Action Heroes You Grew Up Watching And Never Realized It

It may never occur to some just how many important people are involved behind the scenes of all of our favourite movies. There's director's and writers who get credit were it is due, and there is producers who put their names all over everything. But there is also, special effects teams, composers, make-up, wardrobe and countless others who work to make everyone on screen look good. However, there are also those you have seen on screen many a time, and just never realized it. Stuntmen, and stunt doubles, who take the punches, and risk their lives where most actors won't in order to give us the amazing action scenes we love to see. Below is a shortlist of some of the most famous of these on-screen heroes.


Vic Armstrong

You might not recognize Vic Armstrong as Indiana Jones, Superman or James Bond, but in fact that is who he is and more. Vic Armstrong doubled for Harrison Ford in all three of his Indiana Jones movies, and it is him you see in the famous scenes such as when: Indy (spelling?) leaps from horseback to a tank, fights Nazi's in the Last Crusade on the wing of a plane and on a conveyor belt in the Temple of Doom, and he masquerades as 007 in On Her Majesties Secret Service and Bond skis down the slopes. All of these favourite scene you grew up watching Vic Armstrong was the 6 foot tall man who was taking all the risk and the beatings.

The man may have even pioneered snowboarding in that scene.

Bud Ekins

 There are few more famous movie stunts than the scene of Steve McQueen jumping the fence on his Indian motorcycle at the end of The Great Escape. However it is not in fact McQueen on that motorcycle, instead it is Bud Ekins, a stunt drivers who jumps the 65 feet on and 400-lbs motorcycle. It is also no surprise that like Vic, he doubled for 007 in Diamond Are Forever and again for McQueen in Bullit.






It seems clear by now that every great action movie star has their own stunt double, who is also a close friend. So who does Keanu Reeves have?

Billy Morts

Billy is the stuntman who doubled for Keanu Reeves and later Tom Cruise in movies such as Speed, Chain Reaction, Minority Report, and even Mission Impossible. One of his most famous scenes is the leap from the sportscar to the speeding bus in Speed (1994), in which he leaps from one to the other at highway speeds, and even drags his feet on the highway for show.

Keanu Reeves? I think not.

 It is without a doubt that daring stuntmen fill some of the most memorable action scenes in movie history. Gary Powell and Wayne Micheals, as well as those above are just a few who have filled in the shoes of James Bond, who has been played by more stuntmen than he has actors. Other great action stars all have their stuntmen, those willing to risk not looking so pretty for the thrill of danger. While, stuntmen don't seem to receive their fair share of recognition, I hope next time you watch Bruce Willis or Tom Cruise throw themselves off, into or out of something, you look closely and think, that is the guy who makes movies exciting.