DEAN SMITH HAS TAKEN FALLS FROM GALLOPING HORSES, engaged in fistfights with Kirk Douglas and George C. Scott, donned red wig and white tights to double Maureen O?Hara, and taught Goldie Hawn how to talk like a Texan.
He's dangled from a helicopter over the skyscrapers of Manhattan while clutching a damsel in distress, hung upside down from a fake blimp 200 feet over the Orange Bowl, and replicated one of the most famous scenes in movie history by climbing on a thundering team of horses to stop a runaway stagecoach.
Cowboy Stuntman chronicles the life and achievements of this colorful Texan and Olympic gold medal winner who spent a half century as a Hollywood stuntman and actor, appearing in ten John Wayne movies and doubling for a long list of actors as diverse as Robert Culp, Michael Landon, Steve Martin, Strother Martin, Robert Redford, and Roy Rogers.
The life story of Dean Smith reads like a Mark Twain novel; a wishful, determined, small-town boy grows up and makes good. Along the way he sets college records, wins an Olympic gold medal, plays professional football, and then accomplishes his greatest ambition of all: he becomes a motion picture and television stuntman. . . . Dean?s story is one of incredible achievement and tells us that indeed dreams can come true. - JAMES GARNER, from the foreword
Dean Smith is the perfect image of a Texas gentlemen and consummate professional. His unbelievably varied life has held many uplifting moments that helped make him one of the grandest men I have ever known. I know that you will enjoy the stories of his life. - RED STEAGALL
Dean ran so fast you couldn't film him. We had to slow him down just to get the shot. His book takes me back to the glory days of living and making westerns in Hollywood. It is exciting, humorous, and action packed, a darn good read. I've never had a better friend. - DALE ROBERTSON
Dean Smith's career as a real Cowboy turned Hollywood stuntman is wonderfully portrayed in this page-turner. I am proud to know a man of such talent and grit. His achievements and exploits will give readers much enjoyment and appreciation for a now bygone era of movie history in America. - BOB LILLY
I've known Dean Smith for almost thirty years. He has led an interesting and varied career. Known and respected in the movie business as a top stunt man and a versatile character actor, he is also a man of his word. Somebody to ride the river with! - BARRY CORBIN
Retired stuntman and actor DEAN SMITH, an Olympic gold medalist at the 1952 Helsinki Games, lives on a ranch in Ivan, Texas, with his wife, Debby, and young son, Finis. His long list of honors includes membership in the Stuntman?s Hall of Fame, the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, and the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
The 2010 recipient of the A.C. Greene Award for lifetime achievement, MIKE COX is the author of twenty-one nonfiction books. An awardwinning former journalist and longtime freelance writer, he lives in Fredericksburg, Texas, and is a spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
