Podcast 116: “STUNTS OF STEELE WITH LIVING LEGEND DEBBIE EVANS”

Could you be a stuntwoman? Find out what it takes. Susan and Sharon are honored to talk with legendary award-winning stuntwoman Debbie Evans Leavitt. In a career spanning six decades, Debbie has risked life and limb in classic television shows and massive blockbuster movies. She talks doubling Stephanie Zimbalist on Remington Steele and what that moment between take-off and crash-landing feels like. Debbie has flipped and fallen and raced in Charlie’s Angels, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Vega$, ChiPs, The A-Team, Hill Street Blues, Magnum, PI, Cagney & Lacey, CSI, NCIS: Los Angeles, Fear the Walking Dead, Major Crimes, and Criminal Minds.

Her many feature films include The Jerk, 1941, Jagged Edge, Heaven’s Gate, Witches of Eastwick, The Ring, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Fight Club and Pineapple Express as well as Matrix: Reloaded and Matrix: Resurrection, this year’s The Batman -- and eight of the ten Fast & the Furious movies including the upcoming “Fast X”.

As one of the few women to survive and flourish in one of Hollywood’s most notorious boys' clubs – the world of stunts – Debbie Evans has navigated a treacherous career filled with challenges not limited to high-falls, fist fights and car chases. She takes Susan and Sharon over the hurdles and around the curves of a life that has been fast, furious, deeply rewarding – and never less than thrilling. 

So buckle-up and grab your crash strap – here we go!
Read Transcript

The Conversation

  • Remembering 37 episodes of “Remington Steele” including
    • Learning to run “like Laura Holt”
    • Falling from a burning building!
    • Jumping Laura’s VW Rabbit into a pond!
    • Remembering 37 episodes of Stunting for the guys! Using a fat suit and bald cap to double as Remington and Laura’s nemesis Norman Keyes – and getting punched by Pierce Brosnan
  • Riding motorcycles with her dad and her first time on a bike (she crashed)
  • Building a Honda 55 step thru piece-by-piece at age 8 (took a year)
  • Having fun on the set of “The Fast and the Furious” films with Michelle Rodriquez
  • Getting her first movie gig with Roger Corman on the aptly named “DeathSport”
  • Being mentored by “stunt mom” and veteran stuntwoman Jeannie Epper
  • Doing her first car flip on “ChiPs”
  • Doubling Stepfanie Kramer on Hunter.
  • Taking the wheel of the Cody Coyote on Hardcastle & McCormick.
  • Playing cowboys and guitar with Kris Kristofferson on the set of Heaven's Gate.
  • Being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003 – a dream come true.
Susan, Sharon and Debbie talk about crashing, flipping, speeding and Gosling! (Ryan, of course…) as Debbie explains the subtle art of giving people “the respect they don’t deserve”…

Our Audio-ography

All 5 seasons of “Remington Steele” are now available on Amazon Prime and AppleTV!

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CREDITS

80s TV Ladies™ Episode 116 – “Stunts of Steele with Living Legend Debbie Evans”
Produced by 134 West and Susan Lambert Hatem.
Hosted by Susan Lambert Hatem and Sharon Johnson.
Guests: Debbie Evans Leavitt.
Sound Engineer and Editor: Kevin Ducey.
Producer: Melissa Roth.
Associate Producer: Sergio Perez.
Music by Amy Engelhardt.
Copyright 2022 134 West, LLC and Susan Lambert. All Rights Reserved.