They are responsible for some of the most thrilling second we witness in the movies . Yet , a majority of stuntmen ( and women ) are largely unknown to the general public . They toil by , place themselves at great endangerment to take out offdangerous motorcar chases , falls and fight scenes . And all the while allow the marquee actor take the credit and get the gloriole . Yet if it were n’t for professional stuntmen and women , the movies we bonk would not be as exciting and the banking company vaults in Hollywood would not be as overindulge with money . We here at Goliath sense it is prison term to give some long - overdue credit to legendary stunt performing artist .
Here are 10 of Hollywood ’s greatest stuntmen and their famous roles . Enjoy !
10. Sir Eddie Kidd
British stuntman Eddie Kidd is so revered in the manufacture that he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 , and he now extend by the hold “ Sir Eddie Kidd . ” An expert motorcycle passenger and jump shot , Eddie Kidd holds several world records for the long bike jump . One of his most celebrated bike stunts can be seen in the 1979 filmHanover Streetstarring Harrison Ford . double up for Ford on a minibike , Eddie Kidd jumped a 120 - ft railway cutting while travel at 90 miles per hour – a then - world phonograph record . However , Kidd is easily known for doing stunt employment in several James Bond pic – double thespian Timothy Dalton inThe Living Daylights(1987 ) and Pierce Brosnan inGoldenEye(1995 ) . Sadly , Eddie Kidd suffered a serious brain injury and paralysis due to a bike crash he had in 1996 . A reminder of the risk of the stunt profession .
9. Hal Needham
You know you ’re a fable when directorQuentin Tarantinopresents you with a lifetime accomplishment laurels and spend more than 20 minutes regaling the audience with your list of acquisition . And that ’s exactly what happened to veteran stuntman Hal Needham in 2012 when Tarantino presented him with the “ Governors Award ” from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences , an laurels that is presented to honor a soul ’s lifetime achievement in the movies . Hal Needham was a Korean War oldtimer who began his calling work as a stuntman on boob tube western sandwich in the 1950s . He graduated to picture in the 1960s , and by 1971 he had formed the company Stunts inexhaustible and was work out as a stunt coordinator . Having doubled actor Burt Reynolds in several of his early moving picture , Hal Needham was asked by Reynolds to direct the 1977 car pursual movieSmokey and the Bandit , which is an extended car pursuit . The movie was a smash strike and Hal Needham go on to direct several other car chases flicks starring Burt Reynolds , includingCannonball RunandStroker Ace . Hal Needham was also require in setting several land speed records and help develop the Budweiser Rocket that broke many criminal record . Hal Needham died in 2013 at long time 82 .
8. Michelle Yeoh
She is best experience for starring in the 1997 James Bond filmTomorrow Never Dies(where she did all her stunts ) . However , Michelle Yeoh is primarily a stunt performing artist and coordinator , and one of the top stuntwomen in Hollywood . She has help design out and performed stunts for movies such asCrouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon , Memoirs of a Geisha , andSunshine . She has also worked with Asian soldierly liberal arts master Jackie Chan on several of his films , most impressively inSupercop , where she perform some really astonishing motorcycle stunts . Jackie Chanis such a prominent fan of Michelle Yeoh that he has say she is the only somebody he trusts to aid him map out stunts on his pic undertaking . High praise indeed !
Source : AP Photo / Kin Cheung
7. Colin Follenweider
If there is one hombre who is everywhere in the world of stunts these days , it is Colin Follenweider . The motion picture franchises he ’s perform stunt work on includingTerminator , James Bond , buy the farm Hard , X - Men , Transformers , Avatar , Spider - Man , Captain AmericaandIron Man . He also recently completed stunt work on the upcoming movieDr . foreign . Actors he ’s duplicate for include Bruce Willis , Daniel Craig , Kevin Bacon , and Shia LaBeouf . A soldierlike arts and campaign scene expert , Follenweider is the hombre you see on many tight - paced martial arts style competitiveness that are popular in the movies today . Still not even 40 - age - honest-to-god , Follenweider promises to have many more nifty stunt in his future as he has garner a report for being the “ go - to guy ” in Hollywood for engagement stunts . His diminutive stature also enables him to double many different actors in the motion-picture show , placing him in even more need .
6. Richard Bradshaw
Although he operates in modern movies , stuntman Richard Bradshaw is a bit of a throwback , as he is an experient horseback rider and is great at any stunt involving horse . This harken back to the golden years of Hollywood when horse opera were all the rage and most stuntmen in the movies were see cattle workforce or real - biography cowboys . His power with horse cavalry has enabled Richard Bradshaw to ferment on movies such asCowboys and Aliens . But he has also shown his versatility performing car chase stunt and in high spirits wirework . During his calling , Richard Bradshaw has doubled actors such as Hugh Jackman , Matthew McConaughey , Guy Pierce , and even Hugh Grant .
5. Wendy Leech
Probably the keen stuntwoman ever , Wendy Leech has execute stunts in many of the most legendary movies ever made , including the first threeSupermanmovies , the first threeIndiana Jonesfilms , andThe Omen . If that were n’t enough , Wendy Leech was the stunt double for C-3PO in the originalStar Warsmovie ( 1977 ) . She is in the C-3PO suit in station of player Anthony Daniels in several action sequences in the film . Other credit of Wendy Leech include the moviesKrull , the originalTotal Recall(doubling actress Sharon Stone ) andRed 2 . Wendy Leech was born into stunt work as her father was a stunt coordinator . And she is marital to legendary stuntman Vic Armstrong . ( More on him later ) .
4. Jackie Chan
He is best acknowledge as a martial creative person and comedic histrion . But Jackie Chan is also a world - renowned stuntman and stunt coordinator , who not only maps out all of the stunts in his films but who also performs all of his stunt . And some of his stunt have been really mind - blowing . The fight episode , parkour move , and leap in movies such asRumble In The Bronx , Supercopand theRush Hourfilm serial publication have been striking . And this does n’t even take into history his earlier Asiatic warriorlike arts films , where he battle his way through cult classic such asHand of Death , Drunken MasterandNew Fist of Fury . That Jackie Chan has been able to escape all of his fights and stunt intact is a will to his skill and intelligence when it comes to plotting out natural process sequences .
Source : AP Photo / Chiang Ying - ying
3. Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton should postdate Jackie Chan on this list , as Chan has often cited Keaton as his Italian sandwich . Often referred to as the “ original stunt performer , ” Buster Keaton was a star during Hollywood ’s silent celluloid geological era in the twenties . And his movies were sleep together for featuring some very elaborate , very impressive and very dangerous stunts – all of which were design and perform by Buster Keaton himself . And this was before CGI and other special effects . When Keaton jumped from a moving train or narrowly break loose a construction falling on him , those thing come about . A theater director as well as an actor , Buster Keaton delighted in press the envelope with his stunts and thrilling audiences . To ascertain his movies today is to marvel at what he was able to pull off with nigh no special effects at his disposal .
2. Vic Armstrong
accord to the Guinness Book of World Records , Vic Armstrong is the most fertile stunt double in Hollywood history . And what a stunt double he has been ! Vic Armstrong doubled Christopher Reeves inSupermanandSuperman II , Harrison Ford in the first threeIndiana Jonesmovies and George Lazenby as James Bond inOn Her Majesty ’s Secret Service . Vic Armstrong has also coordinated many of the activity sequences in James Bond picture , admit a absolute majority of the skiing sequences , and he is the man responsible for the stunts inTerminator 2 : Judgment Day(pretty damn telling ) . For his work , Vic Armstrong has receive a Technical Achievement Academy Award and a life achievement award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts ( BAFTA ) . He is married to stunt woman Wendy Leech ( enquire what their dinner party conversation are like ) .
1. Dar Robinson
Celebrated as the greatest stuntman of all time , Dar Robinson break 19 World Records and fix 21 worldly concern ’s Firsts in stunts during his lifetime , which included jumping off the CN Tower in Toronto , Canada in 1980 . Dar Robinson also invented the “ Decelerator , ” a dragline cable’s length rather than an airbag for stunts that involved jumping from gamey place . The Decelerator allows the cameraman to film a top - down eyeshot of a stuntman as he fell without record an airbag on the ground . During the 1970s and eighties , Dar Robinson did stunt for hugely democratic television show and movies includingMagnum Force , Rollerball , The Fall GuyandTo Live and Die In L.A. One of the last movies that Dar Robinson worked on was the firstLethal Weaponfilm , which is dedicated to his memory . And in his intact career , Dar Robinson never broke one ivory in his soundbox . lamentably , this accomplished stuntman died in 1986 when he circumstantially drive his bike off a drop-off while filming a stunt for the movieMillion Dollar Mystery . An inquest into his passing ruled that Dar Robinson circumstantially hit the bike ’s accelerator rather than the Pteridium aquilinum , causing it to launch off the drop .
