Cheryl Marie Wheeler-Dixon (August 18, 1960 – February 12, 2020) was an American stunt woman, stunt double, and stunt driver in the US movie industry. She was credited as Cheryl Wheeler-Duncan, Cheryl Wheeler, Cheryl M. Wheeler, and Sheryl Wheeler. She was stunt double for Rene Russo, Kathleen Turner, and Goldie Hawn, among others. She had two daughters, and with her husband, Lindsey Duncan, owned Genesis Today, Inc., a nutritional supplement company in Austin, Texas, and a multilevel marketing offshoot called Genesis Pure.
Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Cheryl Marie Wheeler August 18, 1960 Pensacola, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | February 12, 2020 (aged 59) Yellow Springs, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Stuntwoman, martial artist, nutritionist |
| Years active | 1984–2020 |
| Spouse |
Shane Dixon (died 1999)Robert "Lindsey" Duncan
(m. 1999; div. 2009)Robert "Reed" Sanders
(died 2020) |
| Children | 2 [4] |
She and her husband, Robert Reed Sanders, were shot and killed in an apparent shootout with her ex-husband, Lindsey Duncan, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, on February 12, 2020.[5][6]
Early years
editCheryl Wheeler began studying Yoshukai Karate at fifteen years of age in Pensacola, Florida, with instructor Gerry Blanck. She began kickboxing when her instructor began training an amateur team, but her championship matches were considered professional, as she was paid for the work. Wheeler-Dixon also studied Judo, Aikido, and grappling[7] and trained for a while with kickboxer and actor Don Wilson. She was a three-time WKA World Kickboxing Champion[8] with a record of 17-1-1 and a 2nd degree black belt in Yoshukai Karate.
Career
editWheeler-Dixon began work in the film industry in 1987 and maintained an extensive filmography of stunt work in such films as Back to the Future Part II, Bird on a Wire, Die Hard 2, Lethal Weapon 3 and sequel Lethal Weapon 4, Demolition Man, The Thomas Crown Affair and Charlie's Angels.[9] She provided martial arts training to Rene Russo for the Lethal Weapon film series.[10][11] Wheeler-Duncan was inducted into Black Belt Magazine's Hall of Fame as 1996 Woman of the Year.[12] With Chris Casamassa, she appeared on the cover and in a feature article in Black Belt Magazine in July 1997.[13] Wheeler-Dixon received a Stunt Award for "Best Stunt Sequence" in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels.
Wheeler-Dixon was injured during the filming of Back to the Future II when she shattered her face and right wrist in a fall and required reconstructive surgery.[8][14] In April 2010, she was featured on the cover and wrote an article for Healthy Living Magazine.[15] She also worked as a "stuntnastics" instructor and stunt performer at The Stunt Ranch in Austin, Texas.[16]
In 2016, Cheryl's ex-husband, Robert "Lindsey" Duncan, filed a lawsuit against Sanders and her third husband Robert "Reed" Sanders, alleging breach of contract, defamation, breach of fiduciary duty, and theft, and requested "monetary relief over $200,000 but not more than $1,000,000."[17][relevant?]
Death
editCheryl Wheeler-Sanders (Dixon) and her husband Robert Reed Sanders were both killed in what has been described as an "ambush" and "shootout" with her ex-husband Robert Lindsey Duncan on his property in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Cheryl and her husband had driven from their home in Leicester, North Carolina, purportedly to confront Mr. Duncan about a college trust fund set up on behalf of their daughters. According to the Greene County, Ohio, sheriff, the Sanderses set up wireless video cameras on a tree stump across the street from Duncan's property to monitor the activity there.
On the morning of February 12, 2020, as Mr. Duncan and his wife Molly were pulling into their driveway, they were confronted by Mr. Sanders, who approached the vehicle and pointed a gun at Mrs. Duncan, before turning the weapon on Mr. Duncan. Mr. Duncan, licensed to carry a concealed weapon, shot and killed Mr. Sanders. Cheryl Sanders, who was monitoring the live stream of the events on her cell phone from the wireless cameras, then pulled up to the driveway in her vehicle and pointed her weapon toward Mrs. Duncan. Mr. Duncan shot Mrs. Sanders, killing her. No charges were filed, as the case was determined to be "justifiable homicide".[3][18][19]
Kickboxing record (incomplete)
edit| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record | |
| 1984-11-10 | Win | Carol Lemos | World Kickboxing Championships | Reno, Nevada | TKO (referee stoppage) | 1 | N/A | ||
| For the WKA World Super Bantamweight (-55.5kg/122.1lb) Championship.[20] Lemos substituted for Arlene Weeber.[21] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ Biography for Shane Dixon at IMDb
- ^ Perry, Parker (14 February 2020). "Stunt woman, husband die in Greene County shooting". daytondailynews. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
Sanders signed a prenuptial agreement in 1999, were married, then divorced in 2009. Since the divorce, the records indicate their relationship remained sour. According to a court filing in 2016, Duncan sued Cheryl Sanders and Robert Sanders for defamation, slander, libel and other accusations.
- ^ a b Kelley, Jeremy P.; Sarah Franks, Staff Writer (14 February 2020). "Couple describe deadly shooting as ambush: 'All of a sudden, hell began'". daytondailynews. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
King said he is a former business partner of Reed Sanders and is a lay minister who performed Reed and Cheryl's wedding ceremony. He called himself Reed Sanders' "closest confidant."
- ^ Simmons, Carol (14 February 2020). "Grinnell Road couple involved in fatal shooting hold press conference". The Yellow Springs News. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
Lindsey Duncan, who headed the Genesis Today health and wellness company and promoted green coffee bean weight loss supplements on such television shows as "Dr. Oz" and "The View," has two college-age daughters from his marriage to Cheryl Duncan.
- ^ "Deadly Greene County shooting involves stunt woman, her husband and ex". www.msn.com.
- ^ Rice, Rachel (5 June 2013). "Stunt woman gives health talk". statesman.com. Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
Living life on the edge can take a toll on one's health, and on Sunday, stunt woman Cheryl Wheeler Duncan hopes to teach West Lake Hills residents what she's learned.[...]After several months of not being able to recover, a friend referred Duncan to Dr. Lindsey Duncan, a nutrition expert who later became her husband. "I was just blown away by him and his scope of knowledge and his philosophy, she said. "He worked with the philosophy of the three pillars of health – one is cleansing, one is balancing and one is building. "Duncan made a full recovery using her nutritionist's advice on cleansing her body and building her immune system back to health, and since then has gone on to perform her most challenging stunts.
- ^ "MEET CHERYL WHEELER--kickboxing champion and famous stuntwoman". Reocities.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
- ^ a b Baker, Timothy (August 1993). The Danger of Martial Arts Movie Stunts (Digitized by Google Books). Black Belt Magazine. p. 20. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ Biography for Cheryl Wheeler Duncan at IMDb
- ^ Wheeler-Dixon, Cheryl. "Lethal Wheeler Still Using Her Weapons". Black Belt. Vol. 30, no. 6. Rainbow Publications. p. 11. ISSN 0277-3066. June 1992.
- ^ Baker, Tim. "Holy Stuntfighting, Batman!". Black Belt. Vol. 35, no. 7. Rainbow Publications. pp. 35–38. ISSN 0277-3066. July 1997.
- ^ "Black Belt Hall of Fame Awards". Archived from the original on December 20, 2010.
- ^ Baker, Tim (July 1997). Holy Stuntfighting, Batman! (Digitized by Google Books). Black Belt Magazine. p. 32. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ Frederick S. Clarke (January 1990). unknown (Digitized by Google Books). Cinefantastique. p. 10. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
{{cite book}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "Cheryl Wheeler Duncan is Flying High and Healthy!". Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ "Team". stunt-ranch.
- ^ ROBERT LINDSEY DUNCAN VS. CHERYL WHEELER SANDERS, and ROBERT REED SANDERS (98TH DISTRICT COURT, Travis County, Texas 12 May 2016) ("In 2001 the Plaintiff started Genesis Today, Inc.("Genesis Today"), and in 2006, started Genesis Pure, Inc.("Genesis Pure"), where Defendant Cheryl became a major shareholder of both companies due to the Prenuptial Agreement and subsequent divorce decree of 2009."), Text.
- ^ Williamson, Aliah (17 February 2020). "Homeowner claims ex-wife, former stuntwoman, tried to have him killed prior to deadly shootout". (2 News, WDTN-TV) Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
The homeowner [Lindsey Duncan] also told authorities that his ex-wife, Cheryl, had targeted him in the past. "About five years ago, the resident...notified us that he had received information that the ex-wife was trying to hire somebody to murder him", said Sheriff Fischer.
- ^ Hall, Katie (17 February 2020). "Former Bee Cave stuntwoman, husband killed in Ohio shootout". statesman.com. Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
A couple who once lived in the Bee Cave area were killed Wednesday after they confronted the woman's ex-husband — who previously lived in Bastrop — and his wife in a dramatic Ohio shootout that a friend said was over their children's college fund.[...][Adrian] King said law enforcement officials in North Carolina sealed the home of Reed and Cheryl Sanders on Friday morning pursuant to a search warrant.
- ^ "'Cowboy,' 'Legs' win kickboxing titles". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno. 12 November 1984. p. 14. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Kickboxing to debut at MGM". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno. 8 November 1984. p. 70. Retrieved 4 May 2020.