Mallory O’Meara is the bestselling author of The Lady from the Black Lagoon, which won the 2019 SCIBA award for Biography and the 2019 Rondo award for Book of the Year, Girly Drinks, which won a 2022 James Beard Award, and Girls Make Movies, which was a 2023 Junior Library Guild Selection. She lives in Los Angeles with her two cats, where she is working on her next nonfiction book. Her latest book is Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman and she recently talked about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog.
What was your inspiration for Daughter of Daring?
I was working on my third book, Girls Make Movies and researching the history of stunt women. I assumed that history began in the 1980s with the rise of action movies and action movie heroines like Linda Hamilton. I was stunned to discover that it went farther back, way farther back! Instantly, I needed to know everything about stunt women in the 1910s.
How did you first learn about Helen Gibson?
Doing that research into the stunt women of the 1910s, I discovered that the very first one was a woman named Helen Gibson. She captivated me immediately.
A large percentage of the films and serials from the silent era have been lost. Do any of Helen’s films survive? If so, how many have you seen? Do you have a favorite?
Lots of Helen’s films have survived, thank goodness! You can see some of them on YouTube if you search for her. Some episodes of her serial, The Hazards of Helen, have survived. My favorite is probably "The Open Track" because it features Helen driving a man along a road when he starts to make advances on her. She beats him in a fight, throws him out of the car, and tries to run him over!
Was there a particular stunt, or two, that you saw or read about that impressed/terrified you (especially since Helen did not have a lot of the safety precautions used by stunt performers today)?
Absolutely! In her second serial, "Daughter of Daring," Helen drives a motorcycle onto a moving train. This is a stunt that would be dangerous today! Michelle Yeoh did it in SuperCop 2 with a whole stunt team to help her. But Helen only had herself. No CGI, no wires, not even any padding!
How familiar were you with early Hollywood prior to becoming interested in Helen? How long did it take you to do the research and then write Daughter of Daring?
Not very! Helen drew me into the time period, and then I fell in love. It’s such a fascinating period of film history. The research and writing took a couple of years. It was such a blast to research this book.
What was the most interesting or surprising thing that you learned during your research?
The most interesting and surprising thing I learned was just how many women worked during the silent years of Hollywood. It was an industry nearly run by women! I couldn’t believe it.
Do you have any favorite contemporary women stunt performers?
I got to interview LaFaye Baker for the book, which was such an honor. She’s such a force of nature and has made so much stunt history. I also really admire the work of Debbie Evans!
What’s the craziest stunt you can remember seeing in a film or on television?
Maybe not the craziest, but the first stunts I can remember that made me think about stunt work were from Conan the Barbarian. I saw it when I was 17, and it’s still one of my favorite movies. Sandahl Bergman does all her own stunts in that movie (as does Arnold!) and I remember being captivated by her physicality in that role, and by her fight scenes.
If you could ask Helen a question, what would it be?
I’d love to know which stunt she didn’t get to do that she wished she could have!
What’s currently on your nightstand?
If you could tell her something, what would you tell her?
I wish I could tell her there’s an award named after her now. The Action Icon Awards are specifically for stuntwomen, and they have a Helen Gibson Award to honor legends in the field.
What is the last piece of art (music, movies, TV, more traditional art forms) that you've experienced or that has impacted you?
I saw Babygirl on Christmas Day and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it!
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m in the research stages for my first novel.
