Jeannie Epper, stunt double to the stars, has died at the age of 83

Her first stunt was riding a horse off a cliff when she was 9 years old. She went on to star in the popular television series "Wonder Woman" and many other movies.

Jeannie Epper had at least 100 on-screen roles, maybe 150 - no one knows for sure. But because she was a stunt double, rode horses, crashed cars and kicked down doors for movie and TV show stars, her name has not become a household name.

In her heyday, however, Ms. Epper was ubiquitous. For weeks, she flew through the air as Linda Carter's stunt double in the hit television series "Wonder Woman" and imitated Ms. Carter's leg. She tumbled around in mud and rocks as Kathleen Turner's stunt double in the 1984 comedy-adventure film "Romancing the Stone", which also starred Michael Douglas. She fended off punches from Linda Evans in one of her many rowdy cat fights with Joan Collins in the frothy 1980s late-night soap opera "Dynasty".

And, as she often said was her favorite stunt - or gag, to use the industry term - Ms. Epper did a 180-degree turn in her Corvette like Shirley MacLaine's character in "Terms of Endearment" (1983), neatly dropping a Jack Nicholson look-alike into the Gulf of Mexico.

Ms. Epper, whose career spanned 70 years, died Sunday at her home in Simi Valley, Calif. She was 83 years old.

Her daughter, Evryn Epper, confirmed the death. She said her mother had been ill for a long time and contracted the infection during a recent visit to the hospital.