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LaFaye Baker A Diamond in the RAW - Hollywood Stuntwoman Death defying free falls, mind-blowing fire gags, action-packed car chases and breathtaking fight sequences all in a day's work for LaFaye Baker, an acclaimed professional stuntwoman in Hollywood. She is flawless as a diamond as one of the few, noted African-American stuntwomen carving her niche in Tinsel town. A career spanning over 25 years, LaFaye Baker has left an indelible mark on the field of stunt performing. To her chagrin, LaFaye's stunt work began as early as three months of age when she started tumbling and crawling in her parents' two-story home and walking as early as seven months. Her first acclaim beckoned with breaking the Guinness Book of World Records by twirling 58 hula-hoops at one time when she was only 12 years old. With her strong athleticism, LaFaye was introduced to stunt performing through a colleague in the probation field as a great alternative to releasing the stress of her physically demanding job. She was well trained in gymnastics and volleyball and added an innate athletic ability that proved to be beneficial in her career. After 10 years of daredevil free falls, LaFaye received the call of a lifetime from Academy Award Winner Halle Berry to serve as her stunt-coordinator for the big-budgeted, award-winning HBO film, "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge." At the time, no other African-American woman had served in such capacity. Making LaFaye a well respected, admired and sought after player in stunts. A dossier jaw-dropping landed LaFaye incredible opportunities in entertainment having doubled for over 40 of Hollywood's top-tiered actresses including Keesha Sharp, Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodard, Regina King, Regina Hall, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Lynn Whitfield and host of many others. Her career steaming ahead includes more than 130 movies, television shows, big-name features like Hannibal, Fracture with Anthony Hopkins, Green Lantern, House, Training Days, Last Ship and most recently Lethal Weapon starring Damon Wayans and Keisha Sharp. As a successful stuntwoman, LaFaye's career doesn't come without risks, she recalls an early mere miss on the 1996 music video set of the Grammy-Winning Fugees "Ready of Not" where she broke her jaw, splattered her mandible and required complete reconstructive surgery with titanium plates and screws. This incident didn't stop the affable Baker; she kept ticking even after the licking. Recognizing her often overlooked peers in stunts, LaFaye founded the Action Icon Conference/Awards which acknowledges the unsung shereos in Hollywood - the women who risk their lives in action-packed films thrilling audiences with their death defying athleticism. Such honorees and attendees have included Patricia Arquette, Maggie Q., Linda Hamilton, Lindsay Wagner, Gale Anne Hurd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Charlie Sheen, Jamie Alexander, Ming-Na Wen, Tanika Ray, Vivica Fox, Pam Grier, Shaun Robinson, Laila Ali and Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas. "The more you know, is the more you owe," says LaFaye. Enter Diamond in the RAW Foundation, a non-profit designed in 2008 by Baker to prime the Hollywood pump with at-risk teen girls, a population that often harbors a misplaced interest in life in front of the camera. Baker turns their attention to the work behind the camera, in the hopes that the 20 to 30 girls finishing her program annually will directly address the industry's continued race and gender imbalances. To the organization credit teen girls have collectively exercising team work by produced 10 short movies. Daring to be different and civic-minded, LaFaye Baker is truly a talent worth mentioning. Her career accomplishments have been featured in a documentary film about Hollywood Stunt She can also be found on the pages of Entertainment Weekly, EUR WEB, Odyssey Martial Arts Entertainment, Ozy Online Magazine, Essence Magazine, Jet, Wall Street Journal, Scholastic News, Rolling Out, the 2015 book Stuntwomen: The Untold Story and documentary. Recently, La Faye appeared on Lethal Weapon and in 2017 was featured on the segment of Comcast Xfinity commercial celebrating black women filmmaker behind the scene. In 2019 La Faye will be among one of the 1900 Entertainment Professionals featured in the Coffee table book Hollywood: Her Story, An Illustrated History of Women and the Movies by JiIl Tietjen. Baker has a degree from, California State University Long Beach, completed UCLA Film Entertainment and Digital Media Certificate Program and a 2018 graduate of the University of Miami Executive MBA Program. LaFaye declares that every journey in life is a lesson, which require the three D's of success, "Determination, Dedication and Discipline." Seemingly the explosive ingredients needed for perfecting her thrilling unrivaled stunts.
