Lifetime honour for James Bond stuntman and action unit director Vic Armstrong

UK stuntman and action unit director Vic Armstrong has received a lifetime achievement prize at the World Stunt Awards.

Quentin Tarantino took the action movie director prize for Kill Bill: Volume 2, in a ceremony that honoured stunt sequences, actors and actresses - reports the BBC

Stuntman Jim Trella wore a suit that was on fire to greet host The Rock at the annual Hollywood event.

Armstrong, 58, has been a stunt double and stunt co-ordinator since 1966.

Born in Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire, Armstrong left school aged 14 to become a jockey before turning to stunts.

He has appeared in dozens of hit movies including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Charlie's Angels and numerous James Bond films.

Voted for by stunt actors, The World Stunt Awards also presented an honorary award to Sylvester Stallone as best action movie star.

Monica Staggs and Zoe Bell shared the awards for best fight and best overall stunt by a woman, for their work on Kill Bill: Volume 2.

Chris Daniels and Michael Huggins shared the best overall stunt by a man for a mid-air Spider-Man 2 sequence in which Peter Parker fell while trying to jump from building to building.

Rapper Busta Rhymes opened the ceremony with a performance including a live stunt 95ft fall from a crane.

Accepting his sizeable award, Kill Bill director Tarantino said: "This is so cool. I wanted to win this award so much.

"I have an awards shelf, but it needs to get bigger now. I think this is hands down the biggest award that is given out."

In June Academy Award organisers voted not to create a new Oscar category to honour stunt co-ordinators, despite protests by stunt performers.

Thanks to `overkill` for the alert.

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