Stuntwoman at 68, that is Sandy Gimpel for you

What is the most daring act you can imagine a 68 year old woman would do? Definitely not jumping off high rise buildings and rocky cliffs; crashing cars and getting more than a simple bruise in the process. Well, think again, all these and more are just routine for veteran Hollywood stuntwoman, Sandy Gimpel. Till I read about her on Coffee News, a local advertising news magazine, I could not even imagine that a 68-year-old woman could be so daring and adventurous. But now my opinion has changed completely. I read with awe the numerous achievements of Sandy Gimpel, a fourth-level black belt holder and instructor of karate and professional hollywood stuntwoman.

In her job she routinely rolls down long flights of stairs, jumps down high cliffs, and acts as a double for some of the most famous names in Hollywood. Recently, she was thrown by Eddie Murphy into a crowd of people in front of a building for his film Norbit. According to several fitness trainers and gurus, Gimpel has maintained her body as supple and fit like a 20-year-old. Gimpel has performed death defying stunts for nearly 100 hollywood thrillers, doubling up for numerous glam doll actresses including Jodie Foster, Sally Field and Sara Jessica Parker. Some of her most recent movies include Meet the Spartans, The Invasion, Rat Race, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot among others.

If you thought that Sandy Gimpel did nothing other stunts, think again. She has produced and released her own workout video titled Stuntblasters - Cardio Mix DVD and does some freelance interior designing too. Despite her busy shooting schedule she makes time for her grown up daughter, trains every day with a mix of martial arts, aerobics, and weight work.

How it all started
Daughter of a gymnast, Gimpel was born and bred in California and she started her career as a dancer, but couldn't sustain in the field because of her petite frame. Later in 1967 she got recruited into a stunt job to act as double for the show's 11-year-old star. Since then there has been no looking back, she just got into it and continues to do her favourite stunts for movies even today. Stunts which would send shivers down the spines of young and sprightly men, she accomplishes with finnesse and elan.

Sandy Gimpel is one of the few women who has broken into and succeeded immensely in the male-dominated stunt trade. Now she juggles time between doing stunts and directing them.


I wonder how many of us will be even half as fit as Sandy Gimpel, at 68. I am only 34 and I am pretty sure that I can't do all that Sandy Gimpel can do at 68. Working out hard and in a disciplined manner is the secret of being fit even at old age. I gotta start maintaining a routine pretty quickly, else I will become frail and weak like so many others who are in sedentary professions.

Information and pictures from: The Christian Science Monitor
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