A CAREER AS A STUNTMAN!
History!
Acrobatics on
one hand, stunt on the other, two complimentary worlds that you are
going to discover on this site. Worlds on which we will raise the
veil of mystery.
Acrobatics in
the field of mechanical sports. This is phase number one which will
lead you to knowledge of balancing acts. We will also cover the stunt
on this site: its shock displays, bis state of pure violence that
the professionals master. You will discover that the life of a stuntman
drives him every day to pusb back further the boundaries of the impossible,
that he has to be gifted with extraordinary dexterity, exceptional
reflexes and rare courage. You will learn that nie stunt is neither
a rally nor a race. Unlike circuit Grand Prix or rally, where drivers
race against the 'stopwatch', there is no designated winner. The stuntman
is never a winner. He battles daily with the laws of gravity and danger
simply to achieve what others can only dream of. The stuntman carries
with him the dreams of his public. If they cheer, they want still
more. This strong man must not, cannot let them down. This is nothing
new, as the history of automobile stunts dermonstrates.
It was in CHICAGO,
USA, in 1933 that the idea of the spectacle was formed in the mind
of an automobile fan who was also a famous runner, BARNEY OLDFIELD.
He became the organiser for a large American firm, not of a display,
but of a demonstration designed te show off the qualities of certain
makes. In order to prove that these cars were at the same time fast
and solidly-built, they were employed in the harshest conditions by
drivers who were official testers for automobile companies in DETROIT.
At the start, no-one was prepared for the effect this demonstration,
a 'technical test' would have on the public, of the emotion it would
excite, of the 'display' it would lead to. One of the drivers, EARL
TETER, quickly became convinced that this type of dernonstration could
excite the crowds. JETER possessed from the outset all the 'stuntman'
qualities. Standing-in for a film actor (or anyone else in their particular
profession) involves particularly dangerous actions; a former boxer
with an athletic build, risk-taking appealed to him, especially previously
untried situations. After the CHICAGO experience, he organised a few
stunt demonstrations of his own which met with remarkable success.
This success was
all the more remarkable since at that time AMERICA was being crippled
by the economic crisis, a situation which affected the lifespan of
the spectacle. Its end was tragic. In 1942, just before he was due
to leave for the front, EARL JETER paid for his passion for the stunt
with his life. Me was killed before a military gathering in the middle
of a display organised to benefit the American Navy.
The idea had taken
root. The admirers of the late lamented JETER became his successors.
In the USA the clown JIMMY LINCH, a veteran of circus and music-hall,
picked up the baton.
In FRANCE, no-one
could have been more fascinated by these Americans so full of guts
and energy than JEAN SUNNY, a street-hawker by trade. In 1954, at
the wheel of his own car, he performed France's first acts of automobile
acrobatics. A new technique had been created. If it has since climbed
the steps of success, numerous are those who remember the year 1959
when SUNNY came down the Champs-Elysées for the first time at the
wheel of a car balancing on two wheels. His impact was international;
other Frenchmen followed in his footsteps, performing displays even
more elaborate, more complete, most notably teams such as LEGRIS ?
BATAILLE, etc.
But the man who
has engraved the most noble pages in the golden book of stunt remains
without doubt GIL DELAMARE, a born stuntman, a cassic. From parachute
jump to car dive into the Seine, not to mention acrobatics, DELAMARE
was more than a mere professional risk-taker; without doubt, be could
not live without danger. In 1966 whilst shooting a film under the
director CHRISTIAN JAQUE, his convertible flipped over. GIL DELAMARE
remained imprisoned for ever in the tangled metal, which would no
doubt represent for him a unique, fitting shroud.
The stunt has
grown since that time Moreover, no-one can tell where its rapid development
will lead. In the USA, stunt now permits the setting-up of spectacular
publicity demonstrations. In 1972, the computing world was seized
by this sporting discipline which led to the creation of the 'astro-spiral',
an amazing stunt controlled by computer. A Car drives off a springboard
and performs a roll in mid-air before landing smoothly on another
springboard. This stunt, introduced te the public on 14 January 1972
at the test center at HOUSTON was the result of research carried out
by the scientist RAY MacHENRY, head of the aeronautics laboratories
at CORNELL UNIVERSITY in NEW YORK. These laboratories have studied
for years the technical workings of a car suddenly leaving the road;
they develop prototypes; in fact, they reconcile the study of the
automobile with that of the stunt. Is it possîble5 therefore, that
stunt displays will eventually be controlled by computer and that
the stuntman will be replaced by a few buttons and levers?
Definitely not:
you will come to realise this on consulting the site. Nothing will
ever be able to replace the stuntman, this man gifted with reflexes,
with technical knowledge and practical experience resulting from thousands
of hours of training, this man who at the same time inspires boldness
and dreams, this man always courageous but never dare-devil, concerned
with living the longest time possible for and by the stunt.
