Wednesday, August 8, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
The heart of a stuntman
By Craig Rullman
Correspondent
Sisters resident Jeff
Ramsey is a passionate man.
As a Hollywood stunt-
man and stunt coordinator he
has been lit on fire by Drew
Barrymore, kidnapped Mel
Gibson, and been bashed
over the head with a break-
away lamp by Julia Roberts’
stunt double. He’s crashed
cars on purpose and been
blown off of more horses
than he can count, but above
all, Ramsey says, “I love to
be on fire.”
Ramsey, who split time
as a young man between
the deserts of Arizona and
Southern California, came to
movie and television stunt
work after riding bulls and
working as a bullfighter in the
California rodeo circuit. He is
also a highly trained profes-
sional novillero, having per-
formed for nearly 10 years in
Novilladas in old Mexico.
Over the course of his
career Ramsey has amassed
an impressive résumé that
includes more than 80 mov-
ies and television shows,
from “Ocean’s Eleven” to
“Wild Wild West,” from
“Firestarter” to “Conspiracy
Theory.”
“I spent six seasons as
a stunt coordinator on ‘Dr.
Quinn, Medicine Woman,’”
Ramsey told The Nugget. “A
coordinator is responsible
for the safety of the entire
company. So we have a lot
of safety meetings. For the
safety of all concerned, when
a coordinator says ‘Hey,
we’re about to blow up an
entire city block,’ that’s prob-
ably a good time to shut up
and listen.”
Ramsey is now turning his
experience and passion for
hair-raising stunt work into a
new project, defeating what
he calls the “illusion of non-
choice” by supporting young
women in athletic arenas com-
monly dominated by men.
“The illusion of non-
choice is the idea that women
can’t compete,” he said.
It’s difficult for women to
compete, Ramsey says, when
far too often they aren’t even
given the option.
“The stunt women that
I’ve been privileged to work
with have proven to be
absolutely marvelous. I’m
inspired by the actual behav-
ior of women under duress,
and physical challenge.”
From his experience as a
bull-rider in American rodeo
to his performances in the
bullrings of Mexico, Ramsey
has developed an abiding
interest in the ancient sport
of Recorteo, or bull-leaping.
His current project will put
together a team of women
skilled enough at leap-
ing bulls to defeat the men
who presently dominate the
competition.
The stunt women
that I’ve been privileged
to work with have
proven to be absolutely
marvelous. I’m inspired
by the actual behavior of
women under duress, and
physical challenge.
— Jeff Ramsey
Recorteo is immensely
popular in wide swaths of
northern Spain and southern
France, and has ancient roots
in the Minoan civilization of
Crete. Known today as “The
People’s Bullfight,” because
the animals aren’t killed at
the end of the performance,
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Sisters resident Jeff Ramsey has had a remarkable career as a stuntman.
ancient depictions of
Recorteo were discovered
by archaeologists in 1917,
when numerous frescoes
were uncovered in the pal-
ace of Knossos. Those fres-
coes depict leapers flipping
over the heads of charging
aurochs, an extinct species of
European bull that stood six
feet at the shoulders.
“I want to find three
women who have a desire
to compete directly with
the male teams leaping over
bulls,” Ramsey said. “It’s a
male-dominated sport, and
females do participate. But
there is only one female that
has ever leaped over a charg-
ing fighting bull. She did that
last year. This is an opportu-
nity to show that women not
only are capable, but some-
times excel at sports, in some
cases better than men.”
Ramsey cites Serena
Williams, Rhonda Rousey,
and Danica Patrick as exam-
ples. “Those are just three
names. These are male domi-
nated environments where
See STUNTMAN on page 19