Stuntman!

Stuntman!
Author: Hal Needham
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2011-02-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0316122858

The classic no-holds-barred memoir from Hollywood's most legendary stuntman -- an inspiration for Brad Pitt's character Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood -- is "full of incredible stories as told by a real man of action" (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Yep that's me, Hal Needham, on the cover doing a fire stunt. When you're on fire you don't dare breathe because if you do, you'll suck those flames right down your throat. I was Hollywood's highest paid stuntman so I should know. I wrecked hundreds of cars, fell from tall buildings, got blown up, was dragged by horses, and along the way broke 56 bones, my back twice, punctured a lung and knocked out a few teeth...I hung upside down by my ankles under a bi-plane in The Spirit of St. Louis, jumped between galloping horses in Little Big Man, set a world record for a boat stunt on Gator, jumped a rocket powered pick-up truck across a canal for a GM commercial, was the first human to test the car airbag-and taught John Wayne how to really throw a movie punch. Life also got exciting outside of the movie business. I had my Ferrari stolen right from under my nose, flew in a twin-engine Cessna with a passed out pilot, rescued the cast and crew from a Russian invasion in Czechoslovakia, and once took six flight attendants on a date. I owned the Skoal-Bandit NASCAR race team, the sound-barrier breaking Budweiser Rocket Car and drove a souped-up, fake ambulance in a "little" cross-country race called The Cannonball Run, which became the movie I directed by the same name. Oh yeah, I also directed Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper and several other action/comedy movies that I liked a bunch. I was a sharecropper's son from the hills of Arkansas who became a Hollywood stuntman. That journey was a tough row to hoe. I continually risked my life but that was the career I chose. I was never late to the set and did whatever I had to do to get the job done. Hollywood's not all sunglasses and autographs. Let me tell you a few stories...

The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman

The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman
Author: Vic Armstrong
Publisher: Titan Books
Total Pages: 613
Release: 2011-12-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 085768793X

You may not know it, but you've seen Vic Armstrong's work in countless movies. From performing stunts in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice to directing the actions scenes for recent blockbusters The Green Hornet and Thor, the Academy Award-winning Vic Armstrong has been a legend in the movie industry for over 40 years. Along the way he's been the stunt double for a whole host of iconic heroes, including 007, Superman, and most memorably, Indiana Jones - as Harrison Ford once joked to him, "If you learn to talk I'm in deep trouble." As a stunt co-ordinator and second unit director, Vic is behind the creation of such movies as Total Recall, The Mission, Dune, Rambo III, Terminator 2, Charlie's Angels, Gangs of New York, War of the Worlds, I Am Legend and Mission: Impossible III, to name but a few, as well as several Bond films. He's got a lot of amazing stories to tell, and they're all here in this hugely entertaining movie memoir, which also features exclusive contributions from many of Vic's colleagues and friends, including Harrison Ford, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Pierce Brosnan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Angelina Jolie, Kenneth Branagh and Sir Christopher Lee. With an introduction by Steven Spielberg, and over 100 previously unpublished on-set photos from Vic's own collection.

Confessions of a Hollywood Stunt Man (or It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time!)

Confessions of a Hollywood Stunt Man (or It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time!)
Author: Jesse Wayne
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2019-05-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781301711451

Veteran stuntman Fred "Krunch" Krone, Stuntmen's Assn. co-founder and first secretary, treasurer, said "Jesse has written what no one has ever said or would dare say. It's a must read."Jesse's attention to detail made this book hard to put down. As a youngster, I grew up visiting the sets watching Jesse work with my father (a veteran stuntman himself). Now being a stuntman myself for many years, it has been a pleasure to relive a lot of those historic days through Jesse's words. I've read all of the books by stunt performers and Jesse's is the best. Great job Jesse! Veteran stuntman Vince Deadrick, Jr."If you would like to take a book trip through a day to day and year to year life of a stuntman, this is the real deal. The path is laden with egos, conditions, danger, personalities, talent, and lack of talent. I'm a thirty-two year veteran stuntman and Jesse took my mind out of retirement, and back on the set with this book." Jack Verbois SAMP Lifetime MemberNot all stunt men are six-feet tall. Confessions of a Hollywood Stunt Man is the thrilling saga of a five-foot-four, 18 year old kid who became a stunt double for Hollywood's most famous short men, women and children. In an adventurous, daring career spanning 40 years, Jesse Wayne details the many comedic and tragic incidents in front & behind the cameras, including a vicious murder of an 8 year old black kid on a New Orleans film location. When the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures was formulated in 1961, he documented its history as secretary, treasurer and board member. Jesse appeared in over 500 TV productions and feature films, in addition to hundreds of live stunt shows. If this seems like a lot, it's because he began in the early days of Los Angeles' live television, when he was eight years old. His most exhilarating experiences was meeting and working with the greatest actors, writers, producers and directors of the 20th Century.In 1959, Jesse became Mickey Rooney's stunt double at MGM. Continuing, he doubled small men, women, and virtually every child actor in Tinseltown. Jesse performed Fights, Car Work, Stair Falls, Bicycles, High Work, High Falls and Horse Work. Fire Gags became one of his prime specialties. He quit water stunts after the "Julia Belle Swain" riverboat ran over him in the Missouri River on Tom Sawyer (1973) while doubling Jeff East.Jesse also stunt-doubled The Three Stooges (Moe Howard and Larry Fine), Robert Morse, Kurt Russell, Red Buttons, Sir John Mills, Frankie Avalon, Kay Lenz, David Wayne, Leslie Caron, Barbara Stanwyck, Helen Hayes, Harry Morgan, Arte Johnson, José Feliciano, Johnny Crawford, George Gobel, Robin Williams, Gary Burghoff, Strother Martin, John Hillerman, Donald Pleasence, Mel Brooks, Don Johnson, Billie Hayes (aka "WitcheePoo"), Brenda Vaccaro, Barbara Rhoades, Pamela Austin, Lurene Tuttle, Eddie Hodges, Michael Burns, Buck Kartalian, William 'Billy' Benedict, Richard Bakalyan, Michael J. Pollard, and Mel Tormé and so many more.Jesse has also performed behind the camera as a first assistant director, cinematographer, videographer, director, gun coach, and just about every other job on a movie set.

Stunt

Stunt
Author: Claudia Dey
Publisher: Coach House Books
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2008
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781552451953

Eugenia Ledoux wakes one morning to a note on the kitchen table: "Gone to save the world. Sorry. Yours, Sheb Woolly Ledoux. Asshole." Eugenia is nine years old, a synaesthesiac and a tightrope walker. She adores her father and his lunatic charms; she loves that he takes her fishing in the middle of the night and calls her Stunt. Sheb has always promised he'll one day take her to the moonscape of northern Ontario, where astronauts train; instead he writes a note, blows up a shoulder-pad factory, and leaves. His heartbroken daughter is left behind with her mother, the sharp-edged former ingenue Mink, and her sister, the death-obsessed and hauntingly beautiful Immaculata. After a fake funeral for Sheb, Mink vanishes too. Eugenia and Immaculata, left alone, double in age overnight. Immaculata becomes a swan-like giantess, and soon finds her calling caring for Leopold, a diseased and irresistible malcontent down the street. Eugenia, however, stays the same: dark and diminutive, and bereft. She finds herself a bicycle and sets off to track down her father, encountering an astronaut and a waitress named Cupid along the way. Stunt is the first novel by one of Canada's most acclaimed playwrights. Like synaesthetic Eugenia, your senses will be addled as Dey's words take on colours, tastes, and smells, somehow coming to mean more than you thought they did; they depict, with compassionate hilarity and luminous heartbreak, the love between a girl and her father.

Cowboy Stuntman

Cowboy Stuntman
Author: Dean Smith
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2022
Genre: Olympic athletes
ISBN: 9781682831489

"Chronicles the life and achievements of Dean Smith, a Texan and Olympic gold medal winner who became a Hollywood stuntman and actor"--

Stunt Man

Stunt Man
Author: Yakima Canutt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 1979
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780806129273

Chronicles the career of the stunt man responsible for creating the action for such films as "Ben Hur" and "Gone With the Wind"

The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman

The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman
Author: Vic Armstrong
Publisher: Titan Books (US, CA)
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2011-05-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 085768793X

"No CGI can match what Vic can accomplish" - Steven Spielberg "Vic is The Man" - Pierce Brosnan "Vic Armstrong is, of course, a legend" - Martin Scorsese "This is the best and most original behind-the-scenes book I have read in years, gripping and revealing. Vic Armstrong is modest, humorous and wry - altogether brilliant company." - Roger Lewis, Daily Mail "[A] page-turner... I couldn't put it down! I had a great time reading this book and give it my highest recommendation." - Leonard Maltin "[Vic has] been this unheralded savior of movie magic for decades, and hearing how he makes the incredible credible is a must for any film fan." - Hollywood.com "Armstrong's a fascinating guy and a straight shooter. His book is fantastic." - Ain't It Cool News "The man is a legend in the industry... [A] mind-blowing, must-read biography." - Movies.com "The movie memoir of the year!" - SciFi Mafia "[Vic] talks to you like he’s your cool uncle, or the uncle you wished you had, really down to earth, but at the same time you can tell he’s got a twinkle in his eye as he’s talking..." - Geek Six “A hell of a read.” – Film School Rejects "The key to an entertaining autobiography is a combination of good stories to tell and a distinctive life; Armstrong has them both." - Library Journal "Armstrong has done it all." - Empire "A spills’n’thrills ride through a fast-forward life in pictures." - The Times "Armstrong takes us on the spectacular journey of his life that left me wondering who would be brave enough to play him in a movie. What a legacy! What a life! What a book!" - Geeks of Doom -- Think you don’t know Vic Armstrong? Wrong! You’ve seen his work in countless films... He’s been a stunt double for James Bond, Indiana Jones and Superman, and he’s directed action scenes for three Bond movies, Mission Impossible 3, Thor, and the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man to name but a few. Counting Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger among his friends, and officially credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Most Prolific Stuntman, Vic’s got a lot of amazing stories to tell, and they’re all here in this - the movie memoir of the year!

My Life as a Stuntboy

My Life as a Stuntboy
Author: Janet Tashjian
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2011-10-11
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1466822902

Derek Fallon gets the opportunity of a lifetime—to be a stunt boy in a major movie featuring a pretty teen starlet. After accepting the job he learns that he is the star's stunt double and must wear a wig! His friends are never going to let him live this down. If that weren't his only problem, his parents are threatening to give away his pet monkey, and his best friend just posted an embarrassing video of him on Youtube. Can life get any worse? Still the irrepressible Derek takes it all in stride and even manages to save the day.

Stuntboy, in the Meantime

Stuntboy, in the Meantime
Author: Jason Reynolds
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-11-30
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1534418180

A Schneider Family Award Honor Book for Middle Grade From Newbery Medal honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a hilarious, hopeful, and action-packed middle grade novel about the greatest young superhero you’ve never heard of, filled with illustrations by Raúl the Third! Portico Reeves’s superpower is making sure all the other superheroes—like his parents and two best friends—stay super. And safe. Super safe. And he does this all in secret. No one in his civilian life knows he’s actually…Stuntboy! But his regular Portico identity is pretty cool, too. He lives in the biggest house on the block, maybe in the whole city, which basically makes it a castle. His mom calls where they live an apartment building. But a building with fifty doors just in the hallways is definitely a castle. And behind those fifty doors live a bunch of different people who Stuntboy saves all the time. In fact, he’s the only reason the cat, New Name Every Day, has nine lives. All this is swell except for Portico’s other secret, his not-so-super secret. His parents are fighting all the time. They’re trying to hide it by repeatedly telling Portico to go check on a neighbor “in the meantime.” But Portico knows “meantime” means his parents are heading into the Mean Time which means they’re about to get into it, and well, Portico’s superhero responsibility is to save them, too—as soon as he figures out how. Only, all these secrets give Portico the worry wiggles, the frets, which his mom calls anxiety. Plus, like all superheroes, Portico has an arch-nemesis who is determined to prove that there is nothing super about Portico at all.

Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s

Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s
Author: Gene Scott Freese
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2014-04-04
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476614709

This biographical dictionary shines the spotlight on several hundred unheralded stunt performers who created some of the cinema's greatest action scenes without credit or recognition. The time period covered encompasses the silent comedy days of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, the early westerns of Tom Mix and John Wayne, the swashbucklers of Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, and Burt Lancaster, the costume epics of Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas, and the action films of Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, and Charles Bronson. Without stuntmen and women working behind the scenes the films of these action superstars would not have been as successful. Now fantastic athletes and leading stunt creators such as Yakima Canutt, Richard Talmadge, Harvey Parry, Allen Pomeroy, Dave Sharpe, Jock Mahoney, Chuck Roberson, Polly Burson, Bob Morgan, Loren Janes, Dean Smith, Hal Needham, Martha Crawford, Ronnie Rondell, Terry Leonard, and Bob Minor are given their proper due. Each entry covers the performer's athletic background, military service, actors doubled, noteworthy stunts, and a rundown of his or her best known screen credits.