Celebrating the “Empowered” Career Of Karen Price!
I love celebrating the Cult Movie Queens in cinema – but for many, their onscreen careers are short, and then they disappear forever.
Today, my “2020 Sex Kitten Countdown” highlights an Actress who transitioned from acting to become a kick ass stuntwoman and Producer!
Karen Elaina Price was born in 1960, and growing up, she loved gymnastics, which would pay off big in her later career!
Price was a gifted Gymnast, both as a performer growing up and then as a teacher, and she turned that passion into a great career.
Karen began modeling and was prominently featured in Playboy magazine, ultimately chosen as the Playmate of the Month in January 1981.
After she appeared in Playboy, Price began acting, with roles in the films like “Swamp Thing”:
You all remember this one, right?
Adrienne Barbeau starred in Wes Craven’s 1982 cult gem – check out the trailer:
The film is perhaps best known for the nude “swamp bathing” from the star – Karen also went on to appear in the films “Tapeheads” and “Larger Than Life”, but quickly decided she could make a bigger impact in film – by becoming a stunt woman!
I love that Price used her Gymnast skills to transition to stunt work – a grueling professions that doesn’t get nearly the respect it deserves – and Karen performed in some of the great cult action films of the 80’s!
Karen’s stunt work can be seen in the classic “Invasion U.S.A.” with Chuck Norris, and she did stunts for “The Golden Child” with Eddie Murphy, “The Running Man” with Arnold Schwarzenegger and “Above the Law” with Steven Seagal!
Her other credits include “Big Top Pee-wee” and a nice slice of Grindhouse sleaze, “Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence.”
Karen Price turned a modeling/acting career into a great turn as a female stuntwoman, and better yet, she came back after a career hiatus to become an Associate Producer on shows like “Amazing Vacation Homes” in 2004 and “Amazing Babies!”
One last bit of fun trivia:
Price made a cameo appearance – kind of – in Mel Gibson’s classic action film “The Road Warrior” – her centerfold is pasted onto a tail fin of Gyro Captain’s Gyrocopter!
As I said, Price performed stunts in a number of Cannon Films – you remember them, right?
Well, I you want to relive those wild wild days of “anything goes” cinema, check out this terrific documentary about the company! Click here to see the movie trailer and much more:
Price was one of many Models-turned-Actresses in the 80’s, and one of my favorites is Julie Strain:
From Penthouse Pet to the star of such great 80’s cult films as “Battle Queens 2020”, Julie was up for anything!
Julie is one of the reasons I started my “2020 Sex Kitten Countdown” – to honor the great Cult Movie Queens of cinema…see more of her great work by clicking on my story here:
If you like these stories, and don’t want to miss any of my “2020 Sex Kitten Countdown” as well, then go to my website’s front page and sign on to follow me – there are NO ads at all, just lots of stories to come about the wild world of exploitation and cult films!
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Bravo to Karen Price for a great career both in front of and behind the camera!
Categories: Artsploitation, Books / Media, Classic Action Films, Cult Classics, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Talent / Celebrites
JR-Sploitation! 
She was certainly hot stuff! Nice tribute, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks Pete, I love that she became a stuntwoman!
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Love Karen Price, but she wasn’t in Swamp Thing. That’s Adrienne Barbeau
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Karen was in Swamp Thing in a small role, but my story points out that Adrienne was the star of the film
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Karen was one of the most beautiful playmates ever to appear in the magazine! I still have a crush on her to this day.
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One of my absolute favorites. Very intriguing that she became a stuntwoman but as you stated , it really helped that she was a gymnast . Excellent sir
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