SPEAKER_02: Reboot your credit card with Apple Card. It gives you unlimited daily cash back that can earn 4.15% annual percentage yield when you open a savings account. A high yield, low effort way to grow your money with no fees. Apply for Apple Card now in the Wallet app on iPhone to start earning and growing your daily cash with savings today. Apple Card subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility. Savings accounts by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Member FDIC, terms apply.
SPEAKER_01: Sick of paying $100 for groceries and getting nothing but eggs, orange juice, and a paper bag? Then download the Drop app. Drop lets you earn points with your everyday shopping and redeem them for gift cards. Want a free dinner with those groceries? Drop it. How about daily lattes? Drop it. So download Drop today and get $5 just for signing up. Use invite code GETDROP777.
SPEAKER_06: CuriosityStream is the streaming service for people who want to know more. And now check out Curiosity's new series, The Real Wild West. Rolling Stone Magazine says it's the history of the West they usually don't teach you. The mythology of the West left out a lot of the people. People said they'd never seen a black cowboy. This is the history book, but did you know about these other facts? Watch The Real Wild West now on CuriosityStream. With monthly annual and bundled plans, find the one that works for you at CuriosityStream.com.
SPEAKER_00: Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. This month we're talking about movers and shakers, dancers, stunt women, martial artists, and other pioneering women who use their physical prowess to shake things up. Today we're talking about Hollywood's very first professional stunt woman. Over the course of her career, she appeared in hundreds of movies, jumping onto moving trains and hanging off of galloping horses. Let's talk about Helen Gibson. Helen was born Rose August Wenger in 1892. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest of five girls. In the summer of 1909, Rose went to her first Wild West show. She was captivated. Soon after, she applied to join the Miller Brothers 101 ranch, which put on its own Wild West shows. At the ranch, Rose developed an expertise in riding. In no time, she was picking up a handkerchief from the ground while riding a galloping horse. The veteran riders at the ranch were worried. They thought her tricks were too dangerous. What if she got kicked in the head? But Rose didn't pay attention to them. She later said, such things might happen to others, but could never happen to me, I believed. Just a year after joining the ranch, Rose was in St. Louis, performing in her first 101 ranch real Wild West show. She went on to travel across the country with the Wild West crew, performing tricks on a horse. Then in 1911, the show closed unexpectedly, and the entire cast, including Rose, was left stranded in Venice, California. As it turns out, Venice wasn't a half bad place for Rose to be stranded. It was right next to Hollywood, where the movie industry had just begun and was growing rapidly. A film producer shooting westerns out in the desert hired Rose and the rest of the cast. In 1912, Rose got her first credited role in the silent film, Ranch Girls on a Rampage. She played the sister of the film's star, Ruth Rowland. When she wasn't filming, Rose was performing in rodeos. After one show, she impressed an investor so much that he financed an entire rodeo tour featuring just Rose and paid for all of her expenses. That same year, she married Edmund Gibson, a cowboy and film extra. Together, they returned to Los Angeles, where Rose started working for the film production company, Kalem Studios. At Kalem Studios, Rose began working on an adventure series called Hazards of Helen. Rose was the stunt double for the lead, Helen Holmes. It was on this show that Rose performed her most dangerous trick, jumping down from the roof of a train station onto a moving train. Rose had practiced this trick before, but she didn't attempt it while the train was actually on the train. That day, when Rose made the jump, the train's motion propelled her body forward, nearly sending Rose flying off. Luckily, she grabbed hold of an air vent and held onto it while dangling off the side of the train. When the lead actress of the show left to start her own production company, Rose got the opportunity to take over as star, and she was able to take over as a star. She was also able to take over as a star and had the opportunity to take over as star. She changed her name to Helen and went on to act in 69 episodes of Hazards of Helen. While starring on the show, Helen would write and perform her own stunts. In one, she stood on the backs of a group of horses galloping under a bridge. She then grabbed a rope dangling from the bridge and swung herself onto a moving train passing underneath. After that stunt, the producers gave Helen a raise. Hazards of Helen ended in 1917. That same year, Helen got a leading role in a new show, Daughter of Daring. One of the stunts for that show involved Helen chasing after a runaway freight train on a motorcycle, then riding the motorcycle up a platform, catapulting into the air, and landing inside one of the train's cars. Despite her incredible stunts, Helen's new show was short-lived. Kalem Studios ran out of money. Helen signed another contract with Universal Studios and began acting in films they produced. Two years later, she moved to Capital Film Company. Helen's star was rising, but her husband was living on a much different timeline. Edmund had gone to fight overseas during World War I. Helen was a young woman who was a young woman overseas during World War I. When he returned, Helen was a budding celebrity. Edmund resented her fame, and in 1920, the two divorced. Helen kept advancing in her career. She founded her own production company, Helen Gibson Productions, and got to work filming the movie No Man's Woman. But the movie bankrupted Helen before she could release it. She had to give up the project. The next year, another studio released it under a new name, Nine Points of the Law. Helen's bankruptcy was the first in a string of career setbacks. In 1921, a production company hired Helen to star in the movie Wolverine. It did well, and Helen was slated to return for the sequel. But then her appendix burst just before filming was supposed to start, and the studio replaced her. Helen then found a job at an independent film studio, but they closed down before paying Helen for any of her work. And Helen got injured while filming for that studio and wound up back in the hospital, adding injury to insult. After recovering, Helen threw herself back into the rodeo scene, performing riding tricks with the Ringling Brothers and the Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1927, she returned to Hollywood and started working as a stunt double to the stars. She worked in the film industry for three more decades, even after suffering a stroke. In 1951, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce gave Helen a plaque to honor her outstanding contribution to the art and science of motion pictures. In 1961, Helen appeared in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, a movie starring John Wayne and James Stewart. It was the last film she would ever appear in. The next year, Helen retired on a motion picture industry pension and moved to Oregon. Helen died in 1977 at the age of 85. She has over 200 movie credits to her name. All month, we're talking about movers and shakers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER_04: Thank you. A new episode airs Sunday, September 24th on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
SPEAKER_05: When you're an American Express Platinum Card member, don't be surprised if you say things like, Chef, what course are we on? I've lost count.
SPEAKER_01: Or, Shoot that, shoot that! And even, Checkout's not until four, so.
SPEAKER_05: Because the American Express Platinum Card offers access to exclusive reservations at renowned restaurants, elevated experiences at live events, and 4 p.m. late checkout at fine hotels and resorts booked through Amex Travel. See how to elevate your experiences at AmericanExpress.com slash with Amex. Don't live life without it. Terms apply.
SPEAKER_06: CuriosityStream is the streaming service for people who want to know more. And now check out Curiosity's new series, Queens of Ancient Egypt. When pharaohs held the throne, their wives held the power. We see her taking precedence over the pharaoh,
SPEAKER_05: an absolute mastermind.
SPEAKER_06: All hail the queens. This is unprecedented. Watch Queens of Ancient Egypt now on CuriosityStream. With monthly annual and bundled plans, find the one that works for you at CuriosityStream.com.
SPEAKER_03: Use the code IHART and receive an additional $50 off mattresses and select goods. That's code IHART. Make a positive impact with your Labor Day purchase. Lisa donates one new mattress for every 10 sold. For a limited time, save up to $700 off select mattresses, plus two free pillows during Lisa's Labor Day sale. And use code IHART for an additional $50 off mattresses and select goods. Go to lisa.com today. That's L-E-E-S-A.com. Exclusions apply. See lisa.com for details.
