts)
My Blue Heaven
(Stunt Double)
Gunsmoke
(Stunt Double)
The Ten Commandments
(Stunts)
The Jayhawkers!
(Stunts)
The Furies
(Stunt Double)
Miss Susie Slagle's
(Stunt Double)
The Swordsman
(Stunts)
The Man from the Alamo
(Stunts)
The Second Greatest Sex
(Stunts)
The Buccaneer
(Stunts)
Last Train from Gun Hill
(Stunt Double)
Spartacus
(Stunts)
The Greatest Show on Earth
(Stunts)
The Shakiest Gun in the West
(Stunt Double)
Fancy Pants
(Stunt Double)
Night Passage
(Stunts)
Pillars of the Sky
(Stunt Double)
Hell Bent for Leather
(Stunts)
Who's That Girl
(Stunts)
Frontier Gal
(Stunts)
The Rains of Ranchipur
(Stunts)
Buccaneer's Girl
(Stunt Double)
Westward the Women
(Stunts)
Rose of Cimarron
(Stunt Double)
The Crimson Ghost
(Stunt Double)
The Sword of Monte Cristo
(Stunts)
Scarlet Angel
(Stunts)
Unconquered
(Stunts)
Relentless
(Stunts)
The Desert Hawk
(Stunt Double)
Rodeo
(Stunts)
A Ticket to Tomahawk
(Stunt Double)
The Perils of Pauline
(Stunt Double)
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass
(Stunts)
Destry
(Stunts)
Ma and Pa Kettle
(Stunt Double)
The Story of Will Rogers
(Stunts)
Black Moon Rising
(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)