James Bond stuntman Roy Alon named the `world`s most prolific` by Guinness World Records

02-Jul-2004 • Bond News

Roy Alon has been named the world's most prolific film and TV stuntman in the Guinness Book of Records, reports icHuddersfield.

Roy has spent 35 years crashing cars, being thrown off cliffs, getting blown up and setting himself on fire.

He has been killed by James Bond, saved by Superman and even donned a dress to double for screen beauty Sophia Loren.Altogether, Roy has made more than 1,000 appearances on screen.

He has appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me, Never Say Never Again, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

Roy said: "Any action film you can think of is judged by the Bond standards. I've always been the villain. I've been killed many times by Sean Connery and Roger Moore."

Roy's other film credits include Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Superman III.He is one of the world's top stuntmen and is still in high demand.

He said: "I'm as busy as I've ever been. I've been lucky to do something I enjoy. I love the business."

Roy has just worked on blockbuster Troy and is about to film stunts for Hollywood movie Mission: Impossible 3.

Roy says his job is not about courting danger but minimising risk.However, it was his taste for a risky sport that led to his unusual career.

Roy left school at 14 and joined the Merchant Navy at 15. When he was 18 he went to work at Tetley's brewery in Leeds as an engineer. He started motorbike racing - and after a crash he was told he was a natural stuntman.

He said: "A man said: `The way you fell as you flew through the air you'd make a good stuntman.' That set me thinking."

In 1968, he went to the newly-formed Yorkshire Television and talked his way into a stuntman's job. He appeared in regular stunt gags on The Les Dawson Show and in The New Avengers. He then made the blockbuster Second World War film A Bridge Too Far and eventually moved on to Bond films. In the early 1980s he made big news after earning $1m for falling off a cliff in a wheelchair in Curse of the Pink Panther.

Despite big screen success, Roy is also at home on the small screen. He has been in many TV shows, including Taggart, where he gained the UK `high fall' record of 138 feet. He also appeared regularly in A Touch of Frost, turning down a part in Titanic in favour of the series.

Thanks to `Nicolas` for the alert.