Harrison's Stunt Doubles

During a commentary I remember hearing of a guy that looked alot like harrison but just a little older that did most of his stunts that he coudln't do. I believe his last name was Armstrong but I didn't catch the last name...anyone know? I'm just Curious...

DiscoLad said:

During a commentary I remember hearing of a guy that looked alot like harrison but just a little older that did most of his stunts that he coudln't do. I believe his last name was Armstrong but I didn't catch the last name...anyone know? I'm just Curious...

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Vic Armstrong.

Vic Armstrong was also the stunt cordinator on several of the James Bond films.

and a few other films with harrison in that vic's double for him. even working girl!

Patriot Games (1992) (stunt double: Mr. Ford)
Regarding Henry (1991) (stunt double: Mr. Ford)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (stunt coordinator) (stunt double: Mr. Ford/Indiana Jones double #1)
Working Girl (1988) (stunt double: Mr. Ford)
Frantic (1988) (stunt double: Mr. Ford)
The Mosquito Coast (1986) (stunt double: Mr. Ford)

I read that Vic Armstrong was tied into doing the new Mummy flick, so he was unavailable for the new Indy film and they went with someone else.

from Wikipedia:Victor Monroe Armstrong (born October 5, 1946) is a BAFTA winning British film director and stunt double -- the world's most prolific according to the Guinness Book of Records. The strapping, 6-foot Armstrong doubled for 6'1" Harrison Ford in the first three Indiana Jones films, 6'2" Timothy Dalton for Flash Gordon and 6'4" Christopher Reeve in Superman II.

Reportedly, Armstrong looked so much like Harrison Ford that the crew members on the films were constantly mistaking him for Ford. This proved useful when Ford injured his back and had to sit out for filming crucial action sequences in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Armstrong filled in for him. Indeed the stunt where he jumps from a horse onto a German tank in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was voted one of the Top Ten film stunts of all time by a panel of experts and Sky Movies viewers in the UK in 2002. On a private photograph taken on the film set, Ford wrote to Armstrong, "If you learn to talk, I'm in deep trouble!"[1] Armstrong was unable to work on the fourth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull due to commitments to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. However, he had discussed possible action sequences with Steven Spielberg during production of War of the Worlds.[2]

Still, in the "Raiders"-scene where indy starts chasing the truck, in the stop before he rides his horse down the hill, you can see it's Armstrong... but since Vic is cool as hell, I don't even mind

Tsar said:

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That's really sweet...

What great handwriting HF has.

God'sRadio said:

What great handwriting HF has.

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Sarcasm?

If I am correct, he even appeared as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner for a scene in the bathroom of Leon's motel room. It was dark, so you couldn't see Armstrong's face.

Tsar said:

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Wait, so Vic regifted his gift from Harrison?

looks just like him, but vic's face is longer and thinner..

Tsar said:

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Oh snap! I... I-I think I find Vic more handsome than Harrison in that picture. WTF. Thanks for posting that, I'd never seen it before.

This is a random and useless tidbit of information, but if you play the original Stuntman game for the PS2 (lots of good, frustrating memories from that game; also has a very Indiana Jones-inspired movie that you can have fun with) you'll find a bonus video, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, that's basically an interview with Vic Armstrong, and you can hear some stories about his career. On a more relevant note, he's probably on the bonus disc for the trilogy in a few spots.

nice and thank you.

I don't think Vic could double for Ford these days, it's a bit bulkier than he used to be.

Major West said:

I don't think Vic could double for Ford these days, it's a bit bulkier than he used to be.

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Yeah, he's extremely out of shape these days. Which is odd, considering his job. But hey, who'm I to judge. Maybe it's one of the pros of getting old; it just don't matter no mo'.

|ZiR| said:

Yeah, he's extremely out of shape these days. Which is odd, considering his job. But hey, who'm I to judge. Maybe it's one of the pros of getting old; it just don't matter no mo'.

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I was under the assumption that he had moved on to strictly doing stunt coordination and not so much doubling anymore. From what I understand the shelf life of stunt men are rather short compared to most other careers . The human body can only take so much abuse over the years so the only way alot of guys can stay in the buisnesss is to move on to coordination and consultation.

To true, poor Vic ain't what he used to be, but he's cool...so that makes up for it...