Most prolific Bollywood stuntwoman
- Who
- Unknown
- Where
- India
- When
- 1961
In a career spanning 27 years Mary Evans, also known as Fearless Nadia (AUS 1908 - 1996), acted in more than 55 movies, 35 of which were opposite the muscleman John Cowas. She was a stuntwoman from 1934 until her retirement in 1961. Her most famous films include Hunterwali (1935), Jungle Princess (1942) Stunt Queen (1947) and Tigress (1948).
Born in Australia in 1909 to an English father and Greek mother, Mary first came to Bombay at the age of five. She returned in the mid-1920s to work in a touring theatre company and got her first big break in Indian films in 1934, in Desh Deepak and Noor-e-Yaman.
Her stunts included jumping into waterfalls, running on the roofs of train carriages, jumping from moving trains onto horseback and swinging from chandeliers.
She changed her name to Nadia on the advice of a fortune-teller, and later married the film-maker Homi Wadia.
Her stunts included jumping into waterfalls, running on the roofs of train carriages, jumping from moving trains onto horseback and swinging from chandeliers.
She changed her name to Nadia on the advice of a fortune-teller, and later married the film-maker Homi Wadia.