Myra "Dakota" Bown has spent the past few years getting hit by cars, falling off buildings and occasionally getting shot.

For the 1994 graduate of Central High School, those things are actually a sign of a good day at the office.

Bown works as a professional stunt woman for television and movies.

She's done stunts for such movies as "National Treasure" and "Riding in Cars with Boys," as well as worked on all six seasons of the HBO series "The Sopranos." She's also worked on "Law and Order," "Ed" and "Monk."

Bown grew up in Black Hawk and attended Sturgis schools until transferring to Central as a teenager. The daughter of pilot Richard Bown, she learned to fly planes at a young age and began sky diving at age 18. She rode horses on her parents' place and admits to a fairly rowdy streak.

"It doesn't surprise me that I'm a stunt woman. … I was a pretty wild kid. If there was a tree, I was in the top of it," she said.

Throughout her childhood, Bown studied dance at Prima School of Dancing, intending to work as a professional dancer. After graduation, she danced in Florida for a year before moving to New York City to try to make it on Broadway.

One day, while watching a film being shot on a city street, Bown noticed a stunt person falling off a horse. "I laughed and said, 'I do that for free. It's called chores,'" she said.

She approached a stunt person on the film and began asking questions. Bown got some contacts and off she went into the stunt world.

Her first stunt was on the soap opera "As the World Turns," where she played a waitress who was thrown off the deck of a ship.

She began training with a retired circus performer known for his work with Hollywood stunt men. She also trained at a driving school and learned to do high falls.

Bown did her first major stunt on a movie called "Beirut." Bown was hired to be hit by a car, which required five separate takes. Unfortunately, her first major stunt also happened to be her first major injury. On "Beirut," she suffered a severe concussion, requiring a lengthy hospitalization. But it didn't dampen her desire to work as a stunt woman.

"I made me want to do it more. It made me want to do it right," she said.

Bown has been hurt a number of times since that first car hit. She's suffered two to three concussions, a herniated vertebra in the neck and spine-swelling injuries.

"I feel those stunt injuries every day of my life," she said. "I probably won't do car hits again because if it hits just right, it could probably paralyze me."

Instead, Bown sticks to ground work, such as fights and motorcycle stunts. But she doesn't want people to think of stunt work as an injury-plagued field. "It's not something you get hurt every time or it wouldn't be any fun," she said. "As you grow older in the biz, you learn about safety. You learn about your craft."

Bown continues to work as a dancer whenever possible. She also does straight acting jobs and works on occasion as a photo double, which is a person who stands in for big stars on wide shots. She photo-doubled Ann-Margret for an episode of the now-ended series "Third Watch."

Viewers can see her most recent work on a Time Warner cable commercial.

Now married with a 1½-year-old daughter named Winnie, Bown still finds time to come home to visit her parents and introduce her daughter to the rural life. "I still come back to South Dakota all the time," she said. "It's really important to be grounded and know where you came from."

It's also nice to have parents who offer support before the next big fight scene or that upcoming motorcycle crash.

"My mom still gets nervous every time I make a phone call and tell her I have a job," Bown said with a laugh. Bown assures her mother that it's no big deal; just another day at the office.

"It's just a job," she said.

Who is Myra 'Dakota' Bown?

y Myra "Dakota" Bown is a stunt woman now living in California. She picked up her professional stunt name Dakota when a director called her to the set by saying, "Get that country girl, that Dakota girl."

y 1994 graduate of Central High School

y The daughter of Richard and Kathy Bown of Rapid City.

y Married to drummer Doug Grober. Her married name is Myra Bown-Grober.

y Bown and Grober have a 1½-year-old daughter named Winnie.

y Some memorable stunt jobs people might remember: playing a hooker who gets shot by Steve Buscemi on an episode of "The Sopranos" and doing some motorcycle stunts as a photo double for Ann-Margret on an episode of "Third Watch."

Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at 394-8414 or lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com.