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18 Facts About Lila Shanley

1.

Lila Georgia Everett Finn Shanley, stage name Lila Finn, was an American stuntwoman, stunt double, actress, and athlete.

2.

Lila Shanley was the founding president of the Stuntwomen's Association of Motion Pictures, established in 1958, and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild.

3.

Lila Shanley competed on the United States women's national volleyball team from 1955 to 1960 and won a team silver medal in the 1959 Pan American Games.

4.

Lila Shanley was the daughter of Elmer E Everett and Lila G Baugh.

5.

Lila Shanley's father worked in real estate and her mother was a housewife.

6.

Lila Shanley later remarried to Samuel Shanley, with whom she had one son, Barry, an attorney.

7.

In one scene, Lila Shanley lowered her sarong and was filmed diving into a lagoon in the nude.

8.

Lila Shanley went on to double for a succession of leading actresses, including Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, Paulette Goddard in Reap the Wild Wind and Unconquered, Donna Reed in It's a Wonderful Life, Betty Hutton in The Perils of Pauline, and Sandra Dee in A Summer Place.

9.

Lila Shanley doubled for Jane Powell, Olivia de Havilland, Ida Lupino, Veronica Lake, Joan Fontaine, Frances Dee, and Sonja Henie.

10.

In To Catch a Thief, Lila Shanley leaped from rooftop to rooftop, then rolled down a slanted roof and broke her fall.

11.

Lila Shanley had "jumped out of bombers, been chased by lions, clawed by tigers, and thrown overboard into icy ocean waters at night", and served as the target for a knife-and-hatchet-thrower.

12.

Lila Shanley was the manager of the Santa Monica Mariners women's volleyball team, which won several division titles.

13.

From 1955 to 1960, Lila Shanley was a member of the United States women's national volleyball team.

14.

Lila Shanley was the oldest US woman athlete at the 1959 Games.

15.

Lila Shanley was the founding president of the Stuntwomen's Association of Motion Pictures, established in 1958.

16.

Lila Shanley was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild.

17.

Lila Shanley received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Film.

18.

Lila Shanley died from heart failure on November 15,1996, aged 86, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica.