Most dedicated Star Trek fans have heard of Paul Baxley. He often performed as a stuntman in many episodes, stepped in for William Shatner as his stunt double, and worked as an extra. But perhaps he is best remembered for his one and only full acting gig as Ensign Freeman, Scotty and Chekov’s drinking companion and fellow brawler in “The Trouble With Tribbles.”
However, Paul Reginald Baxley was well known in Hollywood circles not only as a stuntman in his own right but as the first in a long line of Baxley stuntmen. Several Baxleys appeared in either one of the Star Trek series or one of the movies. Paul’s nephew, Gary Baxley, had stunt man duties in Star Trek:Insurrection and in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. But he also had the role of Ensign Thorne in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. Another Baxley shows up in a Star Trek: ENTERPRISE role as an unnamed crewman - Craig Baxley, Jr. who is Paul Baxley’s grandson. He also appeared in five other episodes of ENTERPRISE. And Gary Baxley was not the only member of the clan in the movie Insurrection - his own son (and Paul’s grand-nephew) Hunter performed stunts as one of the Ba’ku children.
Once TOS ended, Paul had no trouble finding stunt work, eventually rising to be a stunt coordinator on a number of television series and films. In this position, he often hired his son and nephew as stunt performers because they had also become tops in their own right. The first television series where he coordinated stunts was Kolchak: The Night Stalker. During its nineteen year run, Paul hired Gary in six episodes as a stunt worker and Gary also received acting credit for two more. He also hired son Craig to perform stunts in seven episodes and Craig had acting parts in four others. Paul also performed stunts on the show and occasionally he would be in the same episodes as one or both relatives. “Primal Scream” is a good example, as you can tell from the photos below.
But there was another very popular television series that involved Paul, his nephew and his son (and eventually, his grandson). The Dukes of Hazzard called on the Baxleys for 90 percent of the stunt work. Paul was stunt coordinator for the show, which required a lot of dangerous driving with spit second timing. Both Gary and Craig drove the General Lee at various times for the majority of the stunts. Eventually, Paul worked with his own grandson, Craig Jr., who drove the General Lee for the movie The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood.
Eventually, Gary was able to track down one of the original series General Lee 1969 Dodge Chargers and had it restored for his son, Hunter Baxley, by Smith Bros Restorations.
The Baxleys are a pretty amazing family. Paul was friends with Marlon Brando. Gary eventually became stunt coordinator for many other shows, including a Dukes of Hazzard spin-off called Enos as well as being a second unit director. Paul’s son, Craig, moved from stuntman to stunt coordinator to second unit director. Finally he began directing television and movies. His son Craig Jr. also became a highly regarded stuntman in addition to stunt coordinator and second unit director. And Hunter, Gary’s son, is continuing the tradition by performing stunts in many blockbusters such as The Amazing Spiderman and Jurassic Park.
And to think it all started with one of Star Trek’s regular stuntmen, Paul Baxley.
