May 24
Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 04:00PM |
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Yakima Canutt dies in North Hollywood, California, 1986. Rodeo cowboy Canutt was discovered by movie cowboy Tom Mix and ended up doing stunt work in a number of silent westerns. “He was the goddamndest liar who ever lived,” Canutt said about his benefactor, “but never did he lie to hurt anybody. It was always done in showmanship.” By the 1930s Canutt was the stuntman’s stuntman, doing dangerous work involving fast horses, stagecoaches and cattle stampedes. Injuries sustained in Boom Town (1940) and In Old Oklahoma (1943) hastened his retirement from doing stunts, and, from then on, he worked as a second unit director. Canutt's most famous achievement is most likely the chariot race in Ben-Hur (1959), which took him two years to plan and stage.
ben-hur,
boom town,
in old oklahoma,
tom mix,
yakima canutt 





























































