Toni Vaz, the actress who became a pathbreaking stuntwoman, has died at the age of 101.
She died on October 4 at the Motion Picture Fund campus in Woodland Hills, according to a press release issued on Friday.
Her cause of death was not immediately available.
Vaz was also known for founding the NAACP Image Awards, which held its first ceremony in 1967.
Vaz, who grew up in New York City, was forbidden to go to the movies as a child by her mother, an immigrant from Barbados, according to Deadline.
Toni Vaz, the actress who became a pathbreaking stuntwoman, has died at 101. She was also known for founding the NAACP Image Awards; pictured in 2019 in Hollywood
But that didn’t stop her from heading west for Hollywood once she was an adult.
One of Vaz’s early acting gigs was when she played an extra in the 1959 adventure film Tarzan The Ape Man, in which she had the unenviable task of acting in a scene with a live lion, who also happened to be MGM’s mascot, Leo the Lion.
According to the publication, Vaz also had roles in Anna Lucasta (1958) and 1966’s The Singing Nun, and it was the latter that helped her break out into the field of stunt work.
She would go on to handle dangerous scenes for iconic black stars, including Cecily Tyson — for an appearance on the Mission: Impossible television series — as well as Eartha Kitt and Juanita Moore, among others.
Vaz went on to amass over 50 stunt credits after becoming an in-demand performer.
She wanted to recognize other people of color contributing to Hollywood and the entertainment industry, while also urging studios to hire talent Black artists, which led her to found the NAACP Image Awards.
The ceremony was first held in 1967 at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s International Ballroom, with Sammy Davis Jr., Maggie Hathaway and Willis Edwards hosting.
In 2020, Vaz was featured in the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Reel Stories, Real Lives event, at which Oscar nominee Angela Bassett — who is the recipient of multiple NAACP Image Awards — shared her life story.
Her early roles included parts in Tarzan The Ape Man (1959) and Anna Lucasta (1958), but a role on The Singing Nun (1966) helped her break into the world of stunt work
Vaz went on to do stunt work for stars including Cecily Tyson, Eartha Kitt and Juanita Moore, among others; pictured with Yvette Nicole Brown in 2021
Vaz founded the NAACP Image Awards. The first ceremony was held in 1967
The MPTF supports both working and retired actors by providing health insurance and other social services for their wellbeing.
In 2021, Community star Yvette Nicole Brown presented Vaz with the Image Awards’ Founders Award, calling her a ‘true Black innovator’ in her introduction.
‘At a time when there were severely limited roles available to Black talent in Hollywood, a determined actress saw an opportunity to showcase our work and change the perception of African Americans in the entertainment industry,’ Brown said. ‘That’s when the NAACP Image Awards was born… It gave us a platform to see each other the way we see ourselves.’
Prior to her death, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that it planned to honor the stunt icon with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is scheduled to be unveiled in 2025.
