Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon
{{Short description|American stunt woman (1960–2020)}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| caption =
| name = Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon
| birth_name = Cheryl Marie Wheeler
| birth_date = August 18, 1960
| birth_place = Pensacola, Florida, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|2|12|1960|8|18}}
| death_place = Yellow Springs, Ohio, U.S.
| occupation = Stuntwoman, martial artist, nutritionist
| years_active = 1984–2020
| website =
| spouse = {{marriage|Shane Dixon||30 June 1999|end=d.}}{{IMDb name | 0228982 | Shane Dixon | section= bio }}{{marriage|Robert "Lindsey" Duncan| 1999 | 2009|end=div}}{{cite news|url=https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime--law/greene-county-911-caller-they-came-our-window-and-had-gun-pointed-wife-head/WtKG8ql1Y5Bo4WVQP0MLrL/|access-date=2 March 2020|last=Perry|first=Parker|date=14 February 2020|publisher=Dayton Daily News|website=daytondailynews|title=Stunt woman, husband die in Greene County shooting|quote=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.}}{{marriage|Robert "Reed" Sanders||12 February 2020|end=d.}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime--law/couple-describe-deadly-shooting-ambush-all-sudden-hell-began/MbgcZnBmB7U3ka7Skz3ASL/|publisher=Dayton Daily News|date=14 February 2020|access-date=18 February 2020|title=Couple describe deadly shooting as ambush: 'All of a sudden, hell began'|first1=Jeremy P.|last1=Kelley|first2=Staff Writer|last2=Sarah Franks|website=daytondailynews|quote="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.""}}
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.
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/deadly-greene-county-shooting-involves-stunt-woman-her-husband-and-ex/ar-BBZYI74|title=Deadly Greene County shooting involves stunt woman, her husband and ex|website=www.msn.com}}{{cite news|date=5 June 2013|access-date=18 February 2020|first=Rachel |last=Rice|url=https://www.statesman.com/article/20130605/NEWS/306059637|title=Stunt woman gives health talk|publisher=Austin American-Statesman|website=statesman.com|quote=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.}}
Early years
Cheryl 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{{cite web |url=http://www.reocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/7770/cherylinterview.htm|title=MEET CHERYL WHEELER--kickboxing champion and famous stuntwoman|publisher=Reocities.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211703/http://www.reocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/7770/cherylinterview.htm|archivedate=3 March 2016}} and trained for a while with kickboxer and actor Don Wilson. She was a three-time WKA World Kickboxing Champion{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6s8DAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Cheryl+Wheeler-Dixon%22+-inpublisher%3Aicon&pg=PA20|format=Digitized by Google Books|publisher=Black Belt Magazine|author=Baker, Timothy|title=The Danger of Martial Arts Movie Stunts|date=August 1993|accessdate=27 July 2010|page=20}} with a record of 17-1-1 and a 2nd degree black belt in Yoshukai Karate.
Career
Wheeler-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.{{IMDb name| 0923982 | Cheryl Wheeler Duncan |section=bio}} She provided martial arts training to Rene Russo for the Lethal Weapon film series.{{cite magazine|last=Wheeler-Dixon|first=Cheryl|title=Lethal Wheeler Still Using Her Weapons|url={{Google books|-M8DAAAAMBAJ|page=11|plainurl=yes}}|page=11|magazine=Black Belt|issn=0277-3066|publisher=Rainbow Publications|volume=30|issue=6|id=June 1992}}{{cite magazine|last=Baker|first=Tim|title=Holy Stuntfighting, Batman!|url={{Google books|LtkDAAAAMBAJ|page=35|plainurl=yes}}|pages=35–38|magazine=Black Belt|issn=0277-3066|publisher=Rainbow Publications|volume=35|issue=7|id=July 1997}} Wheeler-Duncan was inducted into Black Belt Magazine's Hall of Fame as 1996 Woman of the Year.{{Cite web|url=http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/719|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220174732/http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/719|title=Black Belt Hall of Fame Awards|archivedate=December 20, 2010}} With Chris Casamassa, she appeared on the cover and in a feature article in Black Belt Magazine in July 1997.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LtkDAAAAMBAJ&q=cheryl+Wheeler+stunts&pg=PA35|format=Digitized by Google Books|date=July 1997|publisher=Black Belt Magazine|author=Baker, Tim|page=32|title=Holy Stuntfighting, Batman!|accessdate=28 July 2010}} 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.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-H1ZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Cheryl+Wheeler-Dixon%22+-inpublisher:icon|accessdate=27 July 2010|publisher=Cinefantastique|date=January 1990|author=Frederick S. Clarke|page=10|title=unknown|format=Digitized by Google Books}} In April 2010, she was featured on the cover and wrote an article for Healthy Living Magazine.{{cite web |url=http://genesistoday.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/cheryl-wheeler-duncan-in-healthy-living-magazine-april-2010|title=Cheryl Wheeler Duncan is Flying High and Healthy!|accessdate=27 July 2010}} She also worked as a "stuntnastics" instructor and stunt performer at The Stunt Ranch in Austin, Texas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuntranch.com/team|title=Team|website=stunt-ranch}}
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."{{cite court |litigants=ROBERT LINDSEY DUNCAN VS. CHERYL WHEELER SANDERS, and ROBERT REED SANDERS|court=98TH DISTRICT COURT, Travis County, Texas |date= 12 May 2016|url=http://lawsuitpressrelease.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Plaintiffs-Orginal-Petition_filed.pdf |access-date=18 February 2020 |quote=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. }}{{relevance inline|date=July 2024}}
Death
Cheryl 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".{{cite news|title=Homeowner claims ex-wife, former stuntwoman, tried to have him killed prior to deadly shootout|url=https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/homeowner-claims-ex-wife-former-stuntwoman-tried-to-have-him-killed-prior-to-deadly-shootout/|access-date=18 February 2020|first=Aliah|last=Williamson|date=17 February 2020|quote=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.|publisher=(2 News, WDTN-TV) Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.}}{{cite news|title=Former Bee Cave stuntwoman, husband killed in Ohio shootout|publisher=Austin American-Statesman|website=statesman.com|url=https://www.statesman.com/news/20200213/former-bee-cave-stuntwoman-husband-killed-in-ohio-shootout|access-date=18 February 2020|date=17 February 2020|quote=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.|first=Katie|last=Hall}}
Kickboxing record (incomplete)
| style="width:100%; clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center; font-size:88%;" class="wikitable" | ||||||||
| align="center" bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record |
| align="center" bgcolor="CCFFCC"
|1984-11-10 |Win |Carol Lemos |World Kickboxing Championships |TKO (referee stoppage) |style="text-align:center;"|1 |style="text-align:center;"|N/A |style="text-align:center;"| | ||||||||
| style=background:white colspan=9 |{{small|For the WKA World Super Bantamweight (-55.5kg/122.1lb) Championship.{{cite news |author= |title='Cowboy,' 'Legs' win kickboxing titles |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/150872254/ |newspaper=Reno Gazette-Journal |location=Reno |page=14 |date=12 November 1984 |access-date=4 May 2020 }} Lemos substituted for Arlene Weeber.{{cite news |author= |title=Kickboxing to debut at MGM |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/149337174/ |newspaper=Reno Gazette-Journal |location=Reno |page=70 |date=8 November 1984 |access-date=4 May 2020 }}}} | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| colspan=10 | {{flatlist|1=
;Legend : {{legend2|#CCFFCC|Win |border=1px solid #CCFFCC}} : {{legend2|#FFBBBB|Loss |border=1px solid #FFBBBB}} : {{legend2|#c5d2ea|Draw/No contest |border=1px solid #c5d2ea}} }} |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0923982}}
- [http://www.genesistoday.com/ Genesis Today]
- [http://www.stuntranch.com/ The Stunt Ranch]
- [http://www.wdtn.com/news/watch-live-sheriff-provides-update-on-deadly-shooting-near-yellow-springs/ Dayton OH WDTN News article]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler-Dixon, Cheryl}}
Category:American female karateka
Category:American female kickboxers
Category:American stunt performers
Category:Back to the Future (franchise)
Category:Sportspeople from Pensacola, Florida
Category:Criminals from Florida
Category:21st-century American women