Maria Doest (born 31 August 1951; age 72) is a former stuntwoman and stunt actress who performed stunts as an Excelsior crewmember in her sleep wear who fell to the ground in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Her costume was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [1]
Doest holds a black belt in karate and has opened a karate school for women.
Among her stunt resume are films such as Invasion U.S.A. (1985, with Richard Lynch), Grand Canyon (1991, with Alfre Woodard, Tina Lifford, Branscombe Richmond, Basil Wallace, Jack Kehler, Lynn Salvatori, and stunts by LaFaye Baker, Gary Baxley, Charlie Brewer, Tony Brubaker, Chuck Hicks, Al Jones, and Gary Wayton), Falling Down (1993, with Bruce Beatty and stunts by Greg Barnett, Tom Huff, Jeff Imada, Manny Perry, and Joey Box), and Escape from L.A. (1996, with Michelle Forbes, Jeff Imada, Shelly Desai, Leland Orser, and stunts by Rick Avery, Janet Brady, Jeff Cadiente, Eugene Collier, John Escobar, Jimmy Ortega, Manny Perry, and Erik Stabenau).
It was on set in July 1996 during filming for the 1997 comedy The Beautician and the Beast where she had an accident while filming a stunt with fellow stuntwomen Sonia McDancer, Rosine "Ace" Hatem, and Rita Minor. This accident ended her stunt career and left the Fran Drescher-led film being her last stunt work. She later sued executive producer and the film's star, Drescher, for spraying her with a harmful fire retardant chemical in preparation for a stunt scene which caused asthma and exhaustion. [2] [3] [4]