Western movie stuntmen

Stuntman and actor Fred Carson was born on November 23, 1923 in Harlingen, Texas. Carson learned how to be handy with horses while growing up in Texas. Fred worked the rodeo circuit and was a trick rider prior to becoming involved in the Hollywood film industry as a stuntman and actor in the mid-1940's. An all-around stuntman, Carson was equally adept at performing fights, horse falls, saddle falls, sword fights, and high falls. Among the notable actors that Fred doubled for are Victor Mature, Rory Calhoun, Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, Rod Cameron, Anthony Quinn, Rock Hudson, Clint Walker, Charles Drake, Jeff Chandler, and Cesar Romero. Moreover, Carson also was an expert gun handler who taught such actors as Kirk Douglas and Ricardo Montalban how to fast draw as well as an accomplished jewelry maker and artist who did paintings and wood carvings. Carson died at age 77 of a heart attack on July 31, 2001 in North Hollywood, California.

Bill Coontz was born on 28 August 1917 in Johnson, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Les pillards de la prairie (1959), Le convoi (1978) and La fille de Frankenstein (1958). He died on 7 April 1978 in Van Buren, Arkansas, USA.

Robert F. Hoy was equally at home as a stuntman and as an actor. He appeared as Joe Butler on the acclaimed TV Western, The High Chaparral. He stunt-doubled for such actors as Charles Bronson, Tony Curtis, Robert Forrester, Ross Martin, Tyrone Power, David Jansen, and Telly Savalas. He appeared in such films as The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Lone Ranger, Gambler II, Nevada Smith, Bronco Billy, and The Enforcer, and on television in such programs as Wanted Dead or Alive, Walker Texas Ranger, JAG, Dallas (recurring role), The Wild Wild West, Magnum P.I. (five episodes), and The Young Riders. Aside from appearing in front of the cameras, he was the 2nd Unit Director and Stunt Coordinator in Spain on the TV series Zorro and on the pilot episode of The Three Musketeers.

In his work as a stuntman, Bob specialized in horse work, although he was also called upon to double in fight scenes, do car work and handle high falls. The films in which lead actors and others were doubled for stunts are too numerous to mention but include: Operation Petticoat, The Defiant Ones, Spartacus, Tobruk, They Call Me Bruce, River of No Return, To Hell and Back, Drumbeat, Wings of the Hawk, and Revenge of the Creature From the Black Lagoon.

He held lifetime membership in the Stuntmen's Association, of which he was a founding member. He was also a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, Directors Guild of America, AFTRA, and the Screen Actors Guild (later SAG-AFTRA).

American stuntman who also played minor roles in scores of movies. Son of Allie W. and Jannie Hamm Roberson. Raised on cattle ranches in Shannon, Texas, and Roswell, New Mexico, he left school at 13 to become a cowhand and oilfield roughneck. He married and took his wife and daughter to California, where he joined the Culver City Police Department and guarded the gate at MGM studios. Following army service in World War II, he returned to the police force. During duty at Warner Bros. studios during a labor strike, he met stuntman Fred Kennedy, who alerted him to a stunt job at Republic Pictures. Roberson got the job, due both to his expert horsemanship and his resemblance to John Carroll, whom Roberson doubled in his first picture, Wyoming (1947). His close physical resemblance to John Wayne led to nearly 30 years as Wayne's stunt double. He often played small roles and stunted in other roles in the same film, which frequently resulted in his "shooting" himself once the picture was cut together. He graduated to larger supporting roles in westerns for Wayne and John Ford, and to a parallel career as a second-unit director. At the time of his death, he was one of the most respected stunt men in Hollywood.

Baseball gave burly Fred Graham his start in motion pictures. In 1928 he was working for the MGM sound department and also playing semi-pro baseball on the side. The studio was making a murder mystery called Death on the Diamond (1934), starring Robert Young and Nat Pendleton. Graham was hired to tutor Young and Pendleton in the fine points of the game, and doubled Pendleton in the catching scenes. This started him on a more than 40-year career as a stuntman and actor. While at the studio he doubled Clark Gable, Nelson Eddy and Charles Bickford. He went over to Warner Bros. in 1938, and his initial assignment was to double Basil Rathbone in Les aventures de Robin des Bois (1938). In 1941 he moved to Republic Pictures and worked on the studio's famed westerns and serials, and was a major part of the team of stunt experts, including such aces as David Sharpe and Tom Steele, responsible for the reputation that Republic enjoyed as having the best stunt department in the business. Graham met John Wayne there and stunted for him in many of the films Wayne made at the studio. He also appeared in many films as an actor, usually playing truck drivers, cops, soldiers, crooks, etc. In 1968 he went to work for Arizona's Department of Economic Planning and Development of Motion Pictures, and had more to do with bringing filming to the state of Arizona than anyone else. In Arizona they have the "Carefree at Southwest Studios", which was formerly known as "The Graham Studio". In 1978 "Slugger", a nickname he got in his Republic days, passed away.

Jack Lilley was born on 15 August 1933 in Hughes Springs, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for La planète des singes (2001), Sudden Impact - Le retour de l'inspecteur Harry (1983) and La légende de Zorro (2005). He was married to Irene. He died on 19 March 2025 in Calabasas, California, USA.

George Sowards was born on 27 November 1888 in Denver, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Outlawed (1921), Back Fire (1922) and Borrowed Trouble (1948). He was married to Edna E. Zilke. He died on 20 December 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA.