Trailblazing Hollywood Legend Toni Vaz Has Died

Actor, stuntperson and trailblazer Toni Vaz passed away this month at the age of 101. Vaz was best known for founding the NAACP Image Awards, along with many iconic roles and performances over the years. Many fans are celebrating her legacy as news of her passing spreads.

Vaz passed away on Oct. 4, according to a report by The Hindu, but the news took some time to get out. She is survived by her niece Janice Powell-Bowen and her nephew Errol Reed, along with a large extended family. According to a report by Deadline, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce plans to install a star for Vaz on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2025. To many fans, the honor is long overdue.

Vaz grew up in New York City, but set out for Hollywood as a young adult looking for a chance to work in movies. She had some notable appearances as an actress, but her real breakout came as a stuntperson. She was one of the first-ever Black women to work as a stuntperson, and made a name for herself standing in for Cecily Tyson on Mission: Impossible. She would later perform stunts for Eartha Kitt and Juanita Moore, among others.

Vaz ultimately performed over 20,000 hours on screen, with over 50 credits to her name. She often reflected on how far the profession of stuntpeople came in her lifetime. In 2006, she spoke about the Black Stuntmen’s Association before the Las Vegas City Council, saying: “Before they formed this great stuntmen association, I did a lot of the work… And we had very little pay for it. But today we’re doing much better.”

Vaz founded the NAACP Image Awards in 1967 to honor her peers and gain some recognition from studios and producers. She hoped to highlight a diverse array of talent so that they would be considered throughout the year for hire. In 2021, Vaz was presented with the Image Awards’ Founders Award. Presenter Yvette Nicole Brown called her “a true Black innovator… At a time when there were severely limited roles available to Black talent in Hollywood, a determined actress saw an opportunity to showcase our work and change the perception of African Americans in the entertainment industry. That’s when the NAACP Image Awards was born… It gave us a platform to see each other the way we see ourselves.”

Thankfully, Vaz’s story has been told in several mediums over the last few years. An entire episode of Behind the Silver Screen is dedicated to her career, and in 2020 Angela Bassett narrated a segment about Vaz on “Reel Stories, Real Lives.”

Still, many commenters were surprised that they were just learning about all of Vaz’s accomplishments at the time of her passing. They continue to post tributes to her online now.