Vic Armstrong
Vic Armstrong | |
---|---|
Born | (1946-10-05) 5 October 1946 (age 77) Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire, England |
Occupation(s) | Stunt double, film director |
Victor Monroe Armstrong (born 5 October 1946) is a British film director, stunt coordinator, second unit director, and stunt double—the world's most prolific, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Career
The 6-foot (1.8 m) Armstrong doubled for 6-foot-1-inch (1.85 m) Harrison Ford in the first three Indiana Jones films, 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) Timothy Dalton for Flash Gordon, George Lazenby for the Swiss Alps skiing scenes in the Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m) Christopher Reeve in Superman and Superman II. Reportedly, Armstrong looked so much like Harrison Ford that the crewmembers on the films were constantly mistaking him for Ford. This proved useful when Ford injured his back and had to sit out for filming crucial action sequences in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Armstrong filled in for him. The stunt where he jumps from a horse onto a German tank in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was voted one of the Top Ten film stunts of all time by a panel of experts and Sky Movies viewers in the UK in 2002. On a private photograph taken on the film set, Ford wrote to Armstrong, "If you learn to talk I'm in deep trouble!"[1] Armstrong was unable to work on the fourth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due to commitments to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. However, he had discussed possible action sequences with Steven Spielberg during production of War of the Worlds.[2]
Armstrong is a famed stunt coordinator and action unit director, notable for (amongst others) the action sequences of several James Bond films, War of the Worlds and I Am Legend. Armstrong was also the opening scene director on Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
In 1993, Armstrong's made his directorial debut with action film Joshua Tree (a.k.a. Army of One), starring Dolph Lundgren, George Segal, Kristian Alfonso and Ken Foree.[3]
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at Pinewood Studios.[citation needed]
In 2012, Armstrong was Second Unit Director for The Amazing Spider-Man. In 2013, he signed on to direct Left Behind, a remake of the series that got released in 2014. His next directorial effort was the true story A Sunday Horse.[4] He also worked on the 2022 Amazon Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as second unit director and action director.[5]
Armstrong is a long-serving member of the British Stunt Register.
Awards
In 2001, he received a Technical Achievement Academy Award for "the Fan Descender for accurately and safely arresting the descent of stunt persons in high freefalls".[6][7][8] In 2002, he received the BAFTA Michael Balcon Award.[9]
Personal
Armstrong is the brother of Andy Armstrong and husband of stuntwoman Wendy Leech, who is the daughter of fellow James Bond stunt performer George Leech. He met her while filming Superman II (she doubled for Margot Kidder) and they have four children between them. Armstrong has two children from his first marriage, and Leech has a daughter from her first marriage. They have one daughter together. Vic is uncle to stuntman James Armstrong and film maker Jesse V Johnson [citation needed]
Bibliography
His memoir My Life as Indiana Jones, James Bond, Superman and Other Action Heroes: The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman was published by Titan Books in early 2011.
Filmography
Year | Title | Stunts | Second unit director | Director |
---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | Superman | Yes | No | Richard Donner |
1979 | Bear Island | Yes | Yes | Don Sharp |
1980 | Superman II | Yes | No | Richard Lester |
Flash Gordon | Yes | No | Mike Hodges | |
1983 | Superman III | Yes | No | Richard Lester |
1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Yes | No | Steven Spielberg |
1985 | Red Sonja | Yes | Yes | Richard Fleischer |
1987 | Empire of the Sun | Yes | No | Steven Spielberg |
Million Dollar Mystery | Yes | Yes | Richard Fleischer | |
1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Yes | No | Steven Spielberg |
Henry V | Yes | Yes | Kenneth Branagh | |
1990 | Total Recall | Yes | Yes | Paul Verhoeven |
1992 | Universal Soldier | Yes | Yes | Roland Emmerich |
1993 | Last Action Hero | Yes | Yes | John McTiernan |
1994 | Radioland Murders | No | Yes | Mel Smith |
Black Beauty | Yes | Yes | Caroline Thompson | |
1995 | Cutthroat Island | Yes | No | Renny Harlin |
1996 | The Phantom | Yes | Yes | Simon Wincer |
1997 | Tomorrow Never Dies | Yes | Yes | Roger Spottiswoode |
Shadow Conspiracy | Yes | Yes | George P. Cosmatos | |
Starship Troopers | Yes | Yes | Paul Verhoeven | |
1999 | The World Is Not Enough | Yes | Yes | Michael Apted |
2000 | Charlie's Angels | Yes | Yes | McG |
2002 | Die Another Day | Yes | Yes | Lee Tamahori |
Gangs of New York | Yes | Action unit director | Martin Scorsese | |
2003 | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | Yes | Yes | Stephen Norrington |
2004 | Blade: Trinity | Yes | Action unit director | David S. Goyer |
2005 | War of the Worlds | Yes | Yes | Steven Spielberg |
2006 | I Am Legend | Yes | Yes | Francis Lawrence |
Mission Impossible III | Yes | Action unit director | J.J. Abrams | |
2007 | The Golden Compass | Yes | Yes | Chris Weitz |
2008 | The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor | Yes | Action unit director | Rob Cohen |
2010 | Shanghai | Yes | Action unit director | Mikael Håfström |
2011 | Thor | Yes | Yes | Kenneth Branagh |
The Green Hornet | Yes | Yes | Michel Gondry | |
2012 | The Amazing Spider-Man | Yes | Yes | Marc Webb |
2014 | Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | Yes | Yes | Kenneth Branagh |
2015 | Eddie the Eagle | No | Yes | Dexter Fletcher |
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | No | Action unit director | Wes Ball | |
2019 | Angel Has Fallen | No | Yes | Ric Roman Waugh |
2022 | The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | No | Yes | Various |
2024 | Lift | No | Action unit director | F. Gary Gray |
As stunt double
Year | Title | Actor |
---|---|---|
1978 | Superman | Christopher Reeve |
1979 | Bear Island | Donald Sutherland |
1980 | Superman II | Christopher Reeve |
Flash Gordon | Timothy Dalton | |
1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Harrison Ford |
1982 | Blade Runner | |
1983 | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | |
Never Say Never Again | Sean Connery | |
1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Harrison Ford |
1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | |
1991 | Regarding Henry | |
1992 | Patriot Games |
As director
Year | Title |
---|---|
1993 | Joshua Tree |
2014 | Left Behind |
2016 | A Sunday Horse |
References
- ^ Vicarmstrong.com
- ^ Nick de Semlyen; Ian Freer; Chris Hewitt; Ian Nathan; Sam Toy (29 September 2006). "A Race Against Time: Indiana Jones IV". Empire. p. 100.
- ^ Halliwell, Leslie; Walker, John (1 October 2005). Halliwell's film, video & DVD guide. HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-00-720550-9.
- ^ "Vic Armstong to Helm "The Sunday Horse"". 14 February 2014.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb". IMDb.
- ^ http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1438457680822 [dead link]
- ^ "Academy Awards, USA (2001)". IMDb.
- ^ "Why do stuntmen not have an Oscar?". BBC News. 20 February 2013.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards (2002)". IMDb.
External links
- Official website
- Vic Armstrong at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
- Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, Zoran Perisic, & Wally Veevers (1979)
- The Children’s Film Foundation (1980)
- Kevin Brownlow (1981)
- David Puttnam (1982)
- Arthur Wooster (1983)
- Colin Young (1984)
- Alan Parker & Alan Marshall (1985)
- Sydney Samuelson (1986)
- The Film Production Executives (1987)
- Monty Python (1988)
- Charles Crichton (1989)
- Lewis Gilbert (1990)
- Jeremy Thomas (1991)
- Derek Jarman (1992)
- Kenneth Branagh (1993)
- Ken Loach (1994)
- Ridley Scott & Tony Scott (1995)
- Mike Leigh (1996)
- Film4 Productions (1997)
- Michael Roberts (1998)
- Michael Kuhn (1999)
- Joyce Herlihy (2000)
- Mary Selway (2001)
- Vic Armstrong (2002)
- Michael Stevenson & David Tomblin (2003)
- Working Title Films (2004)
- Angela Allen (2005)
- Robert Finch & Billy Merrell (2006)
- Nick Daubney (2007)
- Barry Wilkinson (2008)
- Pinewood Studios & Shepperton Studios (2009)
- Joe Dunton (2010)
- The Harry Potter film series (2011)
- John Hurt (2012)
- Tessa Ross (2013)
- Peter Greenaway (2014)
- BBC Films (2015)
- Angels Costumes (2016)
- Curzon (2017)
- National Film and Television School (2018)
- Stephen Woolley & Elizabeth Karlsen (2019)
- Andy Serkis (2020)
Noel Clarke(2021)- June Givanni (2024)