Sylvia Durando

Jeff Arnold’s West was recently graced with comments by a person who performed in a movie beloved by readers (and others).

The person is Sylvia Durando. Miss Durando worked off-and-on in film over a 30-year period as an extra, riding double, and stuntwoman.

The movie is Comanche Station, the last of the pictures collectively known as the ‘Ranown Cycle’, produced and directed by Budd Boetticher, executive-produced by Harry Joe Brown, and starring Randolph Scott.

In Comanche Station, Miss Durando doubled for the female lead, Nancy Gates. This still from the film actually shows Miss Durando, rather than Gates, riding with Randy.

Her efforts were sadly uncredited, as was then the practice for performers in her craft.

As mentioned above, Miss Durando was an occasional participant in film work. She stepped away to have children and for other reasons. In her own words, she (humbly) acknowledges not being part of the stunt “A team”. But thanks to riding skills and long hair, she made multiple appearances as Native American women; she worked for a time on the Richard Boone television series, Have Gun Will Travel.

Some stunt performers achieved enough notoriety to become billed actors: two-time Oscar nominee Richard Farnsworth is an obvious example, as is Yakima Canutt in the noble genre. Others moved behind the camera, working with the second unit, becoming assistant directors or, like Hal Needham, full-fledged directors.

Even so, documentation is generally scant of those in the profession before the (fairly recent) transition to crediting all involved in a production.

As mentioned in our recent Sam Peckinpah Centenary 4 post, repeated web searches yielded no suitable pictures of Roy Sickner. Despite Sickner’s career as a stunt man, as the story man for The Wild Bunch, and as a Marlboro Man, the only available picture was from an appearance on the original Star Trek series. And those fans are indefatigable in their documentation of every nook and cranny of the science fiction franchise.

All of which makes Miss Durando’s recent activity on our site even more of a pleasure.

Miss Durando grew up in Burbank, California. The family had a stuntwoman, Donna Hall, live with them for a time; yet another, Audrey Scott, taught young Sylvia to ride a proper side saddle.

The digital collection of the Los Angeles Public Library has a picture of a teen-aged Sylvia Durando competing for the title of ‘Saddle Queen’ at the Coronation Ball of the San Fernando Valley Horse Owners Association dated September 30, 1950. Please see the link below:

Sylvia Durando Competing for Saddle Queen Title

At age 90, Miss Durando is (obviously) still active, farming oranges for export. In addition to Jeff Arnold’s West, she has shared her film experiences during personal appearances at film festivals and in conversations with interviewers.

The following link to an article in True West magazine is representative:

True West: A Mule for Sylvia Durando

… with this ‘Anatomy of a Scene’ blog post by the article’s author having even more information:

Bob Boze Bell: The Anatomy of a Scene

Based on Mr. Bell’s post, these shots from Comanche Station show Miss Durando in action.

In her recent comments, Miss Durando asked to share a rare still from Comanche Station. The pictured kiss by Scott and Gates is not included in the film’s final cut!

The still, and its documentation on the reverse side, are provided below.  Please enjoy, e-pards!