The thrill makers
Subtitle: celebrity, masculinity, and stunt performance
By: Jacob Smith
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Berkeley
Language: eng
Number of pages: 270
ISBN-13: 9780520270886; 9780520270893
Subjects: Stunt performers; History; Daredevils
Description: "Well before Evel Knievel or Hollywood stuntmen, reality television or the X Games, North America had a long tradition of stunt performance, of men (and some women) who sought media attention and popular fame with public feats of daring. Many of these feats -- jumping off bridges, climbing steeples and buildings, swimming incredible distances, or doing tricks with wild animals -- had their basis in the manual trades or in older entertainments like the circus. In The Thrill Makers, Jacob Smith shows how turn-of-the-century bridge jumpers, human flies, lion tamers, and stunt pilots first drew crowds to their spectacular displays of death-defying action before becoming a crucial, yet often invisible, component of Hollywood film stardom. Smith explains how these working-class stunt performers helped shape definitions of American manhood, and pioneered a form of modern media celebrity that now occupies an increasingly prominent place in our contemporary popular culture."--Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The adventures of the bridge jumper; title: The adventures of the human fly; title: The adventures of the lion tamer; title: The adventures of the aeronaut; title: Conclusion.