That guy who leaped off a high-rise and ran through fire in your favorite film or TV series may have been Brian Hossenlopp-Dakota ’77.
By Kris Dreessen
Chuck Norris has taken down many bad guys on film, sometimes with a clever quip, but more often with a swift roundhouse kick and karate chop. Walker, Texas Ranger was eight seasons of Norris serving up justice. Brian Hossenlopp-Dakota ’77 was behind the scenes, making the danger look good.
“I’ve fallen off 10-story buildings, rolled cars, performed fight scenes, gotten shot, fallen down stairs, and a lot of other things,” says Dakota. “I think I’m the only person who has broken a block of ice with my fist while on fire, but Guinness didn’t have a category for that.”
Dakota, a Geneseo hockey player, graduated from Geneseo with a degree in business management and minors in math and computers. His career in insurance took him to many cities, including Dallas. There, he found himself a little bored without the physicality of hockey, and he accepted an invitation to act as an extra in Wild West stunt shows at the Fort Worth Stockyards.
“I said, ‘Let me spice this up a little bit. I can fall down the stairs. Make it look fun,’” laughs Dakota. “I kicked it up a notch at the Wild West show and wound up making more friends.”
Those friends and future connections propelled Dakota’s career as a stuntman, ATF-licensed pyrotechnic, actor, karate instructor, and later producer, consultant, and stunt trainer. He also served as vice president of the Screen Actors Guild of the Dallas-Forth Worth region for 10 years.
Stunt work, he says, is all about relationships and trust. He learned from others and always put safety first.
Everyone in the business has nicknames. Dakota was known as “Stuntwolf” while he worked on various projects, including Walker, Texas Ranger and the film Streets of Blood with Val Kilmer and Sharon Stone.
On Walker, he says, he was usually a body double for the script characters, getting shot or falling off those 10-story roofs.
“It’s very freeing,” says Dakota. “It’s an experience like no other. There’s literally no support system to fall. You rely on yourself and your sense of knowing exactly when to turn on your back and land on the air mattress. If you are not nervous about a high fall, it’s time to get out. That’s when you’d make a mistake.”
Dakota knows stunts are dangerous, but he never felt afraid to do them, as long as he and production crews were safe. In fact, he says, he’s actually a bit afraid of heights.
Dakota’s stunt fun came with some aches. He’s had four shoulder surgeries, a subdural hematoma, back surgeries, and other dents and dings. “So, my chickens have come home to roost,” he says.
Dakota is still involved in entertainment, promoting Oklahoma as an up-and-coming film location and helping people serve as extras on set. He assists with training new stunt people in Dallas and is a consultant for projects.
But he’s retired from performing stunts and from his most recent position as vice president of business development for Lloyd’s of London insurance. He’s living the relaxed life with his wife in Oklahoma ranch country.
“I love sitting on the back porch and looking at the world,” he says. “We have deer and other animals. It’s a whole different life. I reflect on my life and feel blessed.”
It’s a quiet life—most of the time. A car in the driveway bearing the personalized license plate “Stuntwolf” occasionally gets put to use.
“Sometimes we get a little crazy,” says Dakota, laughing. “We go tearing down the dirt road and sliding into the driveway.”