No Small Stunt

Judi Bishop

How many times have you heard someone ask a child “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Quite often the reply can be anything from a fireman to a doctor or anything in between. There are those who want to run away and join the circus or head to California to be a movie star or model.

Moab in the 1950s and 1960s was the movie making Mecca of Utah. In 1960 a young woman was living there and while visiting a movie set one day met Roger Moore, an actor best known for his roles in The Saint and James Bond movies, who took notice of this attractive young lady and became friends with her while on the film. When the wrap was taking place, Moore approached her and asked if she would like to come to Hollywood. Corna Dalton was in heaven and with stars in her eyes realized her dream of becoming a movie star was a possibility.

Upon arriving in Hollywood she was introduced to the life of the movie world and the amazing fast track that one had to be on to be in pictures. Starlets had a hard row to hoe unless they were connected but with her connection to one of the industries best, she soon found she had a pass through studio gates many others only hoped for.

During one of the days while watching takes, she saw a stunt man climbing high up on a building and then leaping off. Her first thought was that he was going to be hurt or killed. She watched with great excitement as Tony Eppers took the leap. However, upon landing he got up to the roars and applause of the crew, cameramen, and others on the set, the adrenaline rose in her and she knew had found what she wanted to be.

“I wanted to be a stunt woman,” Corna said and so began a career that spanned 23 years.

Corna began her rigorous training to be a stunt woman with the guidance of the top stunt people in Hollywood. She learned how to fall off horses, motorcycles, houses, and burning vehicles, how to take a punch and other dangerous stunts people in her professional dedicate themselves to perfecting.

She worked for Paramount, Universal, MGM, Warner Bros, Fox and Desilu, for unlike the actors/actresses who were under contract to only one major studio, stunt people worked for all the studios and doubled for all of the stars.

She was injured on a motorcycle stunt once, just not seriously. There were other injuries as they are part of the game and as a stunt person you know they are going to happen, Corna said.

Over 23 years she was on television shows such as The Virginian; Gunsmoke; where she doubled for Miss Kitty many times; Cheyene, Adam 12; The Rifleman with Chuck Connors; and 77 Sunset Strip; along with many others. She did stunts for and doubled for some of Hollywoods very memorable ladies; Ann Margaret, Farrah Fawcett, Julie Andrews, Kathryn Ross and Joan Crawford, to mention a few. She starred as a farmer’s wife in the Thornbirds with Barbara Stanwyck and Richard Chamberlain. She doubled for Irene Ryan, who played Granny Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies and was one of the characters on HR Puffinstuff.

One of her most memorable movies was The Sting with Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Mac Davis, who she said “was a very soft spoken and kind gentleman.”

She married a fellow stunt man in an underwater wedding, complete with wedding gown and tuxedos. With a giggle, she says, “When in Hollywood, do it the Hollywood way.”

To replace a veil and top hat, the bride and groom along with the rest of the wedding party wore scuba gear. “It was just a little hard to kiss when the preacher pronounced us husband and wife,” she laughed.

She also helped start the Hollywood Stuntwoman Hall of Fame, which she became a member of and is also in the Hall of Fame in Moab.

Corna Dalton O’ Rafferty, a resident of Cleveland, was born and raised in Emery County.

Today she rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and sells real estate, but most importantly is a mom, a grandmother and a friend to many.

She has a drawer full of memories at her home that holds contracts, awards and other memorabilia from that exciting and adventurous period of her life.

“Being a stunt man or stunt woman isn’t for everyone, but if you are the type to become one, you will have the best time of your life. It is better than being the star. If you wish and dream long enough and work at it you can have your dreams come true.” she said.

Gaming Systems Offer Something for Everyone

Casey Wood

In the last three years three major gaming consoles have been released by the big three gaming companies. The Nintendo Wii, the Sony Playstation 3, and the Microsoft Xbox 360.

The Nintendo Wii took a step forward in innovation. While the other two gaming systems moved forward on graphics and realism, the Wii developed a new way to experience gaming. The Nintendo corporation chose to incorporate a player into the game they are playing, and make them feel like a part of the game’s world, and in doing so took a huge leap into virtual reality. The innovation of Wii can bridge gaps between age, gender, or even language, with it’s fun, easy to use games. Wii has something to offer everyone.

Wii brings with it a menu screen, giving many “channels” such as weather, news, internet, Mii, and many more. It also has Wi-Fi internet connection, online game play, the ability to surf the internet on Wii, downloadable retro games, “Mii’s” which are personas to be created by the user, with the ability to be used in some games, and messaging between friends.

As in the past, Nintendo continues to release a wide variety of games. The company focuses greatly on family friendly games that can be used and played in any environment. They also release titles of different genres and for different gamers so that there is a selection for families, children, teens, or adults. Some popular titles include: Wii Sports, Excite Truck, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Resident Evil 4, Super Mario Strikers: Charged, Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Guitar Hero III, and the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl to be released in March ‘08.

Playstation 3 is by far the most expensive gaming console on the market. Memory and capability choices vary for the console which can make it cost anywhere from $399 to $499. Memory amounts range from 40 to 80 gigabytes and by far the most popular secondary function is the blue-ray disc capabilities.

Playstation 3 allows use of photos, music, videos, and internet. It’s “Always-on” online connectivity offers multiplayer gaming, text messaging, video messaging, voice chatting, downloadable content, and an internet browser. Playstation 3 allows some virtual interaction with it’s games such as turning or twisting it’s “SixAxis” controllers to adjust gameplay.

Sony offers a variety of games, some for children, but most titles on Playstation 3 appeal to teens and adults. Popular titles include: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Assassin’s Creed, Guitar Hero III, Need For Speed: ProStreet, Rock Band, Burnout Paradise, NFL Tour, and the upcoming Turok, and Devil May Cry 4, both to be released in February ‘08.

Xbox 360 released over a year earlier than the other two consoles and in doing so built a colossal enterprise before the other two systems had a chance. Xbox 360 gave gamers something new after a long period without. Of the three systems Xbox 360 holds to be the most popular and widely owned and used system on the market.
Xbox 360 came bursting into stores and homes with standard wireless paddles, an easy to use Xbox-Live, User accounts, the Xbox “Dashboard”, DVD capabilities, removable hard drives, and USB-ports for media devices.
Microsoft offers games that appeal most strongly to teens and adults. Some of it’s most popular titles include: Gears of War, Halo 3, Dirt, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Assassin’s Creed, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Dead Rising, Hitman: Blood Money, and the upcoming Turok, Ninja Gaiden 2, and Grand Theft Auto 4, all to be released in 2008.

I have far more experience with Wii and Xbox 360 than the Playstation 3. Many people find the Playstation 3 to be far worth the money paid. In my opinion, if you want something new and innovative to have family fun and entertain for everyone, go for the Wii, if you are looking for something with more standard game-play, and many popular titles, go Xbox 360, and if you’ve got a little extra money and are looking for a combination of the two with killer graphics, go Playstation 3.