Stunt Men and Women, the unsung heroes

[charliechaplinfan]

I don't think we've ever had a thread devoted to these unsung heroes of film. I guess I've watched a lot of films of late that have involved stunts and it got me thinking about the stuntmen and women. And about which actors did their own stunts, like Buster Keaton. Was he the exception? Were their other stars which insisted on doing their own stunts? Would the studios and insurance companies allow them too? And who were the men and women who did these stunts? Did each star have their own stunt doubles or did the studio have a stock company of men or were they freelance? Not the best way to start a thread with lots of questions and not much information but rather typical of me. Does anyone have any information or stories about the stunt men and women?

[Western Guy]

Alison, I'm pretty sure both Lon Chaney (Sr.) and Harold Lloyd also performed their own stunts.

Yet irony of ironies, concerning Lloyd. Apparently his brother was standing off on the sidelines during the shooting of SCARFACE and lost an eye from a ricocheting bullet.

[charliechaplinfan]

I didn't know that, I didn't know of any accidents on the set of Scarface. Of course I knew about Harold Lloyd, I think Chaplin too did quite a few of his own stunts although I think he was too canny to take too many risks. There were quite a few deaths in the silent films and there is a very good episode in Kevin Brownlow's Hollywood series devoted to the stuntmen in the silent industry and of course Douglas Fairbanks was another person famous for doing his own stunts and what stunts they were. Perhaps by the time the talkies came along lessons had been learned and stars were commodities and stuntmen were there to take the risks.

[MissGoddess]

I wish I knew more about them. I've always wanted to read THE FALL GUY, written by Charles ("Bad Chuck") Roberson (and inspiration for Lee Majors' television series), which is reputed to be an excellent biography about studio era stunt making. Roberson doubled for John Wayne in a lot of movies and was a regular in the John Ford "stock company". Unfortunately, the book is appallingly expensive on line, so I'll have to see if I can get my library card renewed one day.

Maureen O'Hara did some of her own stunts and fencing and was quite proud of it. She had always great things to say about the stunt guys.

[knitwit45]

I remember reading about Gene Kelley doing some very dangerous stunts. The main one that comes to mind is his slide down a long wire in The Pirate.. Apparently he did this before the front office heard about it.

[tinker]

I wish I knew more about them. I've always wanted to read THE FALL GUY, written by Charles ("Bad Chuck") Roberson (and inspiration for Lee Majors' television series), which is reputed to be an excellent biography about studio era stunt making. Roberson doubled for John Wayne in a lot of movies and was a regular in the John Ford "stock company". Unfortunately, the book is appallingly expensive on line, so I'll have to see if I can get my library card renewed one day.

Maureen O'Hara did some of her own stunts and fencing and was quite proud of it. She had always great things to say about the stunt guys.

The Fall Guy should be required reading for anyone who loves westerns, especially anyone who loves Ford westerns. It is also one of the funniest Hollywood insider books ever written. You will never see Frank McGrath (Charlie Wooster in Wagon Train the same way). Or Cliff Lyons. As a book about movies its a pretty good love story about a horse too. Roberson was married a number of times but the real love of his life was a horse called Cocaine. Cocaine is the horse that rolls down the sand dunes after Martin stops Ethan killing Debbie and also does the spectacular fall in front of the cave (and numerous other falls in The Searchers.) The others horse falling in that scene is Chuck Hayward's Twinkle Toes who was around long enough to be the horse John Wayne rode when he jumped the fence in True Grit. Twinkle Toes and Cocaine were still doing falls and stunts way into their twenties. Roberson jumped Cocaine through a (fake) glass window in Chisum and considering he was also in Hondo that is a long career for a horse.

Martha Crawford Cantarini who did many of the female stunts also wrote a book about her experiences. Some of them not so good. Its available on Kindle.

Frank McGrath was in They were expendable, no horses in sight and the bugler in both Fort Apache and She wore a Yellow Ribbon. Apparently Frank McGrath had spent 8 months recovering from a broken back just before he did falls on The Searchers. He seemed pretty spry when he jumps off one horse onto the palomino and gallops it at Scar"s camp.Dan Ford mentions him in his John Ford book, claiming Frank McGrath was afraid of no-one and no thing including John Ford. Terry Wilson and Chuck Hayward doubled for Ethan and Marty in the winter scenes in The Searchers. Terry Wilson, even when he was playing Bill Hawks did most of the stunts for Ward Bond as well as his own. And Frank McGrath really did ride a buffalo.


Terry Wilson ( Bill Hawks) on Wagon Train and Frank McGrath weren't the only stuntmen who did some acting. You often see bad Chuck Roberson or Good Chuck Hayward doing bit parts in western series. It usually means a fight is about to happen or a posse member or bad guy is about to get killed falling off a horse when you see them.

Good Chuck was the ferry guy in True Grit. I presume he did the bit role because they wanted someone on the ferry who could manage the horses if one panicked.

Another one who did some acting was Hal Needham who became a director. He's the ranch foreman in McClintock. He was in Wagon Train and Laramie quite a bit too because he always played the bad guy when Robert Fuller did his own fighting stunts.

I know I have watched these things to much when I can recognise the horses and the stunt guys.

dee

[MissGoddess]

You have a wonderful recall, tinker! I know I never saw Frankie McGrath the same after I read some of the stories about him. They really were some remarkable guys. They don't get the glory, but they make the stars shine brighter.

[charliechaplinfan]

Gene Kelly did do a lot of his own stunts, keeping them from the front office, particularly in The Pirate which is a homage to Douglas Fairbanks.

I also seem to remember that Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone fought those marvellous duels in the movies they made together. Rathbone becoming trained hard and became a highly competent fencer.

[MissGoddess]

One of the best: YAKIMA CANUTT (and another who helped make John Wayne look good)

[ChiO]

Didn't Burt Lancaster and Stanwyck do many of their stunts?

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm not sure but I could believe that they would.

[Western Guy]

Burt certainly did. On a TCM tribute to his work with Burt, director John Frankenheimer specifically recalls a memorable scene where Burt does his own stunt work on THE TRAIN. I'm pretty sure he also did his own circus stunts in TRAPEZE.

The guy was a physical marvel, a former acrobat, which really makes it sad how he suffered through much illness in his later years. Kirk speaks of how he happened to be visiting the same doctor as Burt at the time Lancaster was leaving the examining room and Kirk being shocked at the thickness of Burt's medical record. Kirk admitted to thinking: What's happening to my friend Burt?

[charliechaplinfan]

Shelley Winters, yet again, made mention of a trapeze set up for Burt's use on one of the studio lots. I'm sure he would have done his own stunts wit his background.

[ChiO]

Stanwyck did get dragged by her horse in FORTY GUNS. Fuller was impressed.

[tinker]

I think Burt did many of his own stunts in The Crimson Pirate too. Lord he was beautiful in those days, especially swinging from yardarms and things.

There are some famous old names in the Stuntman Hall of Fame. Ben is in it of course but the honorary intuctees are also interesting.
http://www.stuntmen.org/members.html

Jackie Chan - Bob Conrad - Kirk Douglas - Buster Keaton - Clayton Moore

John Wayne

I didn't realise that Clayton Moore did his own work behind the mask. Or that Kirk Douglas did many of his own stunts.

dee