Evelyn Finley (March 11, 1916 – April 7, 1989) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feat ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and stuntwoman of the 1940s through the 1980s, mostly in

western films Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

. Sometimes she is credited as ''Eve Anderson''.

Biography

Born in

Douglas, Arizona Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulpher Springs Valley. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining. The population was 16,531 ...

, Finley, an accomplished

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

, started off as a stuntwoman in the 1936 film '' The Texas Rangers'', playing the stunt double to actress

Jean Parker Jean Parker (born Lois May Green; August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American film and stage actress. A native of Montana, indigent during the Great Depression, she was adopted by a family in Pasadena, California at age ten. She ...

, then later in the 1939 film '' The Light That Failed''. She began acting in the early 1940s, on contract with

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

, often starring opposite Tom Keene and

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

. Her first acting film role was alongside Ritter, in '' Arizona Frontier'', released in 1940. In 1942 she starred opposite

Max Terhune Max Terhune (February 12, 1891 – June 5, 1973) was an American film actor born in Franklin, Indiana. He appeared in nearly 70 films, mostly B-westerns, between 1936 and 1956. Among these, Terhune starred in ''The Three Mesquiteers'' and ...

and Dave Sharpe in ''

Trail Riders ''Trail Riders'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by Robert Emmett Tansey. The film is the eighteenth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars John "Dusty" King as Dusty, "Davy" Sharpe and Max "Alibi" Terhune, with ...

'', and in 1943 she again starred alongside Max Terhune, with Ray "Crash" Corrigan, in '' Cowboy Commandos''. Through the remainder of the 1940s and well into the 1950s, she starred and performed stunts in numerous films, most notably ''

Ghost Guns ''Ghost Guns'' is a 1944 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer.Martin, p. 168. This is the thirteenth film in the "Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie" series, and stars Johnny Mack Brown as Jack McKenzie and Raymond Hatton as his sidekick ...

'' in 1944 and ''Sundown Riders'' in 1948. In ''Ghost Guns'', she starred in the lead role, and also performed her own stunts, a regular event throughout her early career, and she received high praise for her riding stunts in that

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. She has often been called one of the greatest horseback riders in film history, joining the company of

Nell O'Day Nell O'Day (September 22, 1909 – January 3, 1989) was an accomplished American equestrian and B-movie actress of the 1930s and 1940s. Biography O'Day was born in Prairie Hill, Texas. Her father was an official with a railroad. Her first ...

and Betty Miles. Despite her age, she continued to work in the stunt business, either as an advisor or as an actual stunt performer, into the mid-1980s. Her last film in which she worked as a stunt technical advisor was the 1985 film '' Silverado'', starring

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

and

Scott Glenn Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26) is an American actor. His roles have included Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), astronaut Alan Shepard in '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), Emmett in '' Silverado ...

. She died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

on April 7, 1989, in Big Bear City, California, at the age of 73.

Filmography

* '' Arizona Frontier'' (1940) * ''

Dynamite Canyon ''Dynamite Canyon'' is a 1941 American Western film directed by Robert Emmett Tansey and written by Robert Emmett Tansey and Frances Kavanaugh. The film stars Tom Keene, Sugar Dawn, Slim Andrews, Evelyn Finley, Stanley Price and Kenne Dunca ...

'' (1941) * ''

'' (1942) * '' Black Market Rustlers'' (1943) * '' Cowboy Commandos'' (1943) * ''

'' (1944) * ''

Valley of Vengeance ''Valley of Vengeance'' is a 1944 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Joseph O'Donnell. The film stars Buster Crabbe, Al St. John, Evelyn Finley, Donald Mayo, David Polonsky and Glenn Strange. The film was released ...

'' (1944) * '' Prairie Rustlers'' (1945) * ''

The Sheriff of Medicine Bow ''The Sheriff of Medicine Bow'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Max Terhune, Evelyn Finley, Bill Kennedy and George J. Lewis. ...

'' (1948) * '' Gunning for Justice'' (1948) * '' Perils of the Wilderness'' (1956)

References

* *
Western heroines, Evelyn Finley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Evelyn People from Douglas, Arizona American stunt performers Actresses from Arizona American film actresses 1916 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American actresses