YAKIMA CANUTT BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Yakima Canutt was born on November 29th, 1895 in Colfax, Washington with the birth name Enos Edward Canutt.  He was born on a ranch and was raised riding and roping.  At the age of sixteen he entered his first rodeo.  He took a brief break during World War II to join the navy but upon his discharge he went right back to what he knew best and proved himself to be a record breaker as a saddle-bronc rider.  It was then that he took on the name, "Yakima" which is actually a Native American name, however, he took the name from the town he was raised in.
 
When he traveled to Los Angeles for a rodeo he met a man by the name of Tom Mix who was able to find him work as a cowboy extra.  He was so skilled as a rider and stunt fighter that he was able to get a contract to star in a number of western silent films. 
 
When the era of sound films came into play, he was not quite suited to make the transition as he had a very raspy voice to due to a horrible flu he had which damaged his vocal chords.  However, Yakima still managed to work in the industry his entire career doubling as a stunt man for such actors as Clark Gable and John Wayne. 
 
Yakima continued to work as a stuntman known as one of the premier stuntmen of the 1930's,  During the filming of "Boom Town" (1940) and "In Old Oklahoma" (1943) he was injured and then he decided to retire completely from stunt work and focus instead on directing second units.  

He also worked as the second unit director in staging the chariot race sequence in, "Ben-Hur" (1959).  Also, alongside John Wayne, they created a new technique for filming screen fights and making them more believable.  

In 1966, he was awarded a special Oscar for his contribution to the film industry.  He married twice, first to Kitty Wilks from 1916 to 1919 and his second marriage was to Minnie Audrea Rice in 1931.  The couple had two sons, Joe and Tap who later followed in their fathers footsteps.    

On May 24th, 1985, Yakima Canutt passed away in North Hollywood, California.  In 1975, he was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the Rodeo Historical Society which is a support group of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  He was the first stuntman to ever perform a 'horse transfer' where you transfer from one galloping horse to another moving object and he will always be remembered as the greatest stuntman of all times.    

 
Filmography

1959 Rio Bravo
1950 Rocky Mountain 
1950 The Showdown 
1944 Hidden Valley Outlaws 
1944 Pride of the Plains 
1943 In Old Oklahoma
1943 For Whom the Bell Tolls 
1943 Song of Texas
1943 Coney Island
1943 Riders of the Rio Grande 
1943 Calling Wild Bill Elliott
1943 Santa Fe Scouts 
1943 King of the Cowboys 
1942 Shadows on the Sage 
1942 Perils of Nyoka 
1942 Remember Pearl Harbor
1942 Spy Smasher 
1942 Heart of the Rio Grande 
1941 Gauchos of El Dorado 
1941 Bad Man of Deadwood 
1941 Citadel of Crime 
1941 Kansas Cyclone 
1941 Nevada City
1941 Saddlemates 
1941 The Great Train Robbery 
1941 Prairie Pioneers
1941 White Eagle
1940 Mysterious Doctor Satan
1940 Frontier Vengeance 
1940 Under Texas Skies 
1940 Oklahoma Renegades 
1940 The Ranger and the Lady 
1940 Deadwood Dick 
1940 The Carson City Kid 
1940 Dark Command 
1940 Ghost Valley Raiders 
1940 Pioneers of the West 
1940 Calling Philo Vance
1939 Zorro's Fighting Legion
1939 Gone with the Wind 
1939 Cowboys from Texas 
1939 The Kansas Terrors 
1939 Dust Be My Destiny
1939 Wyoming Outlaw
1939 Daredevils of the Red Circle 
1939 The Night Riders 
1939 Stagecoach 
1938 Santa Fe Stampede 
1938 Storm Over Bengal 
1938 Overland Stage Raiders 
1938 Pals of the Saddle
1938 The Secret of Treasure Island
1938 Hollywood Stadium Mystery 
1937 The Mysterious Pilot 
1937 Conquest 
1937 Prairie Thunder
1937 Heart of the Rockies 
1937 S.O.S. Coast Guard 
1937 Riders of the Rockies
1937 Range Defenders 
1937 It Could Happen to You! 
1937 The Painted Stallion 
1937 Come on, Cowboys 
1937 Gunsmoke Ranch 
1937 Nancy Steele Is Missing!
1937 Trouble in Texas 
1937 Hit the Saddle 
1937 Riders of the Whistling Skull 
1936 Roarin' Lead 
1936 Ten Laps to Go 
1936 The Bold Caballero 
1936 Ghost-Town Gold
1936 Trailin' West 
1936 The Black Coin
1936 The Vigilantes Are Coming
1936 Winds of the Wasteland 
1936 Wildcat Trooper
1936 The Lonely Trail 
1936 The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand
1936 King of the Pecos 
1936 The Oregon Trail 
1936 Custer's Last Stand 
1935 Lawless Range 
1935 Westward Ho 
1935 Dante's Inferno 
1935 Paradise Canyon 
1935 Branded a Coward 
1935 The Dawn Rider 
1935 The Circle of Death 
1935 The Miracle Rider 
1935 Cyclone of the Saddle 
1935 Pals of the Range 
1935 Outlaw Rule 
1935 Rough Riding Ranger 
1934 'Neath the Arizona Skies 
1934 The Lawless Frontier 
1934 The Law of the Wild 
1934 Pals of the West 
1934 Fighting Through 
1934 The Man from Hell 
1934 The Desert Man
1934 The Star Packer 
1934 Carrying the Mail 
1934 Randy Rides Alone 
1934 Monte Carlo Nights 
1934 The Man from Utah 
1934 Blue Steel
1934 West of the Divide 
1934 The Lucky Texan 
1933 Sagebrush Trail
1933 Riders of Destiny 
1933 The Wolf Dog
1933 Fighting with Kit Carson
1933 The Fighting Texans 
1933 Son of the Border 
1933 The Whispering Shadow 
1933 The Three Musketeers 
1933 The Telegraph Trail 
1933 Scarlet River 
1933 Via Pony Express 
1932 Wyoming Whirlwind 
1932 Law and Lawless 
1932 The Devil Horse
1932 The Last Frontier
1932 Guns for Hire 
1932 The Hurricane Express 
1932 The Last of the Mohicans 
1932 Texas Tornado 
1932 Battling Buckaroo 
1932 The Shadow of the Eagle 
1932 Riders of the Golden Gulch 
1932 The Black Ghost 
1931 The Cheyenne Cyclone 
1931 Battling with Buffalo Bill 
1931 The Lightning Warrior 
1931 Two Fisted Justice 
1931 Hurricane Horseman 
1931 The Galloping Ghost
1931 The Vanishing Legion 
1931 Pueblo Terror 
1930 Westward Bound 
1930 Breed of the West 
1930 Canyon Hawks 
1930 The Lonesome Trail 
1930 Ridin' Law 
1930 The Texan 
1930 The Cheyenne Kid 
1930 Bar-L Ranch 
1930 Firebrand Jordan 
1929 A Texan's Honor 
1929 Riders of the Storm
1929 Captain Cowboy 
1929 Bad Men's Money
1929 The Three Outcasts 
1928 The Vanishing West 
1927 Pals of the West
1926 The Devil Horse 
1926 Desert Greed 
1926 Hell Hounds of the Plains 
1926 King of the Rodeo
1926 The Fighting Stallion 
1926 The Iron Rider 
1926 The Outlaw Breaker 
1925 The Strange Rider 
1925 The Human Tornado 
1925 The Mystery Box 
1925 White Thunder
1925 Wolves of the Road 
1925 The Riding Comet 
1925 A Two-Fisted Sheriff 
1925 Scar Hanan 
1925 Romance and Rustlers 
1925 The Cactus Cure 
1925 Wild Horse Canyon
1924 Branded a Bandit 
1924 The Riddle Rider
1924 The Desert Hawk 
1924 Ridin' Mad 
1924 Sell 'Em Cowboy 
1924 Days of '49
1923 The Forbidden Range 
1922 The Heart of a Texan 
1920 The Girl Who Dared 
1919 Lightning Bryce