At the 90ft level, I stopped, climbed through
the handrail and stepped out onto the take off platform from where
Vic had just fallen. For a few seconds I glanced around and tried
to enjoy the view. Whenever you perform a fall, the view is
invariably unique and you rarely get to see it more than a couple
of times, so I try to enjoy it. I'm not always successful but
it’s worth a try. Far below I could see Vic and Dicky Beer,
re-setting the bed. I continued looking down, took a deep breath
and prepared myself. At this moment Vic called out to hold it a
minute because there was a problem. In fact one of the small
tethers located inside the air-bag had snapped. After a few
moments Vic finally called out to me to come down, the rehearsals
were over because the air-bag now couldn't be used. All I could
think of was "Thank God for that!". But we'd all had
great fun and Vic went out a week later, did his fall from a 100ft
high viaduct and joined the 'ton up' club. A month later we went
to Mexico, got an air-bag out there from the States and, once
again, the pair of us started rehearsing together once more for my
highfall. There's a shared kind of...camaraderie, but that sounds
too corny. I don't want to make it sound corny but it must have
been like the guys in the trenches before going over the top. You
look at each other and you're both scared, you laugh, there's a
nervousness that comes across. That's what it was like doing those
rehearsals with Vic. Sadly very few stunt coordinators work like
that these days.’
Roy
performed the major stunt in the film. However Vic Armstrong had
brought in Tracey Eddon and Billy Horrigan to double for the stars
Ryan O'Neal and Anne Archer during a speedboat chase. Roy has
always been well used on movie sets. During the filming of
'Firepower' in 1979 he doubled for all the main stars, Sophia
Loren, O.J.Simpson and James Coburn. This was the first time that
Roy had worked with Hollywood's top stunt co-ordinator, Terry
Leonard, and during the films explosive finale a mass horse fall
was called for. Four horsemen chasing James Coburn through a
plantation. Roy was joined by Terry Leonard, Glen Randall and
Billy Horrigan for this pile up which takes place after a
helicopter explodes above them. Four horses in a confined space.
How was it done?
‘We
all have a physical bias which means we are happier to fall one
particular way rather than the other and stunt-men invariably
discuss their preferences with each other. Certainly it would have
been much easier simply to go to my left with a conventional drop
but, due to the circumstances on that occasion and the very
confined area, restricted even further by a tall metal tower, I
would have probably landed under the horse directly behind me,
which is why I went off forwards, head first and to the right.
Terry Leonard falls in front of me performing a toe taper, but at
least I could see Terry right up to the last moment and make the
necessary changes. It's all about judgment.’
The
relationship with Vic Armstrong continued on the 1979 war epic
'Escape To Athena' where an all-star cast had been brought in by
director George Cosmatos. The stunt team reads like a who's who of
British Stunt performers. Paul Weston doubled Anthony Valentine,
Marc Boyle doubled Elliott Gould, Doug Robinson doubled for Telly
Savalas, Tracey Eddon doubled for Stephanie Powers and Roy Alon
doubled Sonny Bono (Yes that Sonny Bono). Richard Roundtree,
otherwise known as 'Shaft', was doubled by Clive Curtis and Roger
Moore was doubled by his Bond double Martin Grace.
‘When Vic first told me I would be doubling
Sonny Bono, I asked him what he was like and how tall he was. Vic
said, "He's not all that tall, but nobody seems to know
exactly, so you've got the job", which was great news for me.
I also remember the first day at Elstree Studios, when the
proposed stunt team lined up to meet the director, George Pan
Cosmatos, who later went on to direct 'Rambo - First Blood Part
2'. Vic and the director walked along the line and Vic introduced
each of us in turn, saying who would be doubling for who. When he
got to me Vic said, "This is Roy and he will be the double
for Sonny Bono". George stopped and said, "He is too
tall for Sonny Bono". Not knowing how tall Sonny Bono was, I
had put 3 inch lifts in my shoes just in case, so at this point I
immediately kicked them off and promptly dropped down three
inches. George looked again for a moment, smiled and said,
"Perfect".’
