‘I’m not going anywhere’, says former Hollywood stuntwoman Tiffiny Lynn, 75, living on boat in Port Douglas marina

Tiffiny Lynn has been thrown off a lighthouse, shot in the back, run over by a bus, kidnapped, and fallen off a cliff; so when it comes to a cyclone she’s not going anywhere.

Former Hollywood stunt woman Tiffiny Lynn remains defiant against the storm on-board her house boat tied up outside the Port Douglas Yacht Club. Picture: Peter Carruthers

Tiffiny Lynn has been thrown off a lighthouse, shot in the back, run over by a bus, kidnapped, and fallen off a cliff, so when it comes to a cyclone, she says, ‘So what?’.

Ms Lynn is an award-winning Hollywood stuntwoman who calls Port Douglas home - more specifically the Quicksilver Marina - on a small, modest boat with a tiny single bed and a simple chair where she sits out the front reading science magazines.

Almost every other boat has left the marina, and the Esplanade is nearly empty.

The centre of the cyclone is expected to engulf the Esplanade and her little houseboat on Wednesday afternoon.

Ms Lynn told the Cairns Post she was not going anywhere.

With lorikeets screeching through the stillness and mosquitoes biting, Ms Lynn said she’d made a living from embracing risk.

For over 35 years, Ms Lynn starred in some of Hollywood’s most iconic films and TV shows, including Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, and Robert Wagner.

The houseboat of former Hollywood stunt woman Tiffiny Lynn remains the only vessel at the Quicksilver Marina at Port Douglas as Cyclone Jasper advances toward the coast. Cairns Post reporter Luke Williams talks to Ms Lynn about the approaching storm. Picture: Peter Carruthers

It all started with her interest in motorcycle stunt riding as a teenager and then a job at the Playboy Club; she said her two careers intermingled.

“I’ve been thrown off the lighthouse, tossed into a plane, jumped off of big buildings and run over by a bus, crashed cars and wrecked Harley Davidson motorcycles (as part of the job),” Ms Lynn explained.

She has been a stunt double for Farrah Fawcett in Charlie’s Angels and Natalie Wood in miniseries From Here to Eternity.

She was also thrown in mud while working as a stunt double for Shannon Doherty.

Ms Lynn, who still works as a guest lecturer on cruise ships, has also jumped from the top of a lighthouse and was thrown feet-first down a waterfall.

Former Hollywood stunt woman Tiffiny Lynn at the Port Douglas Yacht Club. Picture: Peter Carruthers

“It doesn’t sound hazardous, but you can’t control the flow of water, and you can’t control where the water is going to place you in the pool below.”

She hit a rock and broke her back, leg, ankle, coccyx, collarbone, and shoulders and spent three months in recovery wearing a body cast.

Ms Lynn was herself a recognisable celebrity for a period particularly when she dated Tom Selleck, and his recommendation led to her moving to Australia in 1983.

The houseboat of former Hollywood stunt woman Tiffiny Lynn remains the only vessel at the Quicksilver marina at Port Douglas as Cyclone Jasper advances toward the coast. Picture: Peter Carruthers

And it takes more than a cyclone to scare her, let alone move her.

“I’ve been through a lot of cyclones. This is my fourth here and about fifteen if you count the ones I’ve been in overseas. The first one was when I was six years old, and that was when I was in Florida and what they do there is they have a hurricane party,” she said.

Ms Lynn with Tom Selleck

“You get gaslights and a big bowl of M and Ms, and people get outside and pick everything up and run back inside and have a hurricane party. I was just thinking about it the other day. “We played cards, we played monopoly, it was a big deal, but everybody helps everybody.”

Of her life in Australia, she said, “I’m leaving the dream here”.

“The peace and the quiet, it’s wonderful living here,” she said.

Originally published as ‘I’m not going anywhere’, says former Hollywood stuntwoman Tiffiny Lynn, 75, living on boat in Port Douglas marina